Dolls Based Off "Yourself"

That’s really encouraging, thank you. It gives me a ray of hope at the end of what was a very rough day.

 

You're very welcome! I've had a rough day too, I'm glad I could help!

 

I think I'm so awful to have a doll of myself, I'm not even an idol.
But when I see someone that is beautiful and successful, I just think it's great if these has a doll like him/hers!

 

I've thought about this idea before, but I don't think I would actually do it. I'd rather make dolls into characters that don't exist yet. And first I would have to find a sculpt that looks like me and there probably isn't one, although Maskcat Doll Frances is the closest resemblance I've seen.

 

One of my girls is loosely based off me looks wise. All of my BJDs bear a couple of similar traits to me. Pale, flat chested, long haired, and light eyed. Lmao

 

Many of my dolls represent aspects of myself in their characters; whether it be a mutual like/dislike, or a shared taste in clothes, hair style, or eye colour; there's a bit of myself in all my dolls. That said, I have been trying to create a sort of mini-me/ideal-me doll for a while now and it's proving hard. Finding the right body and the right head combination is driving me up the wall. Most of the heads I've found have really large necks, but the bodies closest to me have really narrow necks and shoulders, meaning the heads would look very weird and out of proportion. Bah.

 

I think that would just depress me, lol.

 

Honestly, I worry quite a lot about doing this by accident. I think it would be Bad For Me. A lot of the designs I make for doll ideas, I realise they look a lot like goals I have for myself, and maybe from a mental health perspective, that could get weird quickly.

So I'm trying to focus on making the designs which look like someone I might like to be into goals for myself, and I try and be aware of what my subconscious is trying to tell me.

And then I try and consciously create doll designs which look different. But I never like them as much.

 

I had a lot of difficulty with my appearance up until I was in my mid-20s, so the dolls I found very beautiful usually looked completely different from me. But, like seeing more representation in media, I discovered that having a doll that looks like you teaches you to appreciate your own unique beauty as well. I really don't believe there's a single ugly person in the world; if they are ugly it's because of their personality. But all features are beautiful in their own way, and their diversity should be celebrated.

I have been making a serious effort to buy dolls that look like me. All but one of my dolls are brunettes (one has silver hair), but they all have different eye colors to avoid looking exactly the same. There's one that looks nearly exactly like me, but it's kind of a chubby baby-like doll and has a lighter complexion. Oops, looks like I need to buy another doll so I can have a perfect twin

 

I would absolutely love a doll that looks like me. I've always had a little bit of a complex because I don't look like what people of my ethnicity looks like and growing up I've only had one or two Barbie dolls that kind of looked like me but not really (the High School Musical Gabriella doll and the Dolls of the World - Philippines doll). If I could find a doll that looked like me (with my skin tone and everything) I would be so ecstatic.

On the other hand, my husband has the kind of look that could be found in Roman or Greek statues (face not body, hahaha) or in English portraits or even classic Rock and Roll artists so I guess that means he's classically handsome which makes me happy but envious at the same time. I've had people come up to me and say, "Oh, your husband looks like Ben Affleck" or "Oh, he looks like James McAvoy" or "Oh wow, he looks like a young Bob Dylan" and it amazes me how he's like a chameleon and fits into whatever physical aesthetic a person has. I literally found an ancient bust at the Getty Villa that looked like him that even my friends were like, "That looks like Daniel!" I also even found a Ken doll that looked like him (eyes same shade of blue-grey, hair parted the same way with the same dark curls, etc) and I bought that because I thought it was so cool (he didn't think it was cool, but I did it anyway, bwahahahaha). He's like meh about it and says it's all in my head. But again, having grown up with nothing that looks like me, I'm envious at the accessibility of finding something that looks like him.

I think most people would be creeped out if they saw a doll that looked exactly like a living person so I would probably be a little ashamed to have one that looked like me. However, again growing up with dolls that didn't look like me and still don't (and I'm nearly 40!), I think I rather take the risk of others being creeped out just to have the satisfaction of having a doll that looked like me.

 

Like a few other people have said, I would love a doll that has features that reflect mine rather than the typical European or East Asian features that we see a lot on dolls.

Representation in general is an issue in the BJD community, and although some companies are offering darker resins it would be nice to have dolls with features specific to ethnic minority groups rather than just eurocentric features on darker resin.

For me specifically, I’d love a doll with an aquiline nose as I have one and it’s not a feature that’s usually seen as desirable despite being a feature in so many ethnicities all over the globe.

 

I can’t really think of a reason I’d do a doll of me, as I am. I mean, do t get me wrong, I think I’m really pretty. I’ve got great self esteem (now), but having a doll of me would invite so much comparison. She wouldn’t be constantly fluctuating in weight, because she can’t get sick, and I can. Her hair would always be black, and mine grows brown roots that I’m at war with. The blue on her hair wouldn’t wash out—she doesn’t wash her hair at all, in fact.

Now, I’ve done self-insert character dolls. Rina (now not a self insert and named Shrike) was my character for years, who slowly became more her own character and less me. I never wanted to look like her, but she was this really powerful magical being, and I vibe with that. Her name was literally a part of mine.

