Please, help this newbie out!

[Avalonnae]

Hello all! I'm new here, and quickly realizing that there is soooooooo much to learn about the world of Dolliehs!!!!
Right now I'm trying to put together a few good 'models'...some dolls that will model the clothing I'm starting to make. Since I'm just starting out, I am going simple and inexpensive so that I can get a feel for things. Wellll.....I purchased this lovely doll on ebay, she's the Swan Ballerina from Swan Lake Barbie...like this one:

http://www.amazon.com/SWAN-BALLERINA-Barbie-Collectibles-Mattel/dp/B001E4V7LC/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2O18W4R4ID1X9&coliid=I2568JBWJH7IUV

The problem is...her body! She's got some super pointy ballerina feet, and I really really really want to get a nice articulated body so that I can pose her however I wish for photos of the outfits I create. She's super pale skinned, and I've looked at Obitsu and Volks bodies, but I don't know enough about them to know how pale or white they really are. Sooooo.....can anyone point me in the right direction? I'm looking for a body that is as close in Barbie like proportions as I can find, so that my outfits can fit Babs and all her friends.

Thank you to anyone who may offer some help!
Ava

[maywong]

Barbie can take LIV, FR, action figure bodies as well as Obitsu and Volks. If you look at my sale post you will see a few of these body types.

[cewie]

between obitsus....the obitsu 25cm is the closest size to barbie i guess....

[Avalonnae]

Thank you!
Here is the image of my actual doll...I tried to get her in natural light. I just have no idea which skin tone to consider. It's so hard to tell from pics online.

[magkelly]

Hold on. Most people sewing make the mistake of thinking that there is only one sized Barbie body. That's just not so. You have several. The best one I think to make generalized clothes on is the Fashionista bodies. They're made with the medium sized breasts, and they're posable so it helps with fitting. But there are actually bigger busted/bigger hipped bodies out there, teen busted/hipped bodies, model bodies, fairy bodies, retro bodies and fitting clothes for Barbie is not just a one sized fits all matter if you want to sell. If your clothes are made of stretch fabrics there will be a lot of crossover but make sure that you either do that or have several bodies to work with and specify which model was used when making so that Barbie people can fit accordingly. While it's true that a lot of other clothes from Liv, Fashion Royalty et all will fit, whether or not they will and look good really depends upon what fabrics you use and what doll your model is. Newer Barbies are generally smaller than older ones in the hips and bust unless they were teen or action models and a lot of clothes made on one of those won't sell as well because of that. But they still do use the bigger body for some dolls.

[DollyKim]

NO BARBIES COMPARE TO OBITSU OR VOLKS. I own more 1/6 scale dolls than most people have had hot dinners and my non Barbie girls generally don't wear anything made for any Barbie what so ever. I wrote a book on how to measure and draft your own doll patterns because of all the girls I have the only two with different bodies that can share are Volks Dollfie Plus and Beauty B. I have measured everyone I own and there's enough difference in some Barbies to require different patterns.
This is my website http://dolfielittles.com/encyclopedia.html
All of these bodies are Barbie http://dolfielittles.com/ency/girls9.jpg
Volks compared to Barbie http://dolfielittles.com/ency/girls2.jpg
Obitsu compared to Barbie http://dolfielittles.com/ency/girls28.jpg

You want to make clothes for a specific girl doll get that girl doll, only the boys have a one size fits quite a few but that's for the "Dragon" soldier types.

[Avalonnae]

You are a Goddess!!!! Thank you so much! I had noticed the variety of Barbie body types, just by looking at the dolls that my daughter has around the house and the couple which I've purchased at random. I like the Fashionista bodies, because of the way they move and that they're lightweight, plus if my 5yr old gets a hold of them, I won't cry my eyes out because of the price tag should they lose an arm or a leg. (Though I am already having the talk with her about 'Mommy's dolls' and 'Her dolls'. lol)
I am going to poke around your links right now...MUCH appreciated!!!!

[Avalonnae]

Right now, my main issue is skin tone...ugh...I plan to focus mainly on the Medieval/Fantasy genre for clothing, so chances are I can work it so that doll garb fits most doll bodies just by keeping it fairly general in the bust and hips area.

[Avalonnae]

I do have a Fashionista that I've been working on...but she is quite peachy colored...and I really really really want to use the Barbie head pictured above. Do you know whether there are any particular Fashionista dolls that are that pale? I've looked and looked...and I can't seem to find one that I feel confident in purchasing. I'm guessing I may have to take my doll head to the store with me, eh?

[yarwel]

I think Raquelle is the palest? I'm really not sure about the name/spelling.