the uber-fashion-dolls

Mooqla is a Russian brand of porcelain dolls which look like aliens inhabiting half-Japanese teenage girls' skinny bodies. They have weirdness and growing pains written all over them. And they're ugly. So ugly that they're beautiful. Each one of them has a name and a biography -- from what I understand, they're all financially secure but very troubled young women (that section of the brand's website is in reconstruction) -- and a three digit price (again, from hear-say, since the online shop is also in reconstruction). They're being swept off the shelves, and high-brow magazines feature pictorials with them, sometimes containing nude photos. Below, my own favorite, Lora. After seeing her, you'll never be able to look at a Barbie again.




So far so good. Ready for more? The Enchanted Dolls: the most beautiful thing I've seen in months. Made of porcelain, the kind that NEVER loses color (how I love when material things are long-lasting). Some of them have gorgeous tattoos and costumes, but my favorite are the nudes. My heart skipped a bit when I saw this:







And they have silk hair. Also, pubic hair:



This is one of my favorite faces:



And when I thought it just couldn't get any better, I found the following - part of a project called 'State Property':



Well, after these breathtaking pictures, Mooqlas seem ordinary to me (I know they're not; I suppose they could hold a candle to the Enchanted..). Being ugly to be beautiful is, after all, the easier way. In times when beauty is supposed to be boring, the Enchanted enthrall with their old-fashioned handsomeness. Yes, yes, there's also the 'ugliness' of the deconstructed joints. Oh, but those faces...I wonder how long before someone claims that these dolls promote anorexia. What a dull statement that would be. Well...the master of the Enchanted, Marina Bychkova, organizes a yearly birthday contest: anyone can send her an artwork inspired by the Enchanted Dolls, as a birthday present. Anything goes: painting, music, poetry, embroidery, woodcuts etc. The author of her favorite gift will get a porcelain nude. Quite a reward, considering the doll's four digit price. If i had that money, i'd spend it on an Enchanted Doll without a second thought. I'm wondering if any of my baby-shoes could possibly stand a chance in that contest...cause my poetry definitely sucks.