Doll boots can be a lot of fun to dress your doll in, when you’re making winter raincoats and ponchos for them to wear in your fall dioramas. But if you’ve ever tried to buy vintage Barbie boots, you’ll probably already be familiar with this little problem:
Some sellers on eBay are experts at hiding the flaws in their products. Then, when you buy it and it arrives at your home, you take it out of the package and say, “Wait a second… is this a bait-and-switch?”
That’s why it’s always a good idea to look through every single photo offered by the seller before you buy. A lot of times they will leave the photos that show damage or stains (like the stains on the doll boot below) until the very last photo they upload.
Still, as I said in this doll-shoes-topic blog post, eBay is a great place to stock up on doll shoes, for dolls of every shape and kind. Just make sure you know what you’re buying.
Let’s say, for example, you stumble across these cute little ice skates, and they’re labeled “fashion doll skates.”
Well, to say they are “fashion doll skates” would definitely be true, but they’re not just for any old fashion doll. They’re made for Bratz dolls.
For those of you who don’t know what a Bratz doll is, they are dolls that come with detachable feet that already have the shoe on them, as shown below:
So if you ordered those “fashion doll ice skates,” once they arrived, you’d look inside them and discover this little problem:
Yeah, I bought that sneaker from a seller on eBay who really knew how to play the game. I sent him a message that said, “Will these sneakers fit Ken dolls?” to which he replied, “I don’t know. They’re made to fit 1:6 scale action figures.”
Well a 1:6 scale action figure could mean GI Joe, Action Man, or any number of toys, most of which have their feet already attached, but (as I discovered after the fact) a few of which do NOT. But I assumed, “Oh, hey, if it will fit GI Joe, that’s good enough.”
And I bought them. Like an idiot.
Thankfully they do fit on my Bratz dolls, but that dirty scoundrel on eBay knew good and well they wouldn’t fit Ken. I mean, who doesn’t know what “KEN” refers to?
As you can see in the image above, though, those high-top sneakers make the Bratz dolls’ legs look sort of stubby. Overall, I was pretty disappointed that I fell for the old “I dunno” trick on eBay.
When that happened to me, I gave up on trying to buy myself a pair of Converse High Tops for my dolls and decided to just make myself some. And because of that incident, this pattern joined all the others here on ChellyWood.com:
And mine DO fit Ken! See…
That’s my Lammily Photographer doll on the right, so they fit Lammily dolls as well. Here’s a link to that pattern, if you want to download the PDF.
In fact, all of my doll shoe patterns can be found in this gallery. Help yourselves to those free patterns!
So hey, I made lemonade out of the lemons that I bought from someone on eBay without really knowing what I was going to get. Dolls are for having fun with anyway, so why not?
One of my happiest doll-play memories as a child was when I got a pair of red ice skates for my Barbie. I used to fill up a cake pan with water, freeze it, and then play “Dorothy Hamill, figure skater” with my Barbie for HOURS.
So… Much… FUN!
And by the way, Dean Reen has a wonderful unboxing video, over on his YouTube channel, in which he unboxes a Dorothy Hammill 1970’s doll from Ideal. I love that video!
Yes, skates are super fun to pose your dolls in, as are boots and high-tops, but the moral of today’s story is… know what you’re buying before you buy!
Just look at these skates (below). If you saw the image on the left, you’d think, “Those are cute.” But once you see the image on the right, you can see that the paint is faded on one side of the skate.
So be wary of sellers who only offer one photo or who only offer photos taken at a single angle. Buy from sellers who let you see up, down, around, behind, and right inside your doll shoes/boots/skates, etc…
Now before we go, I want to mention my friend Dodi’s eBay shop again. She’s an honest seller on eBay, and I’ve really enjoyed the “Little Extras” doll shoes that I’ve bought from her in the past. To learn more about these doll shoes, go back to this blog post: “Where to buy CUTE doll shoes.”
These are some of the shoes I’ve bought from her:
Dodi’s shop is called Barbie1959Pink, and she’s an honest seller with very fair prices for her hard-to-find Barbie shoes!
And now for my closing statement, which is (yet again) a plug for my paid course…
If you enjoy the doll clothes sewing tutorials that are free on my YouTube channel, you should have a look at my paid courses on the Creative Spark online learning platform. Here’s what people are saying about my course called “How to Alter Doll Clothes Patterns” so far:
Student 1: “I love this course! I am learning so much. You do a wonderful job. Thank you so much.”
Student 2: “This is more in-depth than I thought.”
To read more about my free sewing patterns and tutorials, please visit the “Helpful Tips” page.
Today’s blog post was a re-post from 2022. If you’re wondering why I sometimes do a blog post, it buys me a little more time to start designing my next set of patterns.
Sorry for the re-run! But I need a little more time to develop and test some 18 inch doll clothes patterns I’ve been working on.
