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Monday, December 28, 2015

Tatiana Nayara Oliveira A Gift From Me to Me

Tatiana Nayara Oliveira Dollfriend by Via E

When I preordered Tatiana in the spring of this year, I had no idea she would become a Christmas doll. Having arrived a few days prior to Christmas, I waited to open the shipper until Christmas morning.  It was the first "present" I opened.  I was pleasantly pleased as well as surprised.




Tatiana arrived with an unexpected surprise for me, a beading kit to adorn her mounds upon mounds of curly hair, which can best be styled by finger combing.  Details about hair care are included in the first paragraph of the separate doll care sheet that accompanied Tatiana.

Doll care sheet covers hair care and water play.


Because I was among the first 100 people to preorder, my name appears on the side panel of the box. My niece's name is there as well for the doll I purchased for her.  Reghan remains quite excited about that.

Ellen Callen, Tatiana's creator, also numbered and signed the top of Tatiana's box.  (This was another pleasant surprise.)

Doll Details

Tatiana is 19-inches tall, made of heavy vinyl, with articulated elbows and knees. She has hazel eyes that close when she is supine with upper eyelashes, and a smiling mouth with molded teeth.  


As mentioned previously, she has thick, curly rooted hair.  It is best to finger comb Tatiana's hair and detangle, if necessary, from the ends up.  

 
When she is not being manipulated, I have elected to keep the ends tied together with a satin ribbon or keep the hair under a thick hair net, like this one, to prevent tangles.



Tatiana wears a white blouse with cut-off denim shorts that have a metal snap button closure and multicolored cloth belt.

The denim shorts have two functional front pockets along with the metal snap button closure.



Tatiana's big and second toes are separate to allow wearing thong sandals.  


To prevent them from falling off her feet, Tatiana's sandals also have a clear band in back.  Care should be taken when removing the sandals from her feet to prevent popping the clear band off like I did (because I forgot it was there).  A quick fix was to Velcro it back in place.  



Tatiana also comes with a Qata purse, described in a Via E Facebook status update as "not a traditional purse. Qata is Inca for blanket...that's the closest word in English. It is really a functional woven piece used in many ways in the Inca life of past. A Qata is a blanket, a scarf, a cloth that is tied to carry berries, flowers, or other items gathered. The Qata could be wrapped to form a beach cover, halter top, scarf...or anything else you could imagine. Tatiana wanted to modernize her Qata so she went into her grandmother's sewing kit and added two orange buttons in the shape of flowers and then created six button holes; three on each side so she could attach a strap and then use that strap to make even more use of her Qata."

Tatiana holds her unfolded Qata.  I did not unbutton it for fear that I would not be able to fasten it back correctly.  

Body Construct and Redressing Attempts
Tatiana can stand alone without the assistance of a doll stand.  We know she can wear clothing designed for Alexis, the other Dollfriend by Via E, but we needed to know if she could wear clothing already on hand.  So she undressed to try on three different fashions.



First we tried on an 18-inch My Twinn Friend fashion.  The top and pants are both a little large on Tatiana's more slender frame.  We found the same held true for the next two fashions she tried on.

Tatiana wears an 18-inch Madame Alexander fashion.  The top and shoes fit.

Her slender waist leaves a bit of room in the waist of the pants which will easily fall off.
The tunic and boots of this American Girl fashion also fit Tatiana; however, the waist of the culottes is about an inch and a half too large for her as shown in the next photo.



A quick fix with a jumbo paper clip tapered the waist of the American Girl culottes as shown next.

Before returning her to her box, Tatiana redressed in her original fashion and shoes and protected her hair with the red satin ribbon tied at the ends.

For more information about the Via E Dollfriends, visit their website or Facebook page.  In March of this year, Ellen also introduced readers to Tatiana in a guest post, which can be read here.

Addendum 12/28/2015 11:37 a.m.


I knew I was going to forget something important.  I wanted to include that Tatiana's values are written in her native language, Portuguese, with an English translation for each on the inner lining of her box as illustrated in the above  image.  They are are:

Bondade (Caring)
Chefia (Leadership)
ExcelĂȘncia Excellence)
Alegria (Joy or Fun)
CompaixĂąo (Compassion)


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22 comments:

  1. These dolls have such interesting faces - you just do t see broad smiles like this very often, do you?

    Congratulations on having your name on the box!

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    1. Yes, she has a bright and cheery smile. Thanks for the congratulations, jSarie!

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    2. this pretty doll does not only represent african culture but also brazilian. does anyone know if via-e dollfriends is filing bankruptcy?the mary middle east doll could not be completed and no refunds issued.that is so sad-i have 3 of the dolls and looked forward to the middle eastern doll.

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    3. Once a doll is in a collection, it can represent the ethnicity the owner desires it to represent. I do not have any information about the status of the company. Have you tried contacting them directly?

