Hollow Breasts vs Gel Breasts
Hollow breasts have been standard in the doll world for quite some time. They have air pockets in the center and allow for the breasts to be lighter, easier to squeeze, softer, and bouncier than solid breasts. Typically breasts that are a C cup or larger have the option to be hollow since A and B cups are too small to fill the inner pockets with air. Hollow breasts are an excellent choice and you can’t go wrong! They feel great. They are also lighter than solid breasts and less likely to cause damage and tearing from sagging. TPE is quite a dense material.
Gel breasts are a newer option that use extremely soft TPE rather than air in the core of the breast. This allows for the breasts to be even more jiggly, much more squeezable, very bouncy, etc. If this is an option you’d like to go with, we recommend choosing the gel option for dolls with a C to J cup. Like with hollow breasts, A and B cups are too small to fill with gel. You can still choose the gel option for a cup size larger than J, but it’s good to know the potential risks associated with this option and the extra care that needs to be taken.
As you go up in cup size and the breasts become larger, more material has to be used in the core of the breast which adds significant weight. We have seen stretching and more extensive micro tearing using gel in larger cup sizes. If the breasts are left unsupported, tearing and other damage such as sagging may occur more rapidly.
We highly recommend always supporting larger breast sizes with an appropriate fitting bra, especially if they are H cups or larger and regardless if they are hollow or filled with gel.
Traditional bras seem like the most obvious way to support breasts and they absolutely can be used successfully. However, the thin straps on many bras can be a little unforgiving on a dolls soft skin and can cause stress leading to micro tears in the shoulder/clavicle region. We recommend using a sports bra, bralette, or any bra that has soft, wide straps in the shoulder region and widen throughout the back offering even more support. Bras of this style typically aren’t exact sizes as traditional bras are which display cup size. You’ll see standard sizing such as Small, Medium, Large, etc. They also are fairly elastic so getting a tighter bra shouldn’t pose much of a problem and can even be more ideal for dolls with extremely large breasts. If you will be storing your doll with a bra on to support her breasts, it’s also important to choose a white bra to avoid potential staining. You can save the colored bras for play time, photo shoots, etc. where the bra will be on for a shorter period of time.