doll phenomenon

deery-lou.
there seems to be a great doll phenomenon thats sweeping across korea. mostly with girls in what i would say are probably in their early twenties. these dolls have a unique yet humanistic look to them. if you remember i mentioned these dolls back in november when i stumbled upon one i wanted in a store. they're like cabbage patch dolls for adults with money. hehe. what makes these dolls so popular? and do we need to thank japan for the whole doll craze? anyway this past weekend while walking around hongdae i kept seeing all these girls carrying their dolls. as i sat in ordinary cafe with chen the number of girls i saw with dolls started to increase. where are they getting them? chen told me to go ask some random girl-carrying doll but i was too lazy to get out of my comfy seat. plus i was feeling a bit shy. we left the cafe to hit artbox. before we could get there though i saw yet another girl with a doll. chen went up to her and asked her where she got it. instead of explaining to us how to get there the girl took us there. this is why i love korea. the random acts of kindness. the shop was on the third floor of a building that was about 2 blocks from where we were. i'm sure i had probably passed by there numerous times while in hongdae but never knew it. it was like doll heaven. there were dolls in cases, doll parts, clothing, etc. i wanted them all. i actually found a few that i really liked. unfortunately they were limited editions and the salesclerk told me i would have to go to japan to buy them. foiled again. it was kind of hard to figure out which ones you could buy. i asked the salesclerk and she told me to the counter and pointed to dolls in boxes. none of them really appealed to me. mostly likely cuz i couldn't tell what they looked like. however, as i said the store was filled with doll parts which means i can make my own. how exciting is that! very! the process is somewhat overwhelming. you first have to select a head. once you have one its times to pick a body, legs, arms. then there's selecting the eyes, makeup, hair, etc. we haven't even gotten to the clothes yet. so many options. needless to say i didn't have one made. not yet anyhow. i got a feeling if i decide to purchase one its going to be quite expensive. and can i really justify spending alot of money on a doll. why do i want one so bad? am i really an asian girl trapped in a boys body? sometimes i think yes. all i can think about is making myself a white haired sullen goth boy.

there were two limited editions dolls that chen and i both had to have. but as i said they weren't for sale. at least not yet and not in korea. chen wanted black cat lucas, while i was drawn to white cat chris. here's chris's story:

The time has come. They finally arrived and their memories splash endlessly... Elegant, but Sensitive. Serious, but Lyrical. Lazy, but Shy. When a black cat’s falling asleep, he quietly opens his eyes...Good bye, my dear boring days.

tuff cat

nice chaps

white cat chris

short shorts

sigh...who knows. perhaps after white cat chris's big debut in japan he'll be available to purchase. if not i can always try to duplicate him by making one myself. i could have stayed in the store forever. just looking at all the dolls and their accessaries. we figured it was best to leave otherwise i would have busted out my credit card. we ventured up to the fifth floor to check out the figure store the girl told us about. there i was in yet another heaven...action figure heaven. i love them after a year here i'm starting to find the stores that make me happy. we browsed around the shop for a bit. on the way out we opted to take the stairs. on our journey we spotted a doll cafe. inside the patrons sat reading, drinking, and eating cakes with their dolls. yes...they all had dolls their. i'm so there once i purchase mine. hehe. on another floor we found yet another cafe, not a doll one, that looked to have a really cool garden patio to sit out. definitely worth checking out the next time i'm in the area. oh, i almost forget. alot of these girls also have carrying cases for their dolls. they kind of look like guitar cases. sweet!

i can't wait until i'm a full fledged member of the doll carrying crowd. until then i'll have to settle on pleasant day dreams...

be fresh. be doll. be real. be well...