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    4. Respectfully disagree.Ellen created the doll as a representation of african and Brazilian cultures.Yes a person can pretend it to be whatever they want.But that's detrimental to children's education and discriminates against the other half of the doll's "story".

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    5. the web site said she was south american.but my girl dressed her in a native italy costume!

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    6. No,the Mary doll was never completed.But,yes Anonymous is correct.The doll pictured above is both African and Brazilian.That is according to the web site and published news articles of verification.

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    7. In response to the anonymous comment above, "Respectfully disagree.Ellen created the doll as a representation of african and Brazilian cultures.Yes a person can pretend it to be whatever they want.But that's detrimental to children's education and discriminates against the other half of the doll's "story"."

      My comment refers to an adult owner of a doll maintaining the right to determine a doll's ethnicity regardless of what the manufacturer or creator of the doll intended. Once a doll is purchased, owned, and part of a personal collection, the ethnicity can be changed if the owner desires. My comment did not refer to a child changing a doll's ethnicity to suit their needs. However, if the child chooses to do so, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that choice and no one should be concerned that an adult or child does this because, again, the doll belongs the adult or child. Dolls' stories are created and/or changed frequently by both adults and children.

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    8. *to (...the doll belongs to the adult or child)...

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    9. So, it was okay for your child to dress Tatiana in a native costume? Isn't that changing the doll's ethnicity or nationality?

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  2. Hi Debbie! Congratulation! This is a lovely gift to yourself and for your niece as well. I love Tatiana's hair a lot. As you have said, finger-detangling is the best. This doll isn't only beautiful and articulated but she also has an educational value. Her hair is a nice way of teaching black girls and mixed girls how to gently care for their ultra-curly hair. I have got a question for you: Are you going to braid her hair one day and had the beads?
    Thanks for the review and the photos.
    Take good care of yourself!
    Arlette

    And also Congratulations on your name being twice on the box.

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    1. Hi Arlette,

      I appreciate the educational value Tatiana offers as well. I was delighted that a doll with her complexion would be included in the Dollfriend line for girls (and collectors) with similar complexions to own and for others who might want to diversify their doll families.

      I have seen the doll with the hair braided, which is quite lovely. However, I have no immediate plans to do that myself. Who knows what will happen with time on my hands in the future.

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    2. Tatiana has "sleep" eyes not "stationary" as I wrote previously (which has now been corrected).

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  3. Hi Debbie --

    When my husband ordered Tatiana for me, I hoped that she'd arrive by November and therefore be my spectacular birthday gift. That gave me the rationale NOT to wait until Christmas to open the box when it did arrive -- "AHA! Late birthday present, must open IMMEDIATELY!" Tatiana is so beautiful (that face!) and so well-made that I knew you'd review her positively, and I've been anticipating your blog post about her. I thought Tatiana's eyes were stationary at first too, because they resemble the eyes on my Julie Good-Kruger and Karito Kid dolls.

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    1. Congratulations on your late birthday present, Gini. Tatiana was well worth the wait, right?

      I wrote the draft of this post last night and had planned to wait to publish it Wednesday since I was unable to proof it thoroughly. In my haste to have a new post replace my Christmas Greeting post, I proofed it early this morning and went ahead and published. I knew her eyes were not stationary but sometimes what I am thinking and what I write is completely opposite, as in the case of describing Tatiana's eye movement.

      I am glad you enjoyed the review and concur with it. I really do like everything about Tatiana. To my knowledge, there isn't another doll on the market quite like her for adult collectors and/or children.

      Enjoy your doll!

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  4. Great looking doll with really nice clothes.

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  5. She is a very pretty doll! It is so nice to see so many more dolls available these days that represent different ethnic backgrounds and cultures. When my daughters were younger, I had to order dolls from places like China Sprout to get them Asian dolls that they could identify with. It is important for little girls to have a doll that looks like her.

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    1. I am happy to see more doll companies with inclusive lines as well, Phyllis. The availability of playthings that celebrate a child's ethnicity and culture is fundamental in the establishment of a healthy sense of self.

      My sister asked me if she should allow my niece to play with her Tatiana. I said, yes! Let her enjoy her doll (but keep her in the box when she's not playing with it). She's 10 and old enough to take care of her things anyway. I think it would be torture to have dolls that you can only look at through boxes.

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    2. Phyllis,

      I commend you on taking the necessary steps to ensure your daughters had dolls that looked like them.

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  6. Congratulations on the arrival of that cutie. Her smile is contagious and having articulation is by far a big plus. I'm so thankful to have grown up with beautiful dolls that look like me. Your niece should be thrilled.

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    1. Thank you for the congrats, Brini! You certainly were blessed to have grown up with dolls that look like you.

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