Can dolls be too pretty?

I see enough of large breasts gradually losing the fight to gravity every day when I look at myself, so I really don't want to see the same thing when I look at my dolls. I want them to have gorgeous, perfectly shaped at all times breasts. And honestly, I like my doll boobs big. Dollfie Dream Dynamite big. I had an SD16 Cristal and had to give up on her because the SD16's boobs were too small.

I don't feel insecure looking at dolls. They're dolls. Their proportions on an actual living human would look freakish and terrifying, but look great because they're dolls. Much like how I find anime proportions much more pleasing to the eye than more realistic comic styles. I like the exaggerated legs, the big perky boobs, the tiny waists, the larger eyes to face ratio. This doesn't mean that I hate myself because I don't look like them. Frankly, if someone was having self esteem problems because they don't look like inanimate objects or cartoons of people who don't exist, they have bigger underlying problems than the dolls having perfect breasts.

 

To ad to the boob debate. I love the big boobs because frankly, lots of women have large breasts. It's Not unrealistic. Lots of women have small boobs too.
I just like em to look natural. The dolfie dreams are too round on top for me. I prefer a slight slope of 'these are not implants'. So I have a dollmore glamour eve and I adore her big tata's. It's just FUN.
I also wouldn't mind having my other doll be a bit more flat chested because it suits her character.

Now the mens bodies? Those are weird. Specially the ones with wide rippling muscles and yet you can see their ribcage? O_o Muscly men are also beefy. Why can we see that rib cage? O_o

 

I admire the few artists who accurately and wonderfully portray scars, moles, and even decomposition on dolls and consider them artistic, realistic enhancements. I can't say I would want skin diseases painted on my personal dolls because I don't find them attractive on people. I do invent stories about my dolls for fun, but they are simple and uncomplicated and it's just not necessary for them to have serious issues. My not-so-pretty dolls (Notdoll ladies) are made that way by design. I don't have a problem with anything other people do with their dolls, but I am more likely to look at pretty ones.

 

Just like celebrities can be too pretty, dolls can EASILY be too pretty. Dolls are cool because they reflect a certain part of us, and if they're too distant from us for us to connect, it's just not as cool anymore.

 

When I see picture perfect dolly bodies; big boobs, wasp waists, eight-packs, flawless faces I yaaaaaaawn. I see enough of this obsession with perfection in magazines and TV, I don't want it with my dolls as well.

I like dolls with flaws and imperfect bodies compared to how their gender is 'supposed' to look. I like them to feel raw and real, like actual people. I want them with moles, freckles, scars, scrawny bodies, androgyny. I like striking, not pretty.

In a weird way, I find beauty and perfection in flaws :3.

 

I do think dolls can look too pretty, but I also think they can look beautifully ordinary if that makes any sense. In dolls which are sculpted to be beautiful, playing up this 'ordinariness' can lead to something beautiful and plain. I think that's what my dolls are. I won't give them acne because there's really no need, when you look at them, you can pretty much imagine their characters having spots and things. I personally have eczema which is pretty uncomfortable, so I'm not a fan of skin conditions on dolls either. I do give them moles, birthmarks, and full body freckles, and I also do scars- not the awesome star/heart/cross/burn type deals, simple 'fell of my bike last summer' scars, and something about that kind of realism makes my dolls really pretty to me.

Character-wise, scars, birthmarks and freckles never define my characters, they're just part of them- a well rounded character is something that can be really hard to develop, but it's even harder if it's completely based on looks- good or bad.

 

I like beauty, but I find beauty alone bland and uninteresting. For me beauty in a doll needs to be balanced by something odd or quirky in the sculpt itself or in the treatment of the doll as a character (visually, not backstory-wise). A funny face tends to win my heart over a pretty one.

Raven

 

I totally argee with the first poster, I think it makes the doll a lot more personal. I have a doll with three scars on his face, not hugely-big ones but scars just above his eyebrow (I don't know how he got them, it's rude to ask, but he likes extreme sport, I figure it was because of that.) he also has two little moles under his eye.
I have very pretty girl dolls but I always like my boys to look a little rougher. I'd hate to have a pretty boy doll. It's really boring.

Although having said that, I don't see anything wrong in wanting pretty or 'perfect' looking dolls.

