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Some glass eyes by Kanis Augen.

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The beautiful one, Tashi Wangchuk ( བཀྲ་ཤིས་དབང་ཕྱུག་)

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Aleph Major, the Royal Senior Delf Mars, in his new winter coat.

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Eremon, retrieved from the corrosive stream of time

I’ve had this beautiful man, created by @batchixdolls , since 2015. He sat on my desk at work while I was working on a documentary film back in the day. His spectacular undercut mohair wig (created by Batchix!) needs a bit more conditioning, but we’re getting there. His wonderful silvered PU leather trousers have succumbed to the power of time, so now he’s wearing his graceful long asymmetrical jumper with his ass hanging out, waiting for new togs (incoming).

I’ve been contemplating my tendency to support myself emotionally with retail therapy—buying dolls when under stress. This tends to have predictable financial outcomes, and questionable emotional ones.

This Sunday I am beginning to sense that I derive more psychic and spiritual nourishment from taking care of the stuff that’s actually already in my world.

He will be test-driving some Iplehouse clothing in their FID size soon.

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Aleph in Boden. These are boy’s size 4. The pants are baggy, but fit in the leg; drawstring waist makes them workable, but only just. Casual wear only. The top fits in the shoulders but is generally very roomy, very Darcy coming out of the lake. Which is not a bad thing, per se. I will try a size 3 for the top next time. 

Note that unlike me, Aleph can enjoy espresso after lunch.  

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a terrible new sideline

Tumbling down the old-skool fashion doll slope I somehow ended up here?

These tiny Integrity creatures are like potato chips. There are too many ways to collect. Are you a completionist? Do you like hunting down rarities? Are you a curated theme kind of person? You are? Uh oh.

I will confess right here that (luckily for me) about 75% of what I’ve seen from Fashion Royalty and the other Integrity doll lines does nothing for me. I find it all too pretty, too severely code-compliant. But then, something nutty happens. 

Would you like a severe white European lady wearing Bergdorf Goodman, topped with a creepy black lace half-veil? An Indian gentleman in man bun, expedition jacket, and mary janes? How about a Tibetan martial arts guy wearing hakama and a splendid pleather jacket? No? Perhaps an astonishing Mexican trans model in micro-sequins with some of the best bone structure you have ever seen on a doll? Unfortunately, Integrity does all of this. Pricing will seem, not reasonable really, but in comparison to your standard ABJD, ominously within reach. The accessories are clever, the tiny 1/6 scale purses open, the shoes buckle. 

And then there’s Kimono Go Go Poppy Parker. 

I love this weird and cool girl with her highly pedigreed outfit, based on Rudi Gernreich’s indescribably peculiar kimono minidress of 1968.

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clea in somers & field

Here is ‘Jamaica’ Clea Bella with actor feet, redressed in Somers & Field ‘Picadilly’. The SF shoes don’t quite fit Clea’s feet, but fortunately her own robin’s egg blue slides look good with this. 

The doll is in very nice shape, stringing still solid, with vinyl in quite good condition and no discoloration of her hard plastic torso. Her little haircut is especially good, with really nice bangs (dolly bangs on dolls with rooted hair are normally.... awful). 

I forgot how much I loved her silly little face. Glad she’s home. 

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and now for something completely different

Whomst?

This is a Clea Bella doll, created by Christina ‘Bogie’ Bougas. This funny darling creature is 16″ tall, and was created at the height of the craze for fashion dolls of this size, inaugurated in 1995 by Mel Odom’s Gene doll. 

I collected this size and style of doll from 1996 right up to the mid-2000s, when Asian ball-jointed-dolls began gnawing on my soul. 

And rightly so: In a lot of ways, compared to the free-for-all that was BJD collecting in the oughts, the 16″ fashion doll scene was... confining. The narratives woven around these little creatures (especially Tonner’s Tyler and MA’s Alex) were pedestrian, strictly ‘Sex and the City’ in their orientation. With the exception of Mel Odom’s genius characters (SHOUT OUT TO TRENT AND MADRA), all these doll people seemed very straight, very conformist, very acquisitive, and somehow... very sad. 

Clea could not have been created without this 16″ fashion doll context, but she was really different--more like Gene in her beginnings, in that you could see the marks of the artistic vision very clearly. The sweet, eager face; the wonderful weight and handling properties of the material she was made from; the beautifully made clothing; the idiosyncratic, obsessively detailed storylines! I will never forget meeting Bogie and Clea at IDEX, and handling an artist proof of one of the ballet-feet dolls--the first ballet-styled fashion doll in its size. (The little shoes...! BJD collectors will understand what I mean when I talk about how realistic those little ballet slippers were.) 

20 years have passed since I first held a Clea Bella; the (Western) doll collecting world has moved on from that era. And so of course, now that she’s become somewhat scarce on the ground, I’ve decided to take up Clea collecting as a sideline. 

I already have a few beautiful limited editions.... somewhere; I cannot for the life of me figure out where I put the boxes. More anon. But I just picked up this cutie from eBay. Note the Liza Minelli haircut!

Since Clea Bella is 20-something years old, I anticipate a lot of staining to manage, a lot of restringing to figure out, and hopefully not too much sticky vinyl. When this new one arrives, I’ll post an update about her condition. 

All Clea posts will be tagged #cleabella; you can filter out these posts if fashion dolls from the oughts give you hives. :)

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new sweater

I picked this up at an excellent price: Barbour pure wool Fair Isle. 

As you can see, it is a bit big, especially in the collar, but I think it fits surprisingly well for that. I wanted to put it on prior to any shrinking to show what a small kid-sized sweater looks like on a Royal Delf. 

Not bad, sir. 

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whose harp is it anyway

phone snap just for fun

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The Big One

When Luts released their new Royal Delf series, I had the weirdest feeling: like the Lady of Shalott, my doom had come upon me. 

This is Aleph, a Royal Senior Delf Mars. He is 41 inches tall: House Brownie size. 

Other collectors have reported a sensation of shock when interacting with Royal Delfs; it is understandable. They are heavy--at least 15 lbs at a rough guess--and the joints require a specific firm-but-gentle touch. They assert themselves in space. They dwarf other dolls. 

This Giant Man feels completely natural in my space. Sure, he's tall. So? 

Look at this face. Mars is such a wonderful evolution of the Luts Delf style; he shares DNA with the great old originals like Chiwoo, Shiwoo, and El. 

I've ordered a Barbour wool sweater for this gentleman (a child's size, obtained on clearance), and I think with a little strategic shrinking it will fit nicely. 

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Meet Royal Delf Mars, who goes by Aleph Major in this house. 

A great face. Pictures don't do him justice. 

More shots when I have time to debox the rest of him.

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Incredible.

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uh oh

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So lovely! Congratulations!

My first big girl doll and she is absolutely a gem. She is a Volks Lieselotte from their Galerie de l’Espirit collaboration.

Her name is Penelope. 🌸♥️

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Great project, excellent work.

I love the lighting of this scene, so i tried to imitate it with my own photos.

I put orange and blue cellophanes on my lights, and here are the results!

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