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Too many? (Dolls in drag, / relationships, etc)

Aug 16, 2008

    1. While I was tossing around the idea of putting my boy in a party dress for a photoshoot;

      Loki: YOU WERE GOING TO DO WHAT?!

      Something occurred to me.

      Has it ever come to your attention that there are just too many dolls fitting into one category, like things that are done to death?

      Things I've seen done to death:

      Drag.

      Homosexual Pairings.

      Androgynous dolls.

      Not that I disagree with any of them, I just find that they're really beaten into the ground as far as lots of people have them.

      Is there anything you can think of that's been "Done to death"?

      To make a mass response here:
      I'm no trying to insult people who follow certain common trends in the doll world, nor am I "dissing" on what they like.

      Actually, this person said it best:

       
    2. No, not really. Now don't get me wrong, there are certain things that pop up with greater frequency in the galleries (including the things you mentioned above), however I don't view it as being too much of something--rather that hobbyists' tastes are simply coinciding. People should do what makes them happy with their dolls, and making decisions based on what other people are doing doesn't always leave a lot of room for personal preference. I don't feel that it's necessary to strive to be the most original hobbyist out there--I would rather have fun dressing Hikaru in drag and figuring out which boys should go with each other ;)
       
    3. Yeah... I get tired of seeing all of those things you mentioned, in addition to dolls in punk clothes. After some extent it's vaguely annoying. But in the end, everyone should do what they want with their dolls, even if it is oppressively popular. The important thing is to have fun, so I would never scold someone for this. :)
       
    4. Hehe; indeed.

      I didn't mean to come off cocky; it just was a little...excessive.

      :p

      I do agree with Bronze about the punk clothes too though.

      Once you've seen one doll in leather and plaid, you've seen them all.
       
    5. This actually could work as a Dolly Debate if the opinionizing were set aside and the dialogue to focus on "phases and fads" we have seen in the hobby.

      Why do collectors follow trends? Do trends become fads? Do fads then become overdone and stale? Can a phase or fad be successfully revived?

      And keeping in mind, of course, that folks can do what they like and hopefully do what they like on this forum without fear of being insulted.

      Keep going!
       
    6. I don't think it's really "done to death"...after all it's just a style that people prefer for their dolls. Just like you can't have "boys wearing suits" or "heterosexual pairings" done to death either.

      Certain trends and fashion can all be done well, which actually does not occur too frequently despite that many doll owners attempt to go for a particular genre or style. It's true that it gets tiring after seeing the same things over and over again, but once in a while I can appreciate them when coming across an especially exceptional and/or creative photoshoot or an extremely gorgeous doll.
       
    7. Just because this is a debate topic and I'm trying to put off cleaning my appartment, lol... how is it excessive if that's what a hobbyist likes? And if it were a particular style/pairing/whatever that you really liked, would you even find it excessive?

      The comment you made about seeing one doll in leather and plaid could be made about any a dolls dressed in any particular style whether it be lolita, jeans and t-shirts, or kimonos. I also wonder (though I'm not sure if it's true--but it does seem logical) if dolls dressed very conventionally would draw the same kind of negative attention even if there were lots of them. Does the fact that some of these trends are not as common in the real human world make them more noticible so that people take more note of the number of hobbyists doing them? Even if there is a lot of punk, cross dressing, and lolita out there do they really outnumber everything else by that much, or do people just notice them more?
       
    8. 'Ever heard the saying "Monkey see, monkey do"? There's a grain of truth in it.

      We follow trends and fads because humans are herd animals. (Or troupe animals, I should say, given that we're primates-) Biology hard-wires us to some degree towards social mimicry and shared behavior. It's an adaptation to group living.

      Add to that the matter of there only being a finite number of styles and sculpts commercially available, some shared cultural ideals of beauty, and certain social trends outside of the hobby and you end up with a recipe for a few thousand gay male dolls with a lot of body jewelry and a gender-bending wardrobe.

      Eventually, styles and ideals will change, cultures will drift, and something else will come along to replace the current "it"-thing. A few years ago, everyone was building girl-to-boy mod resin avatars for their former male-prostitute half-angel/half-demon winged incubi. This year it's yaoi-boys with lip rings. A year from now who knows what we'll see a flood of? Maybe it'll be hetero girls in 80's-style tailored power-suits...
       
    9. Oh, how I would love to see that. :lol:
       
    10. So would I...

      Gaia needs one of those suits. :lol:
       
    11. I think if you think that certain trends have been "done to death" then you should just do something different yourself with your own doll. Maybe everybody will follow that then, LOL.

      Seriously, the whole point of this hobby is for us to do what we like with the dolls. Companies do what sells. I personally think if a company coughs out one more Pipos-looking cat doll, or one more elf anything, I'll scream, but people like those dolls. No one is breaking my arm to buy them, I'm perfectly free to buy or even make something completely different.
       
    12. As a newcomer to dollies, I love the "done to death" doll pictures you describe and the reason I would buy female clothing for my male dollfie is beacue I can't afford another doll, eheheh. Still, I find myself in love with more male than female dolls.
       
    13. The overdone molds only get to me when new ideas aren't in the mix. Like, it it was just:

      elf, elf, elf, elf, elf, vampire, elf, elf, vampire, vampire, elf, vampire, elf, elf, elf, elf, vampire

      Then that would bug me. But this:

      elf, elf, vampire, sard, elf, mermaid, vampire, elf, vampire, fairy, new non-LE mold, elf

      I would be cool with.

      Edit: I gotta agree with Taco, though.
       
