THE REAL DOLL
Bye bye barbie. Meet Miss Normal
IN the past 18 months we have had the slightly swollen “Carbie” and witnessed bare-faced Barbie. Now we have what its creator describes as his “real woman Barbie”.
As part of a body image project aimed at driving home the message that “average is beautiful”, artist Nickolay Lamm started to explore “how distorted fashion dolls are in relation to typical human body proportions”.
He said: “This got me thinking. What if fashion dolls were simply made up of standard female body measurements?”
The American artist reworked toy maker Mattel’s Barbie body stats (which are, by the way, an eye-watering 91cm chest, 45cm waist and 84cm hips) into something altogether more normal-looking.
For his “normal Barbie”, Lamm took measurements of the average 19-year-old American girl, held on record at the US Centers for Disease Control, to first create his 3D-printed model.
He later painted the figure over in Photoshop to make a new toy doll with a reality check.
“These images went viral and the response was overwhelming,” said Lamm.
“A lot of kids and parents were asking me: ‘Where can we buy a doll like this?’ ”
So viral, in fact, that crowdsourced funds for Lamm’s project reached $95 000 (about R1-million) in a day.
He also enlisted the help of Mattel’s former vice president of manufacturing, Roger Ramble, which means the Lammily doll is now in production.
“Lammily promotes realistic beauty standards, because she is made according to typical human body proportions,” he said.
So realistic, in fact, that she also comes with her own pack of stickers, “Lammily marks”, to emulate cellulite, stretchmarks, freckles, acne, glasses, temporary tattoos, scratches, bruises,
She comes with stickers to emulate cellulite and stretchmarks
casts, mosquito bites and dirt stains.
“Lammily is fun; she has articulated elbows, hands, knees and feet.
“Lammily promotes a healthy lifestyle, she is fit and strong. She has style and wears minimal makeup,” said Lamm.
Just don’t give her too many blemishes at once, will you — she’s doing a good thing. — © The Daily Telegraph, London
CRUMBS: Caught at the cookie jar, she has the grace to blush
STITCHES: Lammily is marked by the vicissitudes of life