A fashion doll wears a graphic off-shoulder top by Nise's Designs
As a December 2019 gift, I received my first graphic, off-shoulder blouse from Nise's Designs. It is made of flannel, and I made a no-sew felt skirt for the doll chosen to wear it.
A Shani-faced Barbie wears a Santa T-shirt by Nise's Designs.
Last year I ordered more doll T-shirts from Nise's Designs, including Black Santa tees for gifts.
These two graphic T-shirts by Nise's Designs arrived recently.
My last two tees, shown above, prompted this post. Each T-shirt was separately packaged in a resealable bag.
Nise's Designs contact sticker was on each resealable bag.
The back of each bag included Nise's contact information sticker, which indicates she also creates custom designs.
Paired with MiniBrands silver sneakers, Barbie Looks Model #2 (Elle #1) modeled one of the shirts.
Barbie Looks Model 14 (Elle #2) modeled the second T-shirt. She also wears a pair of MiniBrands sneakers and carries a dark pink MiniBrands shoulder bag.
The MiniBrands shoulder bag is shaped like a boombox and has several mock compartments.
Next, I gathered all dolls (except the Shani-faced doll) that wear a Nise's Design graphic tops for a group photo.
There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
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Visit and follow DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum for over 1000 curated installations of antique, vintage, modern, and one-of-a-kind Black dolls.
Contact the curator from the contact page of the VBDM to have your profile as a Black-doll collector or artist featured on the museum website.
Box contents: My Whitney Houston Barbie doll order!
Ordered on Saturday, August 8, 2026, my Whitney Houston Barbie package arrived on Wednesday, August 12, 2026. The box sat near the front door until Thursday, when I moved it in front of the doll room door to open it later, since I was busy with other things. I finally opened the shipping box on Saturday, August 15, 2026.
First Photos
I was happy to see that Amazon shipped the doll in the Mattel shipper, which added extra protection during shipping.
Whitney Houston Barbie captures Whitney's look from the 1987 music video, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody."
When I look at the doll, I see Whitney, and I have no complaints.
In this side-panel box view, Whitney sees her reflection, and she too likes what she sees!
Whitney is beautifully illustrated on the back of the box above her bio and the description of the doll.
Back-of-the-Box Text
Known as "The Voice" for her powerful vocal range. Whitney Houston was born into a family with a rich musical heritage. Whitney's early years were spent growing up in gospel music, where she learned from her mother, Cissy Houston, a legendary gospel singer.
With the release of her record-breaking debut album, Whitney ignited a career destined to achieve superstardom. Her journey was filled with chart-topping hits, countless awards, and history-making achievements, including induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She sold over 200 million albums, singles, and videos worldwide, and remains the only artist to achieve seven consecutive U.S. number-one singles.
To celebrate the anniversary of the single hailed as one of the greatest pop songs of all time, the Whitney Houston Barbie doll captures her unforgettable look from the "I wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" video. Styled in a replica of the body-hugging tank dress, with colorful drop earrings and her vibrant eye makeup, she is performance-ready with her microphone stand.
The doll embodies the energy, joy, and brilliance of Whitney Houston's timeless music. Her voice inspired a generation of artists, and her songs became the soundtrack of millions of lives. Don't you wanna dance?
There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________
Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published. To contact me directly, use the About page link, which is also visible in Web View mode; find and use the email link.
Visit and follow DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum for over 1000 curated installations of antique, vintage, modern, and one-of-a-kind Black dolls. Contact the curator from the Contact Page of the VBDM to have your profile as a Black-doll collector or artist featured on the museum website.
Ever since I participated in a travel doll event hosted by the So in Style Yahoo Group in 2012, I've admired the fashion that our Gallivanting Grace travel doll was redressed in. I only recently discovered the Barbie that originally wore this fashion, Corduroy Cool (shown above), and I purchased that doll to dress one of my dolls in it.
Other dolls released in 1999 are featured on the back of Corduroy Cool Barbie's box, but none of the other Corduroy Cool dolls are illustrated.
There were several versions of Corduroy Cool Barbie. Some wore a two-piece green fashion. Some wore a one-piece blue fashion, while others wore a two-piece blue fashion. The Black doll was dressed in a two-piece green outfit, but that's not the fashion I wanted, so I purchased the brunette doll.
Minus a green hair brush, these are the Corduroy Cool clothes and accessories.
A green striped cap, a matching long-sleeved shirt, a light-green corduroy jumper, a contrasting green "silk" neck scarf, emerald green opaque tights, a light-green plastic purse, and light-green ankle boots are the pieces I kept.
I selected a pink box Barbie to wear the Corduroy Cool fashion. This doll uses the Shani head sculpt and is one of three dolls that I redressed during the Christmas 2025 season. She continued to wear the Christmas fashion until the Corduroy Cool fashion arrived, which she models below in a headshot and a full-length image.
"Shani" has a beautiful face, smile, and complexion.
She wears the Corduroy Cool Fashion well.
When I purchased the Santa T-shirt that Shani wore previously from Nise's Designs, she surprised me another one of her T-shirt designs. While redressing Shani, I decided to pair the extra T-shirt from Nise with the leggings Shani had worn to redress my BarbieStyle Fashion Signature Doll #2. Nise's T-shirt features a lovely African American woman winking, who wears a natural-textured hairstyle.