Disclaimer/Credit/Affiliate Marketing Link:
*ChellyWood.com earns money by linking to Amazon, eBay, Michaels, Etsy, and other online affiliate programs. Links provided above may be affiliate links. For a full list of my affiliate programs, and to understand how cookies are used to help this website earn money, please see my “Privacy Policy” page.
Ken and Barbie dolls are manufactured and sold by Mattel. Today Mattel holds the registered trademark for them (™).
Bratz dolls are products offered by MGA Entertainment, which holds the registered trademark for them (™). Please visit the MGA Entertainment website to learn more about their company and its trademarked toys.
GI Joe and Action Man action figures are owned and distributed by Hasbro Pulse, which holds the registered trademark for these toys (™). Please visit the Hasbro Toy website to learn more about their company and its trademarked toys. This link will also help you find Action Man figures specifically, and those figures are still distributed throughout the United Kingdom.
All the doll clothes I’ve designed on this website are marked with a Creative Commons Attribution mark. Any similarity to other companies’ or other crafters’ projects of a similar nature is unintended.
Are you lovin’ all this free stuff from ChellyWood.com? Please show your support by telling people about ChellyWood.com. That’s what the “Creative Commons Attribution” mark on my patterns means: if you use my free patterns and tutorials, you should tell people where you got all this great free stuff!
- You can pin my patterns on Pinterest.
- You can post or like them on Facebook.
- You can tweet about them.
- Use any other form of social media that appeals to you!
Thank you for the tips for shopping on eBay. I’ll admit, I don’t often look at all the pictures, just the first few, so now I know better. Thank you!
I’m not sure if you’re familiar with Zuru’s mini brands line, but they now have a line of sneakers. I saw someone on youtube trying them on her various Barbie and Ken dolls and a lot of them fit. I do believe they have some high tops in the line. I could maybe try to find the video again so you can see for yourself, if you’re interested.
If you do find the video, please add a link in this discussion chain. I’d be curious to see it!
I’ll check my history. It shouldn’t be too hard to find, it wasn’t that long ago, as they’re relatively new products, I think.
Well, that was easier than expected. heh Ok, I don’t think there are converse, but I know there are reebok high tops. Some of the shoes are really cute, some not.. and some of the hats are cute too. I love the bucket hats..
Thanks for adding it here! I’ll go check it out…
I think there has been a big change in eBay sellers since I joined in 1998. I used to buy mostly from collectors who did know what they were selling. Now eBay has become a place where people make a business of buying and selling without necessarily knowing a lot about the product and in some cases not caring either. You make a good point about looking at all the photos and asking questions. So annoying when you don’t get proper answers. Time for me to write another “buyer beware ” post on my blog I think.
Feel free to reblog my post, Taswegian! — And for any of you who don’t know, her blog is really fun to read too! Here’s a link to her recent blog post about Twiggy and Casey dolls.
Thanks Chelly I will do that. I think a lot of readers would love your shoe patterns as shoes are such a problem for dolls with odd sized feet.
Great idea! Go right a head. Share a couple of my shoe patterns with your audience.
Thank you again. I love selling my items and always show all sides. Plus I try and clean with my alcohol and water solution to help prevent spread of germs. The white boot you show is not a Mattel but a clone which are all generally a less quality product, plus shoes exposed to extreme hot and cold damage them as well. You sneakers are flippin adorable. And remember that if anyone mentions your name when buying from me they get a discount. My lady in Denver has bought some from me and I sent her a refund since she paid prior to mentioning you. Keep up the great blogs. Mental hug being sent, Dodi
Yes! Thank you for the reminder, Dodi!
I just thrifted a doll with odd size feet and no shoes. I will have to investigate your shoe patterns. 👞
Good luck. It can be tricky, sometimes, to find shoes that fit dolls with odd-sized feet!
In my head, I say easy peasy. Practical experience says no way. I’m thinking felt sliders would work (Luisa from Encanto) I’ll keep you posted 😆
I have a Mirabel doll, and in spite of the fact that I own shoes for every doll on earth, I couldn’t find anything that fits her! She can’t wear Lammily’s shoes; she doesn’t fit my 18 inch Barbie shoes; she can’t wear the shoes I made for 13 inch Judy Littlechap; she can’t wear the shoes that my 13 inch Barbie came in. Ugh!
Not even my Monster High sized Mary Jane style shoes will fit her, so you may find that none of my patterns will work without some serious alterations. Again, I wish you luck! Let me know how it goes…
I made Luisa some slider type shoes. I did a blog post about it. It’s not a tutorial, I’ve never done anything like that, just a few words about what I did.
https://lindyslovelies.blogspot.com/2024/02/still-collecting-dolls-after-all-these.html
I looked at the photo you posted and read your article. I love where you said, “Things I would do differently: don’t be lazy!” That’s cute!
I like how these sliders turned out. The red stitching really makes them unique! I’m tempted to copy your idea!
Yes! Do it! I thought especially for the Luisa Madrigal dol, the sandals fit more with the style of her original shoes. It would be WAY easier to embroider i think while the piece was flat. And it definitely needs a back strap. I hope to experiment more tonight.