New Doll Drop! This time, we've got the new Dream Besties to review.
The Dream Besties are a Barbie line, though they bear a strong resemblance in the head sculpt to Ever After High! I heard the same designer is responsible for both lines' headsculpts, so that's pretty great as I miss EAH.
The hair is nice, the faceup is nice, the body seems sturdy and has the usual amount of articulation for a modern jointed fashion doll. Lots of people review that stuff, let's get to my specialty:
I ordered the dolls from aesthetically most to least similar, with our new Dream Bestie in the middle! From how she looks, I expected her to be in the Petite size.
Petite dolls have shorter torsos than Medium dolls in the 1/6 scale. They often (though not always) have shorter legs and overall heights. Another characteristic of Petite dolls is that they are more slender and have less of a bust:waist:hip ratio (less hourglassy) than Medium dolls and often have pear shapes with bigger hips/lower bodies proportionately.
Dream Besties hit some of these things. They have shorter torsos than Medium, but not quite as short as Petite. They are more pear shaped than Medium. They are NOT more slim than Medium and have a more similar B:W:H ratio to Medium than Petite.
I want to show off the thing I like most about the Dream Besties:
MUSCULAR ARMS!!!!!
If you've been following me for a bit you know how much I adored the DC Super Hero Girls line because they had actual muscle definition. Thing about dolls is, it's way rarer to see a doll with sculpted biceps and triceps than a pear shape or fuller figure. Despite muscle tone and athletic body types being pretty darn healthy, there's a lot of any visible muscles=unfeminine stigma out there. YAY Muscles!
/end aside
Back to the sizing: she's pretty much smack dab in the middle between Petite and Medium. If you're sewing clothes, you have a few options!
- Print a Medium Girl pattern at 92% and use the Curvy or Strong cut lines for the sleeves.
- Print a Petite pattern at 105%
- Print a Petite pattern at 100% and add 1/8" to the side seams of all pattern pieces
If those last two sound familiar it's because you do the same trick to enlarge the girths on a Petite pattern to fit Dream Besties as you do a Petite Slimline pattern to fit the thicker G3 Monster High gals.
Both methods are going to work pretty well so I'd just go with whatever pattern size you have more use for with your other dolls!
If you're stealing clothes instead of sewing them, you'll probably find more stuff that fits in 11.5" fashion doll sizes because it's easier to use slightly too big than slightly too small clothes.
One last thing: The feet. When I took her shoes off I thought "These look familiar!"
The far shorter doll is a LOL OMG. And despite the differences from the ankles up, they have VERY similar feet!
WILL THE SHOES FIT?!
YASSSS!
Addendum: I have been asked about how Rainbow High dolls fit into this. They weren't similar enough to make the first comparison photo.
Rainbow High dolls have torsos with a waist at the underbust. Even next to other 'Petite' dolls she has an extra short torso. Her hips/thighs are thicker, her shoulders are narrower, and her arms are slightly more slim.
They're similar enough you'll be able to steal some clothes, like skirts because you can overlap the closure. Stretchier tops, or tops with more open shoulders might also be borrowable from RH.