Barbie Goes Natural

While watching some videos on Youtube.com, I kept coming across pictures or videos of these afrocentric Barbie-type dolls. Not only was their hair texture more afrocentric but their clothes were updated, stylish, and more urban.

Of course, these dolls piqued my interest and I went on a search to find out where these dolls could be purchased. I have a few collectible african american dolls from the Mattel Barbie line and wanted to include these fashion-forward dolls!

To my surprise, most of these dolls were not available to the public, hadn't been released, or were altered by individuals to achieve Barbie's new look!

However, when I Googled "afro Barbie" it came up with a barrage of photos and images of beautiful african american Barbie-like dolls!

I needed to find out who was creating such beautiful dolls. I found one doll company called "Tabloach Productions" which is headed by doll artist, Ms. Loanne Hizo Ostlie.

What is the name of your business and what are its origins? The name of my business is Tabloach Productions. It is derived from the combination of my family’s first names. (Tab)batha (my daughter), (loa)nne (me), and (ch)uck (my husband).

How did you become interested in the doll industry? When EBay first got introduced, I thought it would be fun to browse through the Barbie section to see if I can find my past dolls. I stumbled across an auction for a customized Barbie doll. All she had done to her was a permed hairstyle, a simple designed homemade dress and some makeup. What made me double-take at this particular auction was that it was going for $400! I thought to myself, “I can do that!” And from then on, I started customizing dolls.

I also found it interesting that they've created male and children dolls for purchase and collecting.

This doll's hair was re-styled by a mother of a bi-racial child. From what I read from her blog, she wanted to give her daughter a doll that more "resembled" her down to the hair texture. She used twisties and wrapped the hair around it, place the hair in "hot" water to set the hair and removed the twisties and back combed the hair and Voila' a doll restyled!

Listen, she shows us that she is every woman! We are free to experiment, create, and reflect our moods and thoughts with an application of hair dye, styling tools, and or texture change!

Whether we choose to wear our hair bone straight, curly, wavy, or kinky curl, we now go into the world well aware that we can wear our uniqueness! No two curls are the same, alike, but not the same! Top this with a fashion statement and voila a force enters the world whole and complete!

These dolls are made for the brown girls of the world. Spanning from African Americans to the edges of the latino countries.

We should never underestimate the power of having a doll on the market that mimics our presence in it! To reach on the shelves or a specialty store and see a doll that reflects your image has been a long awaited item.

These dolls are a breath of fresh air and uniquely inspiring for young girls and us older collectors! Dolls have a way of invoking our imaginations and are expressions of our style!

Tabloach Productions also offers a "wig" if you'd like to temporarily update your Barbie but don't want to permantly change your Barbie.

I hope you enjoyed this hub as much as I enjoyed researching the subject matter!

Please share your experiences and pictures of your Barbie or your favorite Barbie! Please rate up!