Purchasing Vintage Doll Clothes Online

As you may have realized, if you pop in my blog regularly, I buy doll clothes online - a LOT of doll clothes!  How? (you may ask) do I know if I am getting the right size dress for a certain doll?  Well, it just occurred to me that you all out there might appreciate some hints.

My favorite search on eBay is:

"VINTAGE DOLL CLOTHES"

Most recently I found this pink dress for my Madame Alexander Cissy doll who is 20" tall.

The add for this dress only said "For 18" doll."  HA! If someone had bought this dress thinking it would fit their 18" American Girl Doll they were doomed to disappointment.

I could see from the photos that it is made in a classic 1950s style with a small waist.  So I could pretty easily judge that it was made for a 1950s 18" - 20" fashion doll like Cissy or Miss Revlon.  Even so I took a chance and it paid off.  The dress fits Cissy, but would definitely be too big for a Miss Revlon who is slightly smaller.

BUT, many doll dresses for sale are harder to pinpoint size and fit.

Remember, many sellers find doll dresses and accessories at 

estate sales or 2nd hand shops with little or no doll knowledge.

This lovely dress was listed on eBay as fitting a 12" - 18" doll.

As we know, there is a HUGE difference between a 12" doll and an 18" doll.

For example here are 3 of my dolls,

Molly is 18", Shirley is 15" and Patsy is 13"

I doubt the dress above would fit any of them.

I frequently see ads that say "16" doll dress"

or 18" or 12", etc.  

This is not enough information!

Here's why...

Madame Alexander Elise and Arranbee Nancy.

These 2 dolls are both 16" tall, but 

they obviously can't share their dresses.

So, what do you do? 

I have created a sheet of paper I keep on my desk.

This shows a photo of my dolls and what 

their dress length and waist size is.

Here is my list hanging next to my monitor.

Oh, that's Claire, she keeps me company when I am sewing.

The top of my list is Cissy

CISSY

Dress length 12" - 13"

Dress waist 4.5"

I use this chart to check what dress size range my different dolls wear.

This has been SO helpful to me when online doll dress shopping.

Most sellers know to show the dresses next to a ruler or tape measure.

The ones who don't I ask them for the shoulder to hem measure,

and the bodice from side to side.

A good seller will have these measurements pictured in their photos.

To create my dress buying guide, I measured my doll dress. 

I measure from shoulder to hem...

And, from side to side of the bodice.

These two measurements are all I need to 

determine if a dress should fit a doll.

If these measurements are not noted in an online sale, I ask.

Most sellers are happy to give extra information in order to sell.

AND! It might help them be better doll clothes sellers in the future.

THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR:

I frequently see ads for Vintage Doll Clothes 

and all you can see is a jumble.

Be careful of jumbles, sometimes there is 

a gem hidden in there, but sometimes not.

Be wary of little moth holes and discoloration.  

Some of these faults can be fixed, but many can't. 

Little rips and tears or missing buttons or snaps don't bother me.

They are usually easy to fix if you can use a needle and thread.

SO, here are some dolls and their dress measurements.

Madame Alexander Elise 16" tall

Dress length: 9.5" - 10"

Waist: 4"

Madame Alexander Cissy 20" tall.

Dress length: 12" - 13"

Waist: 4.5"

Patsy Ann 19" tall

Dress length: 8.5" - 9"

Waist 6.5" - 7"

Patsy Jr. 13" tall.

Dress length: 6.5"

Waist: 5.5"

Patsy Joan 17" tall

Dress length: 8.5"

Waist: 5"

I hope this helps with your online doll dress purchases.

Happy shopping!