Dolls are a huge part of my life and I always turn to my dolls for inspiration in whatever I do; be it in my craft or life.

Most of us would have played/ known about Barbie dolls as children. In fact, our first dolls would most probably be a Barbie.

Launched in 1959, Barbie became the juggernaut of the doll world in the 60s.

1) Barbie Doll

For more than 50 years, the blonde bombshell with 5 joints and so many clothes and accessories whereby half was pink; Barbie has been an important part of growing up for every little girl and boy to discover fashion, role play adult roles and responsibilities and playing out their limitless imagination.

Who can remember cutting/ shaving their Barbie’s hair to the horror of our parents but I guess that was part of growing up. Getting new clothes for Barbie; taking them out for tea parties with other Barbie; having a favourite Barbie while the others would be its slave, that doll brought me hours of fun when I was given my first Barbie doll by my grandparents.

A Barbie Skydancer which I no longer have thanks to the recall of the toy…

The exact Skydancers I have!

After I grew bored with the Skydancers, my aunt presented me with another doll from the 60s which really kicked off my doll hobby.

2) The Sindy Doll

Pretty Sindys

These gorgeous 4 jointed dolls are a British fashion doll created by Pedigree Dolls and Toys in 1963.
Just like Barbie, ‘The doll you love to dress” Sindy had a huge range of clothing and accessories but had a more teenage styled body.

I’ll dress her anytime<3

Sindy had a really classic look to her which made her fit the Rococo style dresses I love so much.
The Skydancers can never fit in them thanks to their wings/ hands and it always irritates me to no end that my Skydancers did not have proper legs and all I could do with their arms is to flap them around.

So finally; a doll I treasured and a doll that I did not feel like cutting her hair off in order to get a different style from them.

Of course, I soon outgrew the Sindy doll when I chanced upon Ball Jointed Dolls.

3) Ball Jointed Dolls

Soom Topaz

Ball Jointed Dolls or BJDs are extremely very realistic and posable. They are made of resin and are strung together with elastics. Your ability to customize them is limited to what you have in your bank account so the possibilities are technically endless.

I started the BJD hobby about 4 years ago. Juliet was my very first doll – a Domuya Alice

She soon became an important part of my school projects as images of my girls made their appearance throughout my school design projects.

Juliet -Domuya Alice

Chiriko -Luts Taffy

I guess my dolls play out the fairy tales/ ideas I have in my mind and with 23 joints, they are one of the most posable dolls in the market.
They say you can tell a doll owner’s character by looking at how he/she styles their BJDs. From the images, I definitely have a little bit of a princess syndrome whereby I LOVE  big, beautiful and elaborate dresses.
My dolls are something I aspire to be or do as the storytelling possibilities with them are incredible.

Human size dress for me anyone?

My dolls also inspired my photography as they encouraged me to look at portraiture and still life differently. Such as how the light falls on your face; how to get the best angle and since they were such a joy to photograph, I ended up honing my photography as they became my subject.

I knew I was moving in the right direction when I won my first photo competition in 2009 with this image:

I am extremely very fortunate to have these dolls in my life!

From Barbie to Sindy to the BJDs, I hoped you enjoyed my little story on how a doll that started from the 60s inspired my current collection of dolls and photography!

I am also going to continue my shameless promotion proud presentation of No Foreign Lands as one of the top 10 best photography blog for this year’s Singapore Blog Awards 2013!
If you enjoy my images or my general ramblings on this blog, I would really appreciate it if you could spend some time to vote every day if possible and may good karma be upon you!

Credits:
http://www.noodle-head.com
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/skydancers?language=fr_FR