Kaitlin Rose Murdy always loved tiny things and creatures, holding a particular affinity towards rabbits. Her first dollhouse was lovingly crafted by her parents using scraps of sanded wood and decorated with wallpaper and carpet samples. Never a child to play with baby dolls, Barbies and other fashion dolls were the first desirable dolls to her. Both dollhouses and dolls were kept in immaculate care; clean and meticulously organized or fashionably styled. They were utilized to tell narratives of grand adventure, fantasy, and whimsy. Items such as these were gifted or carefully stored as Murdy grew older, but she did not lose that fascination with such objects of imagination.

In her senior year of high school, after surviving a dark time in her young adulthood, Murdy began to reignite her passion of miniatures. This rediscovery was illustrated by a large project undertaken by Murdy and her mother; The Mouse House. Finding a customized Queen Anne Dollhouse being sold well underpriced, she and her Mum began a several-year-long project of procuring pieces from miniaturists worldwide to furnish the nine-room, ornate structure. Even homing the dollhouse with an extended family of artisan-made wire armature mice from UK artist Catysou of World of Mice. The squeaky denizens christened as The McMousens.

Before finding the McMousens, Murdy’s search for potential miniature homeowners lead to her discovery of Ball-Jointed Dolls and subsequently their community of artists and collectors. She followed many talented sculpture and face-up artists but ultimately was smitten with the designs of Danny Choo’s Smartdolls. The son of infamous fashion icon Jimmy Choo, the UK-born designer Danny found his way to Japan and eventually created his 1/3 scale Mechanical Ball-Jointed Fashion Dolls. Murdy, having followed Danny’s previous work, saved up the funds to purchase a Smartdoll; a Felicity sculpt on the now-retired Cortex Milk body. Christened Krum after Murdy’s own initials KRM, she became her mini-me and began a burgeoning collection of Eastern fashion dolls, as well as, Korean artist Kumukuku/Cocoriang’s ball-jointed rabbits and critters.

In the aquistion and untertaking of projects and collections in the realm of miniatures, fashion and ball-jointed dolls; Murdy discovered a diverse community. This community of collectors spanned worldwide, connecting through social media platforms like Instagram, Reddit, Discord, and other specialized forums. The community appeared to be growing in number and in popular culture, bringing in young professionals, burgeoning artists, designers, and pop culture enthusists. The meeting places generally catered to ideals of inclusivity and often stigmitized minorities in the West.

Despite positive receptions of the doll and miniature community in many Eastern cultural zeitgeists; the West, particularly America saw blatant dismissal to outright animosity targeted at collectors simply for their collections. Murdy believed that this stigma was imposed from a lack of understanding and knowledge of the historic and contemporary artistry of these objects.

This realization began her research passion: the fashion doll and miniature as collectible decorative art. The exploration of which, revealed a distinct lack of contemporary research. The most notable documentation being that of historically inclined hobbyist Flora Gill Jacobs. Her culmination of work on dollhouses flourished between the 1920s-40s , rarely explored again in contemporary historical manuscripts.

Murdy began to research this field through her undergraduate studies in Art History and Museum Studies. She continued her work into her Graduate Art History program culminating in her Master’s Thesis on the creations of Chicago socialite Narcissa Niblack Thorne; Microcosmic Reveries: Narcissa Thorne’s Miniature Period Rooms. The thesis was only a small part of the greater and continuous history of the field. and thus, Kaitlin R. Murdy established this website to act as an ever growing archive of her research on miniatures and fashion doll history. In hopes that it will inspire and educate others.