An Australian Woman Is Giving Bratz Dolls Makeunders

Photo credit: Hearst Communications, Inc. All rights reserved
Photo credit: Hearst Communications, Inc. All rights reserved

From Cosmopolitan

Remember Bratz dolls? Well, one Australian doll maker is bringing them back - except this time, without all that awkward controversy over their disconcertingly sexualized appearance. Via Tree Change Dolls, a new Tumblr project, unwanted dolls are being repurposed in a much more natural, homespun appearance.

The dolls are sourced from secondhand shops and given a new lease on life. They're repainted, restyled (often in hand-knitted clothes), and even get "re-conditioned" hair. It's a full makeunder experience; less Bratz and more "Casualz."And the transformation is amazing - with the finished products photographed to look like they're "playing outside the way kids should." Sort of like a glamour shoot, but minus the caked-on glamour:

Photo credit: Courtesy of treechangedolls.tumblr.com
Photo credit: Courtesy of treechangedolls.tumblr.com
Photo credit: Courtesy of treechangedolls.tumblr.com
Photo credit: Courtesy of treechangedolls.tumblr.com

See more photos of the "makeunder" process at Tree Change Dolls. While they're not currently for sale, the doll maker behind the Tumblr promises an Etsy store is coming - and there are comments from lots of fans regarding the bare-faced and simply-dressed aesthetic.

Updated on 12/11 at 9:30 p.m.: In an interview with the Daily Mail, the mother-of-two behind Tree Change Dolls has revealed that, for her, the makeunders are about "more than just transforming dolls."

"It is a way to pass on a message to young children to come just as they are, and to embrace all their perfect imperfections," Mim Hammonds explained. "Every one of my dolls is given a unique personality with likes and aspirations, and has their own story."

"I want every child and every adult who sees my dolls and reads their little stories to be inspired and encouraged," she continued.

To learn more about Tree Change Dolls, you can check out Hammonds' Etsy shop right here.

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