    14. Hmm, I don't really think any doll types/themes have been "done to death". As Brightfires mentioned, we humans tend to be influenced by other humans . . . thus, trends! And as long as the owner of the doll is happy, who cares how "overdone" or cliche it is? It's pretty easy to just not click on gallery threads that aren't to your taste, so to each their own (or their trend of choice, lol).

      I don't think the prevalence of crossdressing doll will ever die, though. Besides androgeny being aesthetically appealing for a variety of reasons (but that's another debate topic thread!), there is the fact that BJD's are very pricey and not everyone owns dolls of both genders/sizes. I know my Hewitt would be in a dress right now if he were on a MSD body instead of the masculine SDC boy body, simply because I miss having a mini girl and won't be able to afford one for quite awhile. ;)
       
    15. Some things have been "done to death" but I don't have a problem with it personally. IMO, I think lolita is way overdone, but as I said, it doesn't bother me. It's just kinda like "oh, there's another doll dressed like a cupcake..." I'm indifferent I'd say.

      Some things are overdone, but I never get tired of them. For example, I love the pissy, grouchy doll characters that call their owners "lady" and whatnot. I find it all very amusing.
       
    16. Exactly :) Nobody would say heterosexual pairings, suits, or conventional clothing (as Taco put it) were beaten to death because those are considered completely normal pretty much everywhere in real life, so it doesn't stand out. I really don't think the things mentioned in the first post are beaten to death, because that's the norm to me; I don't notice it anymore.
      In my opinion, something can't be beaten to death unless a ton of people are intentionally doing it for the sake of being original. That's not what's happened here, though. I think it's more of a lot of people in the doll hobby share similar likes and dislikes when it comes to what they want to see in a doll, because this group of hobbyists is influenced by similar things. I mean...if you're into a hobby as odd as BJDs, it's pretty much a given that there will be other people in the hobby with similar interests to yourself.
      Also, if the biggest focus in the BJD hobby was originality, and being sure to never do something that's been done several times before, it wouldn't be as fun :( You would constantly be worrying about people calling you a "follower" or "copier" and probably wouldn't get as much enjoyment out of your dolls (I know I wouldn't O.o)

      And as most have said, I think everyone should be allowed to enjoy themselves and do whatever they want with their dolls :) Hobbies should be about having fun, shouldn't they?
       
    17. I think that when something is done to death there will be a mass exodus of people who would have formerly paid attention to those threads. The fads and the fashion will move on when the consumers stop consuming the photostories and following the characters. Clearly it isn't done to death yet, because people still love it.

      I think there is a difference, however, between a stand-out male doll/character who wears feminine fashion and has a distinct and fantastic personality and a male doll/character who just wears feminine fashion and that's all the owner has to say about them. I tend to prefer the boy-dolls-in-drag who just dress in drag because they feel like it and it has nothing to do with their personality. I don't like 'the femme-boy' archetype in real life, it doesn't appeal to me, so I like to see male dolls in drag who don't refund their masculinity along with their masculine wardrobe.
       
    18. Part of the clothing trends has to do with what the companies are making for the dolls. JRock, Loli, and Goth are strong at the moment. Personally, I can't stand the crosses and skulls and many times I've refused to purchase really great clothing because those symbols are part of the outfit. I'll consider buying clothing with those symbols if I know I can easily cover up the symbols with a button badge or something or if I can remove them. It has nothing to do with religion for me - it's just that I see it all the time and it's pretty boring to me.

      I also refuse to purchase platform shoes or boots. I'm old enough to have worn both constantly in high school and I don't find them interesting enough now for my dolls to wear. Besides, I find my dolls can't stand as well in the few pairs I do have for them.

      As to the yaoi trend, I think a lot of that comes from anime/manga influence. My gay couples are based on anime/manga yaoi characters but many people have them from their own storylines and their original characters. I find it refreshing to see because this world still has biases about certain lifestyles but I don't see those biases in the doll community. Boys can dress in women's clothing and it's accepted, too. Two girl dolls can be in a loving relationship. If just the rest of the world could get over itself and let people be themselves...

      As I go to anime conventions, loli, loligoth and JRock is not unusual to me. In fact, some of my local doll friends dress in those styles, even daily. I also see a lot of different fashions where I work, at a community college. Dolls with piercings? I see that every day at work. So almost anything I see on dolls here on this forum is not unusual to me because I've seen it on people.

      What do my dolls usually wear? Jeans, basic shirts and either workboots or tennies, just like me. Two wear suits most of the time (they're based on anime/manga characters) and one of my latest dolls pretty much demanded he was steampunk leather boy, which is an entirely different direction than what I thought he'd be. My very latest boy doll told me he wanted to wear dresses (after I had said for years that I would never cross-dress a boy doll except for cosplay) so he's now happily sitting in a pretty Another Space layered dress and workboots he stole from my steampunk boy.

      What I'd like to see more available from the doll companies are Victorian clothing that could be turned into steampunk, more basic clothing without anything printed but with iron-ons provided so a person could make their own unique shirt or pants, and more punkish boots without platforms.
       
    19. Bakayaro Onna- Those are two styles I would also like to see more of :( Especially steampunk. I was so excited when I saw the DOD tan dolls...but then I learned you could only get the outfits with the fullset dolls...

      Just like the real world, BJD fashion has a lot to do with what companies offer. BJD companies know what will sell, so they focus on making clothing more people will buy. Which is why right now I'm having a lot of trouble finding casual clothing for my DOT boy to wear O.o;
       
    20. I'll admit I'm rather confused about how this is a debate.