Working from the ground up, we consider footwear for your guy dolls
It has been said that if you get the hair and the shoes right, the rest will take care of itself. I’m not sure if this is totally accurate, and I’m not advocating that anyone sets off in their new hairdo and best shoes, with nothing on in between. In fact, totally nudity in the streets has recently been banned by city ordinance in my own fair city of San Francisco. Who knew it was allowed beforehand?
Rather my point is that we tend to settle on a look for both footwear and hairstyles that we found in our youth and stick rigidly to it. Guys are particularly guilty of this. Not only is this approach a little aging, as we begin to look like we’re in a time warp, but it’s pretty unadventurous too.
So it is with guy dolls. The beauty of the newest wigged resin dolls is that they are endlessly flexible, and can adopt a huge range of styles. If we’re considering vintage vinyl with molded hair, we’re pretty much stuck in a specific period. But this makes the challenge of getting the shoes right even more interesting. 1960s Ken, for example, would look pretty idiosyncratic in a pair of Nike running shoes, or anything else that hadn’t been invented in that decade.
When going for shoes for guy dolls it is always best to adopt the less-is-more policy. In many ways it’s easier than choosing shoes for the girls because there are fewer basic styles to choose from.
It’s good to think about shoes and boots for specific occasions or activities. So a capsule list might consist of outdoor boots, dress shoes, something sporty, casual shoes, and holiday wear. There might be some overlap between even these few categories, cutting down the options yet further.
Once you’ve got your list together, the next step is to consider colors. Using the same principles as for men’s clothing, it’s generally more effective to stick to a limited palette of colors for basic shoes. You will rarely go wrong with a decent black or a solid brown. The wilder flights of fancy in the color spectrum should be reserved for sport shoes. Fabrics such as ocelot print are best avoided unless you’re going for the lothario look.
This is not to say it shouldn’t be fun. There’s nothing wrong with subverting a conventional style with color now and again. Pink wingtips anyone, or the palest lemon hiking boots? If you do decide to go for an unconventional hue, the trick is to keep the clothing fairly sober. This works on two levels – the shoes will be more unexpected and it will help the color pop.
Holiday shoes have become decidedly clumpy of late, with the reemergence of Birkenstocks and the popularity of pool slides for use anywhere but the pool. Even Prada produced a signature line of these. The rule for sandals of any type, following human guidelines, is never with socks, and absolutely never with both shorts and socks. This rule is only to be broken if you are aiming for total geek. Besides, the foot sculpts of many dolls are truly beautiful. Much less so for the feet of real people. No corns, bunions, or planar warts for our plastic friends’ feet. So why not show them off?
Patterns rarely work on men’s shoes. Some of the cutest women’s shoes around are Doctor Martens Airwair shoes in floral prints of a 1970s Laura Ashley theme. Men’s shoes from the same range are generally plain in color, with one exception, although there are some nice metallics – even a silver for the brave of heart. Gold, however, is generally a no-no except if you’re dressing your Elton John doll.
Broadly, footwear for male dolls need not be too attention-seeking. Deck shoes should be plain and dress shoes should not be too dressy – leave that to other accessories, sharp tailoring, and a great haircut.
This story first ran in Fashion Doll Quarterly magazine, 2014
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