Jessica Douglas works on one of her doll transformations at her home in Chehalis.
Bratz dolls are seen prior to being altered by Chehalis resident Jessica Douglas.
Finished dolls include more conservative clothing than the originals.
When Jessica Douglas was a little girl, she loved to play with dolls.
She wants that same thing for her soon-to-be-born daughter, Jubilee, but said she worries about the messages some dolls send to young girls.
“I love putting on makeup but I don’t need that and women don’t need that to be beautiful,” Douglas said. “But it’s all over the newspapers, magazines, television that this is what beautiful is.”
Douglas, of Chehalis, is among the growing trend of creators of “made-under” dolls for girls. The movement is inspired by Sonia Singh, of Tasmania’s Tree Change Dolls, who does “make-unders” for Bratz style dolls. Bratz dolls have been criticized by some parents for their provocative makeup and clothing styles since the Barbie-sized dolls are marketed to young girls.
Media coverage of Singh’s creation has pushed her idea into the global spotlight and similar dolls can be found in ebay and Etsy stores
“It’s so easy anybody could do it,” Douglas said. “Some moms are doing it with their daughters just for the ideas of feeling natural and it doesn’t have to be perfect.”
Douglas is a stay-at-home mother of 18-month-old Nehemiah and at the time of this interview was awaiting the birth of Jubilee. She and her husband, Ken, grew up in Centralia and met at youth group at the Church of the Nazarene in Centralia. Today, Ken is the family life pastor for that congregation.
Douglas saw a video about Singh that a friend posted on Facebook. That led her to find instructional videos Singh has posted on YouTube explaining how she creates her Tree Change Dolls.
“I love dolls so I watched it and I thought that was really cool,” Douglas said. “And I love to do crafty things so I decided to try it.”
Douglas went right out to a local thrift store and found a couple of dolls and set to work immediately making her first “made-under” doll.
“I just fell in love with it. It was so much fun,” Douglas said.
Photos of her first creations were posted on Facebook and immediately began getting not only supportive comments from friends and family but also requests for dolls.
She already had a Web site called Jubilant Designs where she offered pieces of art, signs with biblical and inspirational sayings, and other handiwork. She began taking orders for custom-made dolls as well as starting a waiting list for completed dolls.
Re-creating the dolls begins with the removal of the painted face. Douglas uses a combination of eucalyptus oil, nail polish remover and soap and water to wipe the slate clean. She then uses acrylic paint and a very small-sized paint brush to add a new face with more realistic features, including widening the nose (which on the Bratz doll is almost nonexistent) and narrowing the lips (which are very exaggerated on Bratz dolls). She also adds more natural looking eyebrows and eyes as well as individualized features to each, including freckles or teeth. She said she doesn’t really start out with a plan but enjoys watching them grow into the unique creations they are.
“I love that little girls can look at these and see themselves and their friends instead of something from a movie or television,” Douglas said. “We can talk about how she is beautiful in her own skin.”
Since Bratz style dolls are also dressed in very mature fashions, Douglas sews new clothing that is more casual looking. She has created her own pattern for clothing she thinks works well and is kid-friendly to take on and off. Her next task will next begin designing shoes. Bratz dolls do not actually have feet, instead their often high-heeled shoes detach from the bodies at the ankle. So Singh adds feet to her dolls and gives them flat shoes. Douglas said Singh uses a type of silicone caulk that she was uncomfortable using while pregnant, so she plans to work on those after her baby is born.
Douglas says her hope is to eventually get to the point where she has a stock of finished dolls to put onto her Web site. She said one of the driving forces is her ability to find second-hand or donated Bratz style dolls. She has made pleas on her Facebook page asking anyone with similar dolls no longer in use or that they would like to see “made-under” to contact her.
