In troubled world, grown-ups find joy in doll's houses
A LOG burns in the hearth in the artfully lit drawing room. The armchairs look plush and inviting. Glasses and a bottle of wine stand ready as the grandfather clock keeps time.
It is all straight out of a glossy magazine and yet every carefully crafted item in the room could fit into the palm of one hand.
'I love Victorian (19th century) houses and always wanted to live in one but it never happened,' laughed doll's house enthusiast Michele Simmons, admiring the cosy miniature scene by historical specialists Mulvany & Rogers.
The 57-year-old corporate recruiter revived her childhood passion for doll's houses during the Covid-19 and has since 'flipped' about 10, buying them, doing them up and selling them on.
She and her daughter thought nothing of flying all night from Boston, Massachusetts in the US to hunt for tiny curtains and a child's crib at the leading Kensington Dollshouse Festival in London.
'I love it! You don't think about anything else when you are doing this,' she said, admitting she often had to be dragged out of her work shed to feed her children as she became so absorbed.
Exquisite Miniatures
The annual festival has been gathering some of the world's finest miniature craftspeople since 1985, celebrating a hobby that has recently seen rising interest and a mushrooming of online activity.
It showcases tiny versions of anything needed to furnish a house, from chandeliers and paintings to mahogany dining tables and kitchen items, all with steep price tags.
Doll's houses may be traditionally associated with children, but this high-end miniature collecting is very much an adult hobby.
'This is craftspeople working on just exquisite things,' said self-confessed 'tiny-obsessed' Rachel Collings, who bought toys from renowned miniaturists Laurence & Angela St Leger.
Every single one of her purchases, which cost at least £40 (RM229), fits easily into a small plastic container and will be added to her collection of equally small items.
'I've got half a cut lemon. Just imagine the size of that. A lemon squeezer and a pastry brush and a hand whisk that actually works,' said the 47-year-old editor.
'It's an inner child thing. These things are just so beautiful.'
Doll's houses originated from Europe in the 1500s when they were used to display the miniature possessions of the wealthy.
Just as at the festival, these so-called 'baby houses' were strictly for adults, not children.
Retired midwife Susan Evans, 67, on her annual pilgrimage from Colwyn Bay in north Wales, does not just have one doll's house.
'I have a whole village,' she said. 'It's got 18 Victorian shops, a school, a manor house, a pub and a now a church,' she said, adding that the church had cost over £4,000.
Initially the hobby was just a stress-buster to help her unwind, but she has now raised thousands of pounds hosting groups to visit the display in her home.
'It's my passion. It's escapism and it's about using your imagination, which I think is very good for your mental health,' she said.
Craftspeople display intricate miniature furnishings at the showcase
'In Control'
Kensington Dollshouse organiser Charlotte Stokoe said there was currently huge interest in doll's houses and miniatures compared to before the Covid-19.
'When the world itself is going a bit crazy with so much stress in everyone's lives, it's quite relaxing. You are in control,' she said, adding that many people had delighted in pulling out old doll's houses during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
And at a time of rising costs, she said, people had 'discovered they can do interior design that maybe they can't do with their own homes — in small scale it's so much more doable'.
Medical anthropologist Dalia Iskander of University College London (UCL) has spent three years researching the subject for her forth-coming book 'Miniature Antidotes'.
'For many people it's a way of exploring their own experiences and memories and imagination and incorporating that into these miniature worlds,' she said.
A whole range of medical issues such as depression or anxiety could all be explored through miniatures in a 'beneficial' way, she added.
Miniatures enthusiast Collings said the hobby had become such a source of happiness that her 12-year-old daughter also got involved. She urged anyone to give it a try.
'When everything is difficult, there are these tiny things,' she said.