Vidania is my current self-character. She happened by accident. I made a dnd character with a tragic backstory that I didn’t realize lined up with my own circumstances that I was, at the time, denying. She is trying to romance a character played by my girlfriend (which she did before I did, mind you!) She even has my mental illness (I didn’t know I was bipolar, and her emotions were “like mine but worse.”) So she’s me kn the inside. On the outside, she isn’t. We’re both short, ans fairly slight, and we both like unnatural hair colours (hers purple, mine blue-black). She’s very physically scarred, and very extensively tattooed. Youd never confuse us. I love having a copy of her. It feels like we’ve gotten through a lot together.

I don’t think there’s anything inherently vain about self sonas, self inserts, dolls of yourself, or anything else like that. I think they’re often quite a healthy thing to have, for me especially in fiction, to process my own experiences through someone, or even just for the vicarious experiences.

 

I don’t, and I don’t personally feel the need to, but I do think it’s neat if others do, just not my cup of tea.
It’d also just be ridiculously hard to find a sculpt even remotely similar to me, considering the deficit of Chubby dolls and non-typical European features in this hobby

 

I always feel like my dolls are representations of what I find beautiful, but also like you said sometimes I feel like I might be subconsciously building the people I wish I were.... I used to really want a doll that was a different version of myself and maybe I've been doing that all along without realizing it!

 

I have never shelled myself into dolls intentionally nor had real interest in it but - my partner saw Midoriko with her new faceup and wig yesterday and immediately said "oh it's you right?" I swear it has not been intentional at all but I did wear this style of makeup for a long time and have very similar hair so I can totally see it now. Moreso - she has a faint tear painted on one of the cheeks with gloss medium and the tap is pretty loose with waterworks for me as well hahaha. Now that I see it, I think I might get matching outfits

 

I think in truth we subconsciously all do in a way as how we perceive everything is directly linked to our emotions, our experiences and subsequent viewpoints even if we think we buy a doll just because it’s beautiful that feeling of joy is sparked by something personal, something inside that is a reflection of a part of ourselves….even the macabre ones!

In a literal sense though good grief no lol, I’m in my mid fifties with a lot of middle aged spread so to speak. Always struggled with my weight and hated my appearance! I do however know that I tend to create idealised versions of how I wish I looked or characters that represent parts of my personality whether in art, playing video games or dolls.

I almost always give my gaming characters long red hair as my own natural hair colour used to be auburn but age has dulled it and added white streaks. Sometimes I’ll also give them grey eyes and freckles too and frequently I will make them short and a bit curvy. They almost always lean toward the nature loving side given a choice too.
For example my FFXIV (Final Fantasy XIV which is an online game) main character is a redhead and originally looked not unlike my Iplehouse fid Harace until I changed her race, she’s now a Viera (humanoid race with rabbit like ears) but still has my trademark red hair! My other main character is more the representation of the childlike part of me, she’s of a short tubby race known as the Lalafell.
I’m making doll versions of them. Fairyland Minifee Ingrid will be used for the Viera as she is facially very similar to her. Fairyland Realfee Luna will represent my Lala character even though she doesn’t look that much like her features wise but proportionally is reasonably close. The Luna faceplates I have are from the vampire bunny release and the winking plate especially does capture her cheeky personality!

I would say of my other dolls Patticake (Fairyland Pukipuki) is another mini-me. Her emotions are like those of a young child, strong but singular, pure and raw, she says what she thinks. I constantly battle with my own.
I didn’t intend to make her that way but that’s what she became, so much so that my husband was the first to point it out!
Bailey (Miss mian Lin) also has a part of that side of me about her too, she’s just less outspoken and more silent brooding.

The various incarnations of Izzy I’ve had over the years, now a Dollstown Rhea hybrid, also represents a darker side of my self….a side that can appear very cold, distant, detached and unemotional, almost dead inside apart from a festering ancient anger.

My Iplehouse fid Harace (curvy) is based on something inside that I’ve been trying to hunt down most of my life, something very old and borne of nature and ancient earth magics, a sort of inner goddess. Every now and then I catch a glimpse of her then she vanishes.

 

I approached my collection from the very beginning as a way to tell my own story…as a life journal set in a fairytale world (way more fun than just writing words on a page.) Rather than being a direct physical representation of myself, I chose to fashion my dolls after my life experiences instead (both good and painful) in a fairytale realm which made it a safe way to explore all these complex emotions. As an older collector now, it was a healthy way to remember, cope, and celebrate a long life well lived. I’ve been collecting bjds for nearly two decades now, and while my numbers are much higher than I ever anticipated when I started all those years ago (who knew I had so many stories to tell???) I can honestly say it’s been an amazing journey…and I thoroughly love each and every doll in my collection.

 

Yin was meant to look like a character from a favorite anime series, who she's named after, but ended up looking more like me. Partly the auburn eyebrows of her company face-up did not work with a silver wig, and with no face-up skills (though I'd like to learn) I opted to keep her default strawberry blond for a while, than got her a wavy carrot colored one. I'm a red-headed young woman too She also has brown eyes like mine. Unlike me who's short, she's fairly tall compared to my other dolls. I'd like to try to find her glasses, but as she's a mature tiny that could be challenging, and I've had her so long without them, I don't know if I could get used to her with them. Her personality isn't really based on me, as she's even shier than I am, and has a boyfriend while I identify as ace.

Plenty of the others have fragments of my personality, or story, or what I wish I could be. Several are Aromtic/Asexual and one has childhood hearing loss (Though far worse than mine. He uses sign language, I just can't hear high frequencies and do better with my hearing aids) I didn't intentionally make them reflect me, though its interesting that they do in different ways,