The Sock Stigma

[OutBriefCandle]

About Fers, yeah, the layers are unfinished. And they do fray a bit at the edges. I can't really tell you what it is about them, really...they're just pretty. I bought one as a birthday present to myself and I've never regretted it, but I can understand how they aren't for everyone. I just like looking at my girl in it. And putting it on her boyfriend, for lols. But yeah...I'd be very very careful about how I cleaned it.

Also, a sock Fer is one of the coolest ideas I've ever heard.

I love socks, even if I don't sew with them often. XD One of my girl's other dresses is a black and silver sparkly thing I made out of a sock I found at the dollar store around Christmas time so she'd look festive. And when trying to make Hujoo sized clothes was driving me insane, I used a sock I got on clearance to make my Berry a dress, and cut the toe off to make a hat because she was wigless, and made her little socks of her own (it was winter, she looked cold). I don't really get the obsession with spending as much as possible on dolls and their clothing, and I think it could scare away people who might otherwise love the hobby. Which is a shame because dolls are awesome and sewing for them, whether you're using socks or silk, is fun.

[embyquinn]

I actually posted six times in that thread (which is 18 pages and counting as of this writing) and I finally had to stop because I was getting really pissed off, and not about socks.

I try not to snark on DoA, because God knows there's enough snark there already and if I really want to be a bitch online I'll go to fandom_wank and cut loose there. (That's what f_w is for.) But if I had continued to participate in the "sock thread", I would have unloaded on people and raised all nine levels of hell and a few nobody knows about into the bargain. What finally made me pop my cork was the inference in several of the posts that, if you can't afford "decent" (by their standards) clothing for your doll, you might reconsider being in the BJD hobby at all. I never, at any point, called anyone elitist or snobby. My final comment in the thread was, and I quote: "There's enough elitism in this hobby already. Freakin' quit it." I think that's a true and fair statement. There's elitism in every hobby, just like there's elitism in every fandom, and I don't like any of it. I still say that if there weren't so much elitism, there wouldn't be so many people over there getting all het up and nasty about it and going on for pages and pages trying to deny its existence. There was one person in particular that, the more they tried to explain how their view and how it wasn't elitist, the more elitist they sounded. To say nothing of condescending and just plain superior. When someone tells another person "If all you can afford is a doll, and you can't afford to buy it proper clothing and have to settle for something less than standard, maybe this isn't the hobby you should be in," how is that not offensive? It seriously makes me want to chew up a chain link fence and spit out tenpenny nails.

I tried to keep my personality out of it, referring only to the DIY aspect of this hobby, which is what I find most appealing. And I even got jumped on for that! For the record, I've been sewing doll clothes since I was six. I've made a lot of clothing, I've designed patterns used by hundreds on the Internet, I've sold doll clothing I've made, and if I do say so myself I'm a fairly accomplished doll seamstress. So when I stand up for "sock dresses", it's not like that's all I can make--though I will say I made Chae-ri a smexy LBD f a man's trouser sock this morning.

[Dark Angel]

I love sock clothes! As long as the socks aren't used. :p

[tigerbaby]

I love sock clothes! As long as the socks aren't used. :p

hay! I use worn sox all the time, my boys are the type who pick up their clothes at secondhand shops and even out of dumpsters, and there is no match for *real* wear to get that authentic 'pre-owned patina'.

All my life my favorite sox have been the ones I thieved from my Dad's sock drawer (nothing else fit as comfy! I haz *rilly* big feets) and when he passed away, my Mom gave me all the ones she felt still had 'use' in them. When I can't wear or darn them anymore, I plan to proudly make them into rustic sweaters for my boys.
...I launder them first, of course!

They make silk sox, I wonder if a sock dress made out of silk is somehow 'more okay'?

[Dark Angel]

hay! I use worn sox all the time:

Well its fine as long as they aren't smelly

[Iwa_Hoshi]

They make silk sox, I wonder if a sock dress made out of silk is somehow 'more okay'?

Its silk! its classy and shiny and it be a bit of a luxury to wear. A status symbol to the otherwise common cotton.
I owed my nekomimi a striped hoodie in her grey/black coloring.

[zirconmermaid]

I was so tempted to bring out the picture of the little Alexander McQueen sweater on Blythe that I did for the Target ad two years ago - it was made out of socks!! LOLS!! Sadly, it's an off topic doll. And for the record, I really like sock clothes. And old used washed socks don't stain vinyl!

[GooglyDooglyV.2]

Ahhh the Dollheart Fer, which is MORE EXPENSIVE THAN ANY OUTFIT I HAVE FOR ME! is made of miles of raw, unhemmed ruffles. Which by me would be FINE if the ruffles were made of something like my favorite power mesh which does not need hemming....but they are not. They are made of cotton muslin. I've seen one that has been laundered a time or two...after washing it does shed threads and I have to wonder if it weren't from Dollheart, how people would think about it.

I know there is at least one person here who loves her Dollheart Fers, and her dolls look lovely in them, but I would never, ever spend that kind of money on an outfit that has raw unhemmed cotton edges. That's just me, you can spend your money however you like.

And yes, I did paint my armchair shrink post with a very broad brush. The exceptions prove the rule.

I did go WTF? When I first handled a fer for the first time, but according to someone I asked, apparently, those unhemmed ruffles is a *trademark* of the fer. It's some kind of fashion, I think. And after watching the Bravo channel, and seen the weird (and downright silly) fashion displayed there, I believe it. O.O

[GooglyDooglyV.2]

I don't think it's about whether you use socks for fabric to make doll clothes out of. No one there ever said that you shouldn't use socks as recycled fabrics. Some people just don't like seeing badly-fitting sock dresses, with no thought put into it other than cutting the toes off.

I have yet to see anyone being rude to anyone with a sock dress (even badly-made ones) on DoA. The Debate Section is for, well, debates. It's kind of unfair to judge a whole forum as elitists from a single section where you are encouraged to speak your mind.

Think of it this way. Let's say someone comes in, new to the hobby. And they used their Crayola Crayons to do the faceup, since they have no money to buy faceup supplies, and the result ends up less than stellar.

Would you go, "YAY! THAT'S SO AWESOME!" Or would you rather point out that affordable faceup supplies can be found, and would do a better job at faceupping if they don't use their crayons?

[Greyhaunt]

Would you go, "YAY! THAT'S SO AWESOME!" Or would you rather point out that affordable faceup supplies can be found, and would do a better job at faceupping if they don't use their crayons?

Based on what I've read in the critiques section over there - I guarantee you that at least a half dozen people would respond with "YAY! THAT'S SO AWESOME!" Not that others wouldn't point out better ways to do it, but there are always those who either have no taste or like to give false encouragement.

Seriously though, you do have a valid point. I love to hang out in the workshop area and sock clothing shows up constantly in the sewing section. In fact there are several tutorials on using them - including the one I did on how to make sock pants for a 1/4 size I figure the workshop is so nice and safe because the elitists who only buy pre-made clothing and have their dolls' faceups done by the factory or special commission wouldn't be caught dead trying to learn how to do something themselves

At the same time, I never go near the debates and things - after all, I know someone will piss me off there, so why torture myself. I guess I'm just not a masochist