 

I definatly prefer some imperfections on my dolls. When I see those before and after internet ads for photoshopping pictures, and they remove all the woman's pores and wrinkles I get a little annoyed because I really think they look better before. I know a lot of people don't consider their character complete until they can name every possible favorite and name what they had for lunch ten years ago, I don't consider my characters complete until I can see their pores. The same with bjds, I love seeing 'flaws', it makes them seem more human and I'm much more likely to listen when their owner goes "it's not a mary sue, it's not".
I can appreciate the perfect bjds too, I just prefer the flawed ones.
The only bjds that go into too pretty for me are the (usually) yo-sd ones that have perfect curled hair, a perfect airbrushed face, and a frilly pink dress. That creeps me out, it reminds me of baby dolls and I've always viewed bjds as the antithesis of those.

 

What I like about MSD-size/Minis: flatness, little A-cups, and D-Cups all available.

 

A lot of the problem I've had is the fact that I cannot find a female to get that has breasts that I actually like.

All of the ample girls I've seen look more like they have implants..I want my girls to be natural (Granted..those implant boobs would look great in a dress, corset, or bra. It's almost like they're wearing an invisible push-up) and it's not because I feel insecure about my own body.

Like someone stated before me..If I'm feeling insecure because my DOLLS are "too pretty" then I need a little more help than just buying different dolls. LOL

Something that did annoy me a little bit when I got the boys in the mail is that their bits don't look natural at all. I almost want to carve into them a little bit/add some to them to look like a penis and testicles. Every other inch of them looks so real to me...and then bam! the penis. No no! My boys don't show their junk off or anything..but the fact is I know that it looks less than appealing down there..so it bothers me on a daily basis.

About being too pretty...Yeah. I can't stand the ones that look like porcelain dolls. They look pretty in pictures..but I could never own one. Not saying they are inferior but they just arent for me. I like mine to give an illusion of being a real person when I take pictures of them. It's fun for me to weird people out with them, too. I think the boys get a giggle out of it too.

 

While I would not be a fan of pimples and such (The woodworker in me would want to take sandpaper to the doll to remove such blemishes) I do wish there were more varied body weights/shapes, which may be considered flaws to some (I know the characters tend to class it as a flaw)

I don't have a 'type' body wise that I drift towards (well, I do love large hips on resin girls...) and I work to pre thought out characters so it's disheartening when all the male bodies are well toned with muscle showing etc when really I'm looking for weedy looking or a larger body type. I wouldn't want an obese doll... It'd weird me out. I just want non toned and natural looking. ^^'
Also, ignoring character planning when it comes to girl dolls I do generally prefer smaller chests (for SD sized dolls that is) and generally girls, the older they are and the flatter their chest is they will class it as a flaw.

That said, when it comes to faces I have a 'type' and that is big eyes (or dreaming ones), smallish nose (but not too small or pointed), pouty lips and adorable shaped chins. All these qualities could be considered 'too pretty' (Or other worldly) but I like what I like! XD
I do love freckles (not my own BC ), scars and such on doll faces though I personally don't class them as 'flaws'....but again, I'm sure some of the characters do. Just like me and my own freckles.


But at the end of the day, everyone is different in what they see as a 'flaw'. Some one who owns a doll that they think is perfect and wonderful and very pretty may encounter someone who doesn't agree and thinks those big eyes and little nose are a flaw. And then there are those who happen to love that 'flaw'. Some one might see a doll with a scar over it's eye and think it's horrible but someone else in the same second may think the doll is brilliant!

 

While I'm not sure I'd make a beeline for a saggy-bust girl, nor am I terribly insecure about the resin endowments (maybe a teensy bit jealous of their gravity-defying capabilities tho LOL) I do wish more companies would put out alternate SD bust sizes--like an A or B cup rather than C and above. (Spiritdoll is one of the few I know of, and I believe a new body from Angle's Doll just did this as well) but for the most part, I would prefer a better selection in bust size for mature female bodies (and more specifically, the realistic girl bodies--like if Iple put out an A-cup I'd be thrilled, since my own preferred aesthetic has moved from the idealized BJD to the more realistic sculpts.) I personally find smaller busts much more attractive (probably b/c I don't have one LOL) and the girl characters I'm looking to shell in resin are pretty much all part of the bitty boobie brigade; but my choice in lanky, flat-chested girl bodies is staggeringly limited (if not non-existent). Busty beauties are plenty gorgeous of course, I don't mind the voluptuous vixen now and then and I have a large bust Iple SID at home, but it's a look I'm rather tired of personally. A more dynamic variety would be awesome.

