Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder...

Definitely agree with muziklvr's opinion above!
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder-- while I find some molds unbearably hideous, I know many others out there actually pay large sums for them and cherish it just as much as I cherish my "beautiful" dolls. At the same time, I know some people who are not too fond of my dolls' sculpts (they're all from DOD), but love other ones from various other artists.

 

Word.

We may not all agree on the definition of "ugly" (or the definition of "beautiful", for that matter-), but somewhere out there we're all likely to run into an example of it. I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

And this is coming from a woman who owns (and adores-) a Nanuri '06, a couple of Harangs and an Eden... Dolls that are pretty widely regarded as hopelessly fugly. XD

 

They aren't all beautiful because they aren't all supposed to be. There are plenty of purposefully hideous dolls out there. Not to say that they aren't loved, either because of, or in spite of their repulsive visage, but from a purely aesthetic point of view, these dolls are not beautiful.

But I'm sure they have a great personality.

 

I've yet to see a single doll that I would call 'beautiful'. Aesthetically pleasing or pretty, yes, but not 'beautiful'... Maybe my standards are just too high. I'm just too picky.

 

It's a nice thing to think, a good way to be overall! However, I'll be honest, there are dolls out there I don't like and don't think are beautiful in any way. Some dolls I've seen from the official pictures I cringe at. I will always, however, keep my opinion to myself, since I would not want to hurt someone in anyway. My despair mold may be someone's dream mold.

I will agree to every mold has the potential to be beautiful to someone though, just probably not to my personal tastes.

 

The best example I can think about the topic applied to BJDs is this one:
Belladona from Notdoll Lab.

Most of us can say something like 'what the heck... this doll IS horrible, ugly!' But of course there are a lot of people buying it because they DO like them.

So maybe there is a concept about 'beauty' that can be liked for lot of people, but of course it does not mean that concept is the only worhting ^^

 

I totally agree, just because I don't find the doll pleasing doesn't in any way mean that it's ugly. It's just not my taste.

I personally cringe at any and all gore mods, but those things take a great deal of care, time, skill, and courage to do, so I still apreciate them for what they are, and understand that the doll's owner loves it.

Someone mentioned Violeta from Dollzone, and her oddly shaped mouth. I actually love her face, her scowl. She looks like she's just smelled something bad, and her vampire form was stunning. I guess it's the novelty that get's me, being an overall lovely doll with that kind of expression. I have no plans to purchase her (SDs are just too big!), but I'd be happy to see more girls with such haughty looks.

 

there are some models I dont like. But I like most of them.

 

Beauty is definitely subjective -- it happens with everything. For example, one of my friends is always complaining that he's "too skinny", and, therefore, not "attractive". But, to me, his figure is absolutely wonderful, and very well damn attractive. I'm not a "muscles" type of girl, so, to me, he's just perfect as he is. But to a girl who likes the "big football player" type, he won't be attractive at all.

Same thing happens with dolls. The overly-stylized, anime faces don't do it for me (the reason why I don't like Volks dolls.) I like the could-pass-up-for-a-real-person realistic type of BJD. To me, a Volks Nono is "meh", and a Soom Olivine will have me staring awestruck at her for hours. But that's just me -- to some, Nono is the most gorgeous thing ever, and Olivine isn't "doll-ish" and "cute" enough. I, for example, don't like tinies very much -- they're too "baby-ish" for me. But, for some, they are just the thing -- they love the cute little ones.

The fact that someone out there doesn't like it doesn't mean it's ugly -- save for money, I can't think of a single thing in this world everyone likes.

As cliché as it sounds, the saying IS true. And, actually, the fact that we've all got different tastes is what makes life interesting. It would be boring, not to mention chaotic, if we all lusted after the same things -- same guy, same doll, same clothes, same purse, same gadgets... it would be terrible!

 

I think they all have their own charm and character even if they don't fit into my resin crew. I appreciate the interesting mods people do as well as the unconventional sculpts that people love. I have an unconventional floating head coming home next week (hopefully) named Bleu Citron. A lot of people don't like the sculpt at all! XD But, to me, I think she's a little gem and I can't wait to paint her.

 

I don't think they're all beautiful.

I think some of them are downright ugly.

But, because it *is* all in the eye of the beholder, others amy well will think the ones I find beautiful are ugly and/or find the one I think ugly are beautiful to them.

