Doll proportions vs human proportions??

I love their slender elfish bodies. My mum collects dolls as well and I was never a fan of those chubby childish looking dolls (except for antique French china dolls). I always said I'd like to own dolls that look fairish and a bit more grown up than normal artist dolls. I'm also very slender, but not as tall as I wish I was. So those dolls are my beauty ideal, but I also own chubby dolls like SD Megu and a Lusion doll, because they are so cute.

 

Traditionally, the smaller the doll, the larger the head can be in proportion to the body and the eyes in proportion to the head.
It is not just about hunting for childish features and all that, but also because we tend to want to be able to easily "read" the face of the doll. It is the same thing with cartoon characters and puppets.

Another thing that is usually off is that dolls often have disproportionally small hands and, sometimes, short arms. Feet can also be way off, usually on the small side.

To me, who started my interest in dolls with antique dolls, most BJD's look extremely realistically proportioned for a doll. Most are intended to be stylized, after all. Pleasant to look at, easy to relate to. We humans like to be able to read things into the dolls expression, which is what makes the dolls "speak" to us.
Unlike hyper realistic sculptures of humans, that tends to look dead, cold and lack personality. The uncanny valley is one part of it too, of course. Realistic is not always better.

 

Dolls-- they can be whatever proportions anyone wants to sculpt (and buy, if someone sculpts it and makes it available, anyway). They aren't real humans and they don't have to be realistic at all. That's the beauty of it. Some companies can specialize in more realistic dolls, others can make fantasy dolls, others can make anthro dolls or animal dolls, others can make long skinny dolls, others can make dolls with big hips and thighs, others can make anime/manga style... They are sculpted, not genetically formed, so we don't have to stick to what just happens with real-life humans or animals or whatever.

I do not think all BJDs are alike at all. Not these days! BUT--many conform to certain proportions because the clothes and shoes are made for those sizes (like most SD/Large sized clothing and shoes, etc.). Also some dolls are made thinner/smaller/taller in order for clothes to look better on them. There are lots of reasons why dolls are proportioned the way they are. It isn't just some strange BJD-code!

There is no right and wrong or should or should not, here. People buy the dolls they like. If someone makes more realistic sculpts, and many people buy that, then more makers will consider making more realistic sculpts. If some companies like making certain styles and people keep buying them, that's what they will do.

Some buyers will prefer a doll that will fit most clothes rather than have to buy specialized clothes or have to sew or commission clothes.

If you look into the very short history of modern resin BJDs, you will know that they started with Volks SD dolls and expanded from there, so companies grew up with that as a standard--that's why so many dolls are made with those proportions--so they could fit the outfits and could more easily swap parts with each other.

But now there are lots of companies making all sizes and types and proportions of dolls. That's a very nice thing--and very unlike the early 2000s when there were only SDs in one style and only one or two companies making them!!!

Personally, I don't want my all dolls to look hyper-realistic. I like the realism of Iplehouse, but they are still very, very idealized! And I like anime/manga styled dolls, and dolls with long legs. I like the variety. I definitely don't want all dolls to be 8 heads high or whatever.

Plus--that heads guide for proportions is not reality, either! It's just a guide for a sort of average-looking human proportion... but real humans rarely fit that guide! The average in this case doesn't mean that most people are like that! It means that some will be shorter/longer and most definitely a lot more wider and bumpier, but if you round it all out (so to speak) and shave off a LOT of fat and muscle... then you have those proportion-guides.

AND-- even if you have a sculptor follow the guides, people will still have their own opinions on whether the proportions look right to them or not! These things are so subjective. Not everyone is going to agree on what they like, proportion-wise.

 

I did this with my MSD girl and she was 7.5 heads tall. Either I did it wrong or she's proportioned well?