As for blemishes, I think with all things, if something is done well I can find myself admiring any imperfection. Though I'm not sure how I would feel about acne or pimples... that may be pushing it for me--I do have plenty of dolls at home with moles and freckles and beauty marks and skin texturing--I love that sort of thing.

 

Ive never heard of the mary sue thing to be quite honest. I don't find dolls appealing with pimples and warts, why would I want to give my doll something that I myself try to avoid getting?. I don't see any sense in it but people can do what they like with there dolls ^^. More interesting to me is when people give piercings or tattoos to there dolls or nice body blush etc.

 

I also had never heard of a Mary Sue before, but now have a very strong desire to make a character with every single point on this check list....

To the real topic at hand: I really do appreciate both worlds. Sometimes it's nice to look at the eye-candy of perfection, but too much of it and it becomes bland. There is something fascinating about ugly beauty. Sadly, not everyone can see the beauty of ugliness.
There are some details that I would not want my dolls to ever have: pimples is one. Poorly done they would look like random spots. If they were well done, it would frustrate me that they couldn't be popped (gross, I know, but that's where my mind goes whenever I see pimples)
Warts might be interesting, though....

 

The thing about Mary Sues (and Anti-Sues for that matter) is that they are ridiculously boring since they have every positive or typical "good trait" that any character could want/need and they always win because of that fact. What's the point in reading or writing about a character like that? I think (to get back on topic) that imperfections in dolls are interesting, they can be both a wonderful device for creating quirky, awesome characters, or for creating the most irritating of anti-sues. In terms of bodies, I definitely wish there was a little more variation than the perfect athletic body type, but I wouldn't personally be inclined to buy something that was extreme in the opposite direction. I'd go for a pudgy doll, or an unusually thin one, but not one that was obese or anorexic because neither of those extremes is really attractive to me... It's difficult in an aesthetically based hobby to create something as versatile as human beings can be regardless of our own obsessions with perfections in one extreme or another...

 

I think that there is a healthy level of weird, honestly. I love having interesting tattoos, things I don't like on humans, odd colors, clothing style, all of that. I do shy away from aesthetics that I find gross though.
I think there's a level of realism, honestly. I wouldn't want to see pimples or acne scars or stretchmarks. nor do i care for completely wispy and emaciated or overly heavy. I think that too perfect can end up very eerie to look at. it's all about balance. i don't care to dress my dolls in things that are overly frilly, but i spend a good amount of time on body work for them. I like freckles, beauty marks, some scars, but they're all stylized to a point. I don't see a way to stylize something like an acne scar or a pimple and make it pleasing to the eye.

 

Bronzing this quote right now.

(I lost the war with gravity by age 12.)

On bewbs: Resin is a hard material. It is never going to act like real breasts do, ever. The companies tend to aim for a clothed appearance, or something in-between that serves neither need (nudity vs. clothed) ideally, but does so adequately. Think about it for a minute -- even a 'naturally drooping' breast isn't going to look right in most poses that aren't 'standing up straight' or 'sitting up straight'. Standing on her head? Leaning over? Laying on her back? 'Natural droop' is going to be affected by the specific gravity of those positions, they're not just going to be hanging in a graceful slope that way. It's just something to keep in mind that seems to keep getting overlooked every time this comes up. In my ideal world, we'd still have a 'clothed' bra-shaping bust and something more naturally gravity-affected for nudes (of any size, mind), but I doubt it's in the company's best financial interest to do this since I suspect most people would buy the 'in between' option anyway to save money and restringing hassles.

As for the 'pretty pretty princess' syndrome, I doubt we'll ever escape it entirely. Dolls engage our fantasy play, and plenty of people still dream pretty pretty princess dreams. It may bore me to tears, but it's not my place to judge anyone over it. Mercy knows the stories behind most of mine are fairly out there.

I don't personally find perfection interesting -- save for in one respect, where it trips the uncanny valley hard and turns into horror. And that's not really the definition of perfection I think most folks are talking about.