Barbie et al. might be an affront to nature and young girls’ body image on a world scale, but despite Mattel’s best efforts, she’s not the only plastic bitch on the block, y’all. Yep, we’re talking dolls. When I was a sprog, I was all about the Jem dolls (and you will need to fall within a very narrow age range of between 30-40 years old now to really know what I’m talking about here) and they were as close to an alt doll or non-Barbie equivalent as you could get then, back in the mists of the 1980’s.
You’d better believe I owned this cool-assed bitch!
Like all good twisted sisters who could probably benefit from several years of therapy, I never really outgrew the whole doll thing, and even now as a grown up (allegedly) I still like dolls, of the weird, creepy and unusual kind. While some people view dolls as only a shade less creepy than clowns, I know that I’m not the only one, as evinced by the very healthy market of alt, odd and weird dolls aimed at the adult collector.
So without further ado, let me introduce you to some of my favourite Gothy dolls that are on the market today. Also, this Pinterest board has some really great Goth dolls collated on the pinboard, but unfortunately, not a whole lot of info on what each type is, or where it came from.
Bleeding Edge Dolls
These are my most favourite favourite, and can be ordered online as well as bought in the flesh from larger Gothy stores and even sometimes, alt record stores. They come in 12” or 7” variants, and for the uninitiated, the 12” version is a head or so taller than your average Barbie.
The full range can be seen here, and I am the proud owner of one of these limited edition Lolita dolls, pictured below.
Living Dead Dolls
Living Dead Dolls series 28 is out now, and for just $140 of your American dollars, you can own the whole set. I particularly like the fact that these dolls’ figures are very un-Barbie like, and also highly collectible.
Monster High
Monster High comes from the same stable as Barbie, Mattel, which loses them some credibility for me, but in terms of affordable alt dolls that are cool for kids as well as grown up freaks, they are worthy of a mention.
Monster High is a big seller as well, which is both good and bad, and discussed in more detail by Callie Beusman over on Jezebel.
Strange Little Girls
Love lovelove this! Strange Little Girls is a bespoke line of handmade dolls composed of various materials, and are incredibly well made as well as being very ethereal and creepy in all of the right ways. The creator’s Etsy shop offers a range of her latest designs, and they ain’t cheap, but they are, in my opinion, well worth the money.
Bastardized Barbie
I can very fairly be described as anti-Barbie in pretty much every conceivable way, but I have no problem at all with the concept of repurposing old, discarded Barbie dolls and turning them into artistic statements, or for the non-hipster crowd, cool as f*ck customised bitches.
I love LittleGothCat’s work on Deviant Art, if you’re looking for inspiration!
