Braiding a wig

Is anything special required to do this for a Dollfie or Smart Doll wig or do I just need a straight wig and a bucket load of patience. What if I stuffed it up, is it easy to salvage?

 

The wig in question would most likely be this one from Smart Doll as I couldn't find one the right colour or style from Volks.

https://shop.smartdoll.jp/collections/hair-styles/products/melody-style-wig

 

 

I remembered an old thread here on doing that; unfortunately the pictures are no longer showing:

If you were using a Volks wig techniques mentioned there couldn't be used since Volks wigs aren't heat resistant.

Ah Photobucket! Never ceases to be a pile of garbage.

With what little experience I have with braiding wigs, it depends on what you are after.

for the big ornamental stuff like the trademark saber librarian danish bun, those wigs tend to be rigged specifically with extra wafts to make those happen. one case in point the Saber Lily ponytail being actually just glued on to the base cap styled like a onion bulb.

Simple braids shouldn't be too hard, as long as you keep the amount of fibers within a workable size. And also selecting the groups from a spot so that it wont end up showing the inner cap.

the following was done to a cool-cats wig, that straightened out with little fuss, since it was just clipped together with the hairclip:

michi072

another smaller one done to a purple-puppet wig:

elf020

The latter is only tied together with the satin ribbon, and as hold up for several years. But as the juu-yuki post suggested some kind of transparent rubber band tying off the end might be in order.

 

The big bun-braids like with the Candy, and Shino defaults are a bit more challenging since there always seem to be a stray hair somewhere, so with those if its to be a perm thing on the wig snipping off the strays might be less stressfull than going at it ten times trying to get everything perfect:

casual015

 

I think orchidolls also posted a fishtail braid thing in the handiworks section years ago.

But you will need patience still. lots of patience.

2 hours ago, AliensOfGold said:

The wig in question would most likely be this one from Smart Doll as I couldn't find one the right colour or style from Volks.

Have you tried a SmD wig on the doll you want the wig for? Assuming that it's not for a SmD. When I tried a SmD wig on a Volks DDH-09 head, the head was much too big for the wig.

2 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

Have you tried a SmD wig on the doll you want the wig for? Assuming that it's not for a SmD. When I tried a SmD wig on a Volks DDH-09 head, the head was much too big for the wig.

Good point. I believe Danny's wigs are just considered 8" rather than 8-9" like you typically want for DDs. For reference look at the comparison pics here where you can see the Smart Doll heads are more elongated and smaller in circumference where the wig cap sits:

Have you looked at any of these, who all have no-bangs wigs that seem pretty similar to that Melody wig, and also generally cost less:

• BJD Crobi
• For My Doll
• Little Monica

Generally, you want an 8-9" wig for DD, but Crobi is an exception and you want their 9-10" size unless you are using one of the very few DD heads that are smaller.

 

5 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

Have you tried a SmD wig on the doll you want the wig for? Assuming that it's not for a SmD. When I tried a SmD wig on a Volks DDH-09 head, the head was much too big for the wig.

The wig will either be for my Ivory SmD or my Iori DDP which can wear SmD wigs perfectly. Or at least can wear the older SmD wigs because who knows right, Danny might have changed something on a whim again.

 

Also this is what I'm hoping to be able to replicate.

As far as I can tell it's a simple braid that starts from the base of the skull and obviously isn't very long. The top I have no idea.

25 minutes ago, AliensOfGold said:

 

Also this is what I'm hoping to be able to replicate.

 

For a Elsa the default Volks standard candy wig might be a good choice out of the box, though I doubt you'll find the original blonde one with the more thicc braid:

misc020

Also not quite as a "greaser" styled in general, but close enough with the overall floofyness I guess.

The shino one is more of a straight himecut, so that probably wont do.

For a DIY approach in the volks lineup, there might be the following, W115D W117D, W123D and the W143D is probably closest that what you linked from ach-choo's

Naturally might not be available in that perticular shade.

2 hours ago, AliensOfGold said:

 

The wig will either be for my Ivory SmD or my Iori DDP which can wear SmD wigs perfectly. Or at least can wear the older SmD wigs because who knows right, Danny might have changed something on a whim again.

 

Also this is what I'm hoping to be able to replicate.

As far as I can tell it's a simple braid that starts from the base of the skull and obviously isn't very long. The top I have no idea.

Someone on Etsy made an Elsa wig, but it was pricy. I don’t think she makes it anymore either. 

4 hours ago, AliensOfGold said:

 

The wig will either be for my Ivory SmD or my Iori DDP which can wear SmD wigs perfectly. Or at least can wear the older SmD wigs because who knows right, Danny might have changed something on a whim again.

 

Also this is what I'm hoping to be able to replicate.

As far as I can tell it's a simple braid that starts from the base of the skull and obviously isn't very long. The top I have no idea.

Actually I believe it's a French Braid. I know this because I had to get someone to help me with my wig when I cosplayed Jedi Elsa.

If you just go on Youtube and look up "Elsa braid tutorial" or "Elsa wig tutorial", you'll probably find some decent guides on how to get it to look right.

For an Elsa style, you're going to want a wig without a parting, or with hairs sewn under the front of the cap- otherwise when you pull it back, you're going to see the cap and wefting underneath on the sides.

Monique actually makes a very nice Elsa wig, too and their wigs fit nicely on DDs

Edited December 30, 2019 by Serena-Hime