'Sometimes I just go and sit and look at them and it just makes me happy.' — AFP
This article first appeared in The Malaysian Reserve weekly print edition
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Straits Times
2 days ago
- New Straits Times
#SHOWBIZ: 'The Matrix is everywhere': cinema bets on immersion
IN a Los Angeles theatre, a trench coat-wearing Neo bends backwards to dodge bullets that spiral over the viewer's head, as the sound of gunfire erupts from everywhere. This new immersive experience is designed to be a red pill moment that will get film fans off their couches at a time when the movie industry is desperate to bring back audiences. Cosm, which has venues in Los Angeles and Dallas, is launching its dome-style screen and 3D sets in June with a "shared reality" version of 'The Matrix', the cult 1999 film starring Keanu Reeves as a man who suddenly learns his world is a fiction. "We believe the future will be more immersive and more experiential," said Cosm president Jeb Terry at a recent preview screening. "It's trying to create an additive, a new experience, ideally non-cannibalistic, so that the industry can continue to thrive across all formats." Cinema audiences were already dwindling when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, shuttering theatres at a time when streaming was exploding. With ever bigger and better TVs available for the home, the challenge for theater owners is to offer something that movie buffs cannot get in their living room. Prestige projects like Tom Cruise's 'Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning' or Christopher Nolan's Oscar-winning 'Oppenheimer' increasingly opt for the huge screens and superior film quality of IMAX. But Cosm and other projects like it want to go one step further, collaborating with designers who have worked with Cirque du Soleil to create an environment in which the viewer feels like they are inside the film. For filmmakers, it's all about how you place the cameras and where you capture the sound, said Jay Rinsky, founder of Little Cinema, a creative studio specializing in immersive experiences. "We create sets like the Parisian opera, let the movie be the singer, follow the tone, highlight the emotions... through light, through production design, through 3D environments," he said. The approach, he said, felt particularly well suited to 'The Matrix', which he called "a masterpiece of cinema, but done as a rectangle". For the uninitiated: Reeves' Neo is a computer hacker who starts poking around in a life that doesn't quite seem to fit. A mysterious Laurence Fishburne offers him a blue pill that will leave him where he is, or a red pill that will show him he is a slave whose body is being farmed by AI machines while his conscious lives in a computer simulation. There follows much gunfire, lots of martial arts and some mysticism, along with a romance between Neo and Trinity, played by the leather-clad Carrie-Anne Moss. 'The Matrix' in shared reality kicks off with a choice of cocktails — blue or red, of course — which are consumed as the audience sits surrounded by high-definition screens. Shifting perspectives place the viewer inside Neo's office cubicle, or seemingly in peril. "They're sometimes inside the character's head," said Rinsky. "The world changes as you look up and down for trucks coming at you." The result impressed those who were at the preview screening.
Rakyat Post
3 days ago
- Rakyat Post
The Meaning Of 'Coterie': Celest Thoi On Fashion, Friendship & Finding Purpose In Design
Subscribe to our FREE What's in a coterie? In fashion, the word might evoke a circle of tastemakers, a rarefied club of the stylish and the seen. But for bridal and fashion designer Celest Thoi, it's something far more intimate: a reminder of friendship, trust, and the collective heartbeat behind every piece she creates. (Jon Low Studios) 'The Coterie started with my girlfriends,' she says. 'They were the ones who believed in me, supported me, encouraged me to start something. They're still my best ambassadors today.' Elegant, understated, and laced with quiet strength, Celest's designs – whether bridal gowns or ready-to-wear – have long spoken to a kind of timeless femininity. But behind the white-on-white aesthetic and impeccable craft lies a deeper story of community, cross-cultural influence, and a life lived across continents. From Down Under to Bangsar Amber Chia with Celest on the runway for MBFWKL 2025. (Jon Low Studios) Born in Singapore, Celest's journey has taken her from Melbourne to New Zealand and finally to Malaysia. 'Down under, the weddings are a lot more casual. There's this sense of ease, even in how people get married,' she shares. 'I like ease, but there are varying definitions of it. What they offered didn't always resonate with me, but it shaped my taste. I like classic things – slightly Victorian silhouettes, but always modernised.' It was in New Zealand, faced with a frustrating lack of bridal options that fit her petite frame, that Celest designed her own wedding dress. 'I couldn't find anything I liked or that fit me, so I started sourcing fabrics and working with a Malaysian seamstress I found there,' she recalls. 'Then some friends started asking for help with their dresses, and I just fell in love with the whole process.' (Jon Low Studios) That love soon became a business, then a calling. After opening her first boutique in New Zealand, Celest returned to Malaysia in the late 2000s – and slowly became one of the most trusted names in the country's bridal circuit, known for her attention to detail, her obsession with fit, and yes, her commitment to white. 'I wear white all the time,' she laughs. 