I have some dolls (not among my BJD's), that I think are ugly. It didn't stop me buying and loving them. I just did it recognizing that they aren't beautiful.

Also, beautiful does not necessarily equate to attractive. Plain, or ugly things/people/dolls can all be attractive.

Teddy

 

Well...I suppose it depends on how you define 'beauty' doesn't it? I'm not talking about someone's aesthetic perspective ('some people think I what find ugly is pretty' ), but rather the idea that beauty isn't necessarily an adjective tied only to physical appearance. As bunnydots mentioned, a well-loved toy can be seen as beautiful because of the sentimental value behind it. BJD owners, in general, tend to invest an awful lot in their dolls beyond aesthetic beauty.
I've always been of the opinion that there CAN be beauty in just about everything. A 'poorly done' mod that was done with love and that the owner is proud of because of the effort it took? To me, that's a beautiful thing because it brings happiness to somebody. I might not 'get it', it might not look quite right to me, but I'm certainly not going to deny it's beauty. If that makes any sense at all lol

 

This. Very much so.

That and I have to admit I cringe a little when I hear "beauty is subjective." I tend to think of it as a warm fuzzy cop out. My philosophy of the arts teacher used to say that it was "complete and utter piffle," in his charming English accent. The fact that there is considerable disagreement about what the standards for beauty are, does not mean that they are purely subjective. It just means that a universal truth about beauty is hard to define. Saying that it is all based purely on some magical, inexplicable reaction in someone's head takes away all possible discussion for what the qualities of beauty are and how they can be measured. If beauty is subjective than art contests are simply luck of the draw based on the judge and there is no relation to the skill level of the artist. If beauty is subjective, than there is no bad art. There are no ugly dolls.

Me, I think there is bad art. I think there are ugly dolls. I don't think beauty is subjective. And I don't think that beauty is necessarily the only qualifier for a doll's value. I don't think the only reason for owning a doll is to have it be pretty. And of course I'm a firm believer that being polite is best, so unless I am fairly certain that I won't offend someone, I am reasonably unlikely to tell anyone if I think their doll is ugly.

 

I love your teacher and I agree fullheartedly. A universal truth about beauty is hard to define, yes, but that doesn't mean that there are no 'guidelines'. Complete books concerning art are filled with these. And of course there are exceptions, but it's the exceptions that prove the rule, I guess.

I think there are ugly dolls. I think there are poorly done dolls. But I also think it is extremely rude to say that to someones face, knowing he/she will be offended.

 

everything is beautiful... even ugliness

 

As has been said over & over, beauty is in the eye of the beholder yet, personally, there are indeed dolls that I find highly unattractive. Poor sculpts, bad face-ups & some mods ruin a doll's beauty to me. Yet someone else may find these very things desirable.

Even some of my own dolls aren't what I'd call beautiful but they have character or strongly express an emotion & that's what attracks me to them. I don't think a doll has to be tradionally beautiful to be desirable. In fact, I've sold many of my dolls because they were simply pretty & not expressive enough.

 

Ah, good, someone else who likes Violeta. There is something unique in her hauty expression, somewhat like an unhappy cat that I just love. Mind you, I've always loved what others have deemed not-so-pretty / darker art dolls too ... someone might say it relates to my being an ex-goth but even the gothic aesthetic is highly subjective.
I know there have been a few similar threads out there but each time I'd have to say, no matter whether you love or loathe a sculpt, as long as the owner loves their doll I believe it's not really anyone's business annd think it's just plain rude to go about slamming oother people's sense of taste in that respect.

 

Beautiful, ugly, plain, homely, gorgeous. In essence, these things just reflect our own personal choices. My ugly may be your charming, your homely my beautiful. My tastes, your tastes. There's an old saying about pleasing all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but never all of the people all of the time. Beautiful to everybody? No, I don't think that will ever happen.

 

Thank you...I'm glad I not the only one who thinks that way and is not afraid to voice their opinion. I got called on the carpet here once for saying that about that sculpt, but now some else sees it too. She is cute in her own way not that I would want one, but I do not believe there is one anything that every one will find beautiful or ugly. Even in the world of art, music, and dolls too. As long as tolerance prevails and you allow me to have what I think is beautiful and I allow you the same consideration, even if we don't agree, then I hope we would be okay.


- ShadowHawke -