I have… a lot of doll shoes. This is not an exaggeration, I honestly feel that I have a lot of doll shoes. I had gotten into the habit of buying up shoe lots on eBay and then it turned into more and more mail full of shoes. A lot of vintage boots? Don’t mind if I do! Lot of vintage Skipper flats? Sure! My girls will wear them. Given the number of dolls that I have, I probably have too many doll shoes. There’s a great range of prices for shoes, and this pair is my most expensive: a pair of pink lace-up Barbie boots that may have cost close to around $40 after shipping was included. Yes, $40 doll shoes. But they’re delightful, are they not?

What is your most expensive pair of Blythe shoes?

Image by sxc.hu user foxumon.

Blythe is an expensive hobby. It’s a huge price range of costs for everything in the doll hobby. There are $0.50 shoes and $50 shoes. You can find $100 Blythes and then there are custom (art) Blythes that go for $4000 (or more!). There is a huge range that you can find yourself in, but my goal is to always shop smart when it comes to the Blythe hobby. I try not to overspend, as well as shopping around for the ‘best price’ that I can.

It kind of helps that I don’t have a money tree somewhere and that results in me needing to shop around and be smart about it. It’s hard to consider what my true maximum is, because it’s always based on what I have available and I consider what my doll family already has. I’d like to add a Middie (or two) to the doll family, perhaps a stock Neo Blythe or two, then Kenners. But really, it isn’t going to happen right now, as much as I’d like for that to happen. I’m still reluctant to spend a lot of money for a Middie (~$150), or a Neo ($200) or even a Kenner Blythe (no funds in the coffers for that right now, unless I find one at the thrift store or a garage sale).

Do you have a true “maximum” what you will pay?

Pre-Blythe, I took photos of nature, people, for parties and family gatherings. After discovering Blythe, I had more opportunities to take photos.

I learned about white balance, contorting myself into odd angles to get a good photo, about lighting and using macro for small, close objects. I’ve learned about focusing, zoom, and I’ve added more to my photo editing skills than I previously knew. Blythe is a willing model, which is nice. Blythe is easier to control than a person is. Somewhat easier to dress (besides tights…), and Blythe probably has a more extensive wardrobe than any person possibly ever well. Lately (pretty much every since I got a smartphone), most of my photos have been Instagram photos, or directly uploaded to Flickr from my phone. It’s a bad habit to get into, but a habit nonetheless.

How has Blythe influenced you as a photographer?

There is a different size of doll family for every person. Some people have one Blythe, some have two, others have twenty. I told myself at the beginning that I would only have one Blythe – this lasted for all of a month, by the way. I’ll admit that I wish I had the funds and the space for over a hundred Blythes, or more, but I don’t. As it is, I find it difficult to make time for all of my Blythes, but it’d be nice to have quite a few more dolls. I would enjoy having a rainbow family with all the hair colours, and a gaggle of Kenners. I like the size of the family that I have right now (a dozen), but I don’t know if it consider it to be small or large. Small and large are both such relative terms. In comparison to someone with over a hundred dolls, I have a puny doll family. But compared to someone who has two Blythes, I have a lot of dolls. But a dozen is a nice round number and I think that I can handle it for now.

Do you prefer having a small doll family or a large doll family?

Photo of Often (Blythe) and her husband (Carter) by Meg/irulethegalaxy.

Blythe is an interesting topic of choice to bring up to a significant other, or a potential significant other. Especially when you consider that the original Kenner Blythe didn’t exactly take off due to people being scared of her abnormally large features (and the changing of the eyes).

I can’t entirely remember how I introduced my boyfriend to Blythe. I’m about 99.99% sure that I had shown him a bunch of photos and just went on and on about the pros and cons of each doll. For instance, I was pretty sure that my first doll was going to be Natasha Moore (long dark pinky hair, houndstooth coat, beauty mark, SBL). This was before I knew anything really about molds (or telling them apart)… I’d send photo after photo of Natasha Moore this and Natasha Moore that. But it didn’t take until the first moment that I bought myself a Blythe doll that he realized that the eyes changed. Apparently I managed to neglect that fact that the eyes changed at all. I guess I was so excited over the idea of getting a Blythe that I didn’t think about how to explain it to someone who didn’t understand it (or necessarily want to discuss dolls) – I have the luckiest boyfriend who gets to listen to me yap about dolls all the time.

How well does your significant other get along with your Blythes?

Photo of Hopalong (Wonderfrog) and her husband (Carter) by Meg/irulethegalaxy.
(I was told I’d get bonus points for including this photo.)