'So my friends always ask, 'Eh, where did you get that top?' and I'll say, 'I made it.' That's how The Coterie line started too. They wanted pieces they could wear every day, but with that same level of craft.' A Stitch in Time (Jon Low Studios) Despite the visual minimalism, there's nothing simple about the techniques behind a Celest Thoi piece. She adapts couture methods – meticulous hand-beading, expert tailoring, custom finishes – into her ready-to-wear line, often upcycling leftover fabrics from her bridal collections. 'Once you know how to do couture, you can bring it into everything,' she says. Sustainability, she adds, is not just a trend, it's a mindset. 'Clients are more mindful now. They're asking questions about fabrics, where things are made. There's definitely a shift to being more eco-conscious.' (Jon Low Studios) It was COVID that pushed Celest into uncharted waters. With weddings postponed and lockdowns in place, she launched The Coterie as a more accessible, lifestyle-driven alternative. 'I was delivering PPEs to hospitals at the time, with the police letter and all,' she says. 'And then I'd swing by to drop off fabric or pick up samples. It was a crazy time, but we just made it work.' Design with Heart (Jon Low Studios) Celest's version of 'meaningful design' has always been rooted in purpose. She recalls sponsoring gowns for frontliners during the pandemic – two doctors in love, separated for months, finally reunited for a wedding Celest helped make happen. 'Initially I just offered a dress,' she says. 'But then the hotels, the flowers, the event planner – everyone came in to help. It turned into a full celebration. We just wanted to spread a little love.' The sentiment extends far beyond aesthetics. 'We've also sponsored a bridal gown for a teacher that quit her high-paying job to work at (Jon Low Studios) There's a touch of quiet defiance too – in how she champions local talent and traditional crafts. 'We're just as good as the big names overseas. But Malaysian designers don't always get the recognition. There's so much talent here, so many artisans. Even our traditional crafts are so undervalued. I really hope that changes.' We must celebrate the ones who are changing the landscape of fashion and arts here. Celest Thoi. The Power of Belonging (Jon Low Studios) If community is the heart of Celest's work, then comfort is its soul. 'Comfort is key,' she says, with conviction. 'Whether it's a bridal gown or just a blouse, if you're not comfortable, you won't feel confident. And it's only when you're confident, you look good.' This philosophy, rooted in care, extends to her clients – many of whom have become lifelong friends. 'When I first moved back to Malaysia, I was miserable,' she confesses. 'No friends, no network. But now I feel so blessed. It's the people around you that make it worthwhile.' That idea of being seen – truly seen – is what stays with her most after dressing hundreds of brides. 'When they send me photos, thank you cards, when they tag us on their wedding day… it's heartwarming,' she says. 'It reminds me why I do this.' Always Evolving, Never Trend-Chasing (Jon Low Studios) In an industry often fuelled by seasonal hype, Celest's pace is intentionally slow. 'I don't follow trends,' she laughs. 'I just go with what I like. I think timelessness comes from knowing yourself.' And yet, she continues to evolve. Showing at Mercedes-Benz FashionWeek is still nerve-wracking, even after all these years. 'I always get butterflies,' she admits. 'But just like I tell my kids: If you're going to do something, do your best. If not, don't do it at all.' (Jon Low Studios) With two daughters (one studying criminology, the other leaning towards finance), Celest doesn't expect the next generation to take up the reins. 'They've seen how hard it is,' she says, with a laugh. 'But who knows?' As for what's next, she dreams of creating a single dress entirely from off-cuts and leftover fabric – 'A patchwork of memories,' she jokes, 'and also, to clear out my space!' (Jon Low Studios) But even in jest, it's clear: Celest Thoi's legacy is one stitched together not just with thread and tulle, but with intention, gratitude, and love. 'I'm a hopeless romantic,' she grins. 'But at the end of the day, it's about the people who witness your journey. That's what matters most.' Be a part of the coterie: Follow Share your thoughts with us via TRP's . Get more stories like this to your inbox by signing up for our newsletter.
The Star
4 days ago
- The Star
Streaming surpasses broadcast and cable TV viewing in US for first time
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Netflix the American provider of on-demand Internet streaming media is seen during a photocall in Paris, France, April 29, 2025. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Streaming services, which have been steadily gaining in popularity, have finally dethroned broadcast and cable television in the U.S., winning more viewers in May than broadcast and cable combined, audience measurement firm Nielsen reported on Tuesday. Nielsen, in its monthly report The Gauge, said streaming captured 44.8% of total TV usage in the U.S. in May, highlighting the growing dominance of streaming platforms like YouTube and Netflix over the past four years. Google's YouTube alone accounted for 12.5% of all television viewing in May, representing the largest audience share for a streaming service. Free ad-supported streaming services, such as Paramount Global's PlutoTV, Roku Channel and Fox's Tubi, also have gained popularity, collectively capturing 5.7% of TV viewership, Nielsen reported. Broadcast accounted for 20% of TV viewership in May, while cable accounted for 24%, Nielsen said. The rise of streaming, which received a big boost during the COVID pandemic when people were forced to seek entertainment at home, reflects the broader transformation in media consumption, as viewers increasingly favor on-demand content over traditional TV schedules. The trend is reshaping the television landscape, with implications for advertisers and content creators alike. (Editing by Leslie Adler)
