I am an adult. I like dolls. There, I said it. The other day, my 4-year old niece asked me, "Do you like toys too?" This was while she gazed at the doll collection around us, the size of which seems to grow by the day. I have Barbie dolls sitting on mini sofas on top of my dresser. Beside my full size sofa, they stand together complete with Barbie-sized bottles of wine. Mini Lalaloopsy dolls still in their boxes cover my night stand.
I’m sure most of you know what Barbies are, but Lalaloopsies might be unfamiliar to you. Lalaloopsies are dolls that are fashioned after rag dolls. The story behind these dolls is that each is supposed to have been sewn out of some leftover household material. For example, my latest doll is called Mint E. Stripes. She is made out of a candy wrapper. Her "Sewn On" date (treated like a birthday) is December 26th. This date happens to be National Candy Cane Day. My birthday present to myself is to take all my mini Lalaloopsies out of their boxes, and display them on a gigantic Lalaloopsy couch. Another part of my birthday present to myself is to take my very first 16" fashion doll out of her box and stand her in her display stand. Yes, I love dolls.
What I love about dolls is the detail shown in miniature scale. It makes me happy. It makes me smile. My first foray into this love of miniatures occurred as a teenager. When I got my first permanent full-time job, I rewarded myself with miniature buildings that I had long admired in stores. This line of ceramic buildings from Department 56 lit up from inside and were often displayed in Christmas scenes. Groups of buildings were placed in snowy village settings complete with little people, street signs, brick road ways, trees, and other landscape features. It was truly magical to me. I love Christmas decorations so what can be better than having Christmas in miniature form?
A few years ago, with the arrival of my niece, my miniature ventures went in a different direction. I started browsing the toy aisle to see what kind of toys were available for a little girl. That is when I started paying attention to Barbie. Barbie has existed for more than 50 years but I hadn't really played with them much as a child. As an adult, I developed a growing fascination with them. There were so many hairstyles and different types of outfits. How did they make all that doll clothing with such detail, pockets and all? I started checking out the doll section wherever there was one. I went online and searched for Barbie. I began with the Mattel, Toys R Us, and Barbie websites. While searching the Internet, I found sites that weren't stores at all but were just devoted to displaying pictures of dolls. There were a lot of adults who loved them and wanted to share this love with others. I discovered this whole new world where Barbie was not seen as a toy for children but was also appreciated by grown ups. Perhaps the title of one such site says it all: "Inside the Fashion Doll Studio. Barbie for big girls."
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