By Vanessa ‘Vee’ Lee
As human beings, it’s important that we all feel connected and loved on some level. However, COVID has challenged how we go about obtaining this basic human need. How does an individual feel loved today when their “love language” is physical touch, and they can no longer embrace another person?
I am a big hugging person by nature. I love to hug (and to be hugged by) my family and friends. It is such a natural (and mindless) part of who I am, and how I show love towards others. Now that COVID has altered my world, I’ve had to learn to ask people’s permission to hug them, before I open my arms to embrace them. I’ve also had to learn how not to feel sad, embarrassed, or uncomfortable if that person chooses to say, “No thank you.”
So, if we can’t hug a person, who do we hug? Well, a doll of course! My Huggable Angels were created due to these difficult times while being discouraged to hug and touch others (even loved ones).
I created a new cloth doll body instead of a solid silicone body to give the doll the necessary softness for hugging and comfort. Each doll’s cloth body is also weighted to give the doll a very balanced overall feel when holding it.
Each 15-inch Huggable Angel doll has a silicone head with hand-rooted hair and half-length silicone limbs, with a wire armature for posing. I experimented with new sketches and a variety of fabrics and materials to design fashionable clothes, adding hand-crafted doll shoes to elevate the look.
It is very important to me that every doll I design gives the collector a sense of harmony and comfort. Each Huggable Angel is a limited edition, in a minimum of eight.
