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| Adam's body and head, two Barbie bodies, Twistee Totsy's body and her head after the dye bath |
In the previous post, the initial phase of dyeing several white dolls black (or brown) using brown iDye Poly was shared. This post will share the initial effects the dye bath had on each doll.
Adam:
Twistee Totsy's Hair Close-up:
Twistee's formerly light blonde hair is now a dishwater blonde color. You'll see how this was corrected in a follow-up post.
Babette, the unmarked Barbie clone, and vintage Barbie clone by Davtex:
Babette and the unmarked clone now have Ebony complexions (see their before image here). Babette's previous brunette hair with highlights is now a reddish-brown. The formerly blonde bubble cut clone is now a brunette with gold highlights. The Davtex doll's face would not absorb the dye, as illustrated above. She was a "piece of work."
GI Joe:
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35th Anniversary Barbie:
As illustrated in her initial after-dye photos, 35th Anniversary Barbie's eye and lip color were unaffected by the dye. Her body, unfortunately, is much lighter than her face, arms, and legs. The dye over-penetrated some areas on her chest and in small areas on one side of her face and upper arm. How I was able to deepen her torso and mask the coloring imperfections will be shared in Friday's post.
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Each doll required extra detailing beyond dyeing, some more than others. I worked on more than one doll at a time and took pictures along the way. If painting was being done, those dolls that needed it were painted. If hair needed to be styled, that was done. To keep the posts relatively brief, I had to make this a multi-part series. Some posts, however, will focus more on some dolls than others.
Part 3
I'm looking forward to these posts. Doll experiments are always I interesting no matter how they turn out you learn something. Thanks for sharing your results.
ReplyDeleteIt's too bad the bodies aren't taking the dye perfectly but I like that most of the fashion doll heads did. Finding a recently made black Barbie body with a vintage look is very easy and affordable and, if not, at the prices real vintage black dolls are fetching even if buying a Fashion Royalty body was necessary to match skin tones you'd still come out ahead.
I have definitely learned during this process. I am looking into other body possibilities for two of these as well as any future dolls I might dye (no time soon, however).
Deletedbg
I agree with Maricha, the results of these dolly experiments are very interesting! I look forward to the next post!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Phyllis.
Deletedbg
I applaud your persistence. The variation in the dark complexions is interesting to see. Some remind me of my 1970s Malibu Christie. Mattel really gave her a suntan. As a teen, I loved and appreciated that the company recognized that brown-skinned Christie would get darker as well as her fairer complected friends. Thanks for sharing these results.
ReplyDeleteMalibu Christie remains one of my favorite Christies in my collection. I own two. I have always loved her ebony complexion.
Deletedbg
Amazing! Did you have to cover the eyes?
ReplyDeleteNope... I didn't cover their eyes. I dipped them in the water just as they were, nude. These initial results photos illustrate how their eyes looked after dyeing.
Deletedbg
I am really surprised that the eyes aren't darker! I saw someone post dyed heads on Facebook!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1656376758010253&set=gm.594453367401167&type=3&theater
Whatever these companies used to seal the eye paint protected the eyes from the dye, Ms. Leo. This doesn't happen all the time. It will vary from doll to doll. You never know what will take the dye until the parts are removed from the dye bath.
DeleteThanks for sharing the link to Tamisha's dyed heads from last year. The heads are easy to dye, and as I mentioned in my previous comment to you and others, regular Rit clothing dye can be used for the soft vinyl used for Barbie heads. I have used the powdered version of Rit and mixed tan with cocoa brown to lift the color up. The cocoa brown alone will result in a much lighter brown than I achieved with the iDye Poly brand. The cocoa brown alone is a good match for the color Mattel used for 1980s through 1990s Barbies like Kissing Christie, for example.
dbg
Some of these results really made me smile (okay, I laughed out loud a little at the gray body and Davtex head). I'm impressed with the face of the 35th anniversary Barbie. I can't wait to see how you fix the imperfections with all of the dolls.
ReplyDeleteI must admit that some of the results (Davtex head, Twistee Totsy body, Adam's neck and torso, Joe's joints and feet) were shocking as well as disappointing. We, the dolls and I, survived, however.
Deletedbg