A close-up of the T-shirt from Nise is illustrated.
Shani and the redressed BarbieStyle doll pose in the next photo.
Redressed and looking great!
Press the "play" arrow to view a video of Gallivanting Grace (the doll that inspired me to purchase the Corduroy Cool fashion.
There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________
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Visit and follow DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum for detailed installations of antique, vintage, modern, and one-of-a-kind black dolls.
http://virtualblackdollmuseum.com
This lovely doll, which features the closed-mouth Brooklyn sculpt, celebrates Mattel's 80th Anniversary, not Barbie's 80th anniversary (Barbie has only been around since 1959).
She's available at the Mattel Creations website and on Amazon.com (where you can enjoy free shipping with or without Amazon Prime).
Mattel's description is copied below:
Eight decades of iconic toymaking warrants a special design to mark the occasion. Behold our Mattel 80th Anniversary Barbie doll, a stunning keepsake that honors the legacy of a company that has inspired generations. She looks red carpet-ready in a glittery gown accentuated by bow-like sleeves and a dramatic tulle bustle. Ruby pumps complement her dazzling look, while red nails and drop earrings with a golden “M” pay stylish homage to the old-school Matty Mattel logo. Mattel 80th Anniversary Barbie® Doll
Doll Designer: Carlyle Nuera
Packaging Designer: Jennifer Cretacci
Label: Black
Face Sculpt: Closed-mouth Brooklyn
Body Type: Model Muse Curvy
Includes Certificate of Authenticity
Happy shopping!
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All photos and text are copyrighted and cannot be used elsewhere unless permission is granted by the author.
There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________
Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published, so don't waste your time. To contact me directly regarding dolls or any of my posts, please use the contact form on the right of the home page, which is visible in "web view." A link to web viewing should be visible at the bottom of this page.
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Dolls from the You Create Barbie Kit No. 003 without wigs
These ladies (Rose, Minh, and Caro) make another bold appearance before we/I take a break from this blog.
Rose, Minh, and Caro look fabulous with or without wigs.
I will resume my focus here in May. In the meantime, if you are not already a subscriber, please add your email address to the subscribe/sign up field of the Virtual Black Doll Museum, where my focus on documenting 1000 antique, vintage, modern, and one-of-a-kind black dolls remains. (To date, over 840 dolls in the combined categories have been curated and installed.)
See you in May.
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All photos and text are copyrighted and cannot be used elsewhere unless permission is granted by the author.
There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________
Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published, so don't waste your time. To contact me directly regarding dolls or any of my posts, please use the contact form on the right of the home page, which is visible in "web view." A link to web viewing should be visible at the bottom of this page.
If you're not already a subscriber, visit, "like" and follow the Black Doll Collecting Facebook page or bookmark the Black Doll Collecting home page and visit on Tuesdays and Thursdays when typically new posts are published.
Over several months, I purchased pink fashion-doll clothes to redress a few Barbies. I finally gathered four Barbies to begin the process. I'll add others later.
The chosen four
The chosen four are seen in their original or previously redressed clothes. All the clothes have pink or a hint of pink, but I wanted mostly pink for the redresses.
The ladies are seen redressed individually in the following photos.
A ca. 1980s-1990s Christie found at a thrift store several years ago wears a pink and white houndstooth dress, a wide-brimmed pink hat, pink high-heels, and pearl jewelry.
An articulated Barbie Fashionista Nikki from 2011 now wears a two-piece pink tweed suit, a shimmery dark-pink bandeau tank top, light-pink high heels, and gold stud earrings.
So-in-Style Trichelle wears a pink and white gingham sundress with pink high-heel sandals, silver stud earrings, and a silver cuff bracelet.
Barbie Fashionista #6 Party Glam from 2015 wears only the pink tunic from a four-piece ensemble.
I chose these four because the fashions fit regular-fashion doll bodies, and I needed dolls with high-heeled feet. So many of my newer Barbies have Curvy, Petite, or Tall Barbie bodies and flat feet.
I am amazed at how much I love the look of pink on these ladies.
As a group, the chosen four display well in their perfectly pink ensembles. They had been stored in pockets of an over-the-door shoe organizer behind a bedroom door (as illustrated in a past Instagram post), but I will move them back to the doll room where I can see and enjoy them.
There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________
Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published, so don't waste your time. To contact me directly regarding dolls or any of my posts, please use the contact form on the right of the home page, which is visible in "web view." A link to web viewing should be visible at the bottom of this page.
If you're not already a subscriber, visit, "like" and follow the Black Doll Collecting Facebook page or bookmark the Black Doll Collecting home page and visit on Tuesdays and Thursdays when typically new posts are published.
40th Anniversary Little Debbie 1960-2000 Barbie Special Edition Series IV has a copyright year of 1999.
Dolls named Debbie (for obvious reasons) have always interested me. In 1992, Mattel introduced Little Debbie Barbie followed by four additional Little Debbie Barbies in subsequent years. Mini versions of the dolls were also available. None of the dolls are Black because the brand was named after the founder's then 3-1/2 year-old granddaughter, Debra McKee. Because of the name, I wanted a Little Debbie Barbie.
The Little Debbie Snack Story from the back of Series IV Little Debbie Barbie's box
While the snack cakes date back to the early 1930s, the Little Debbie brand name was not used until 1957. My mother never purchased Little Debbie Snack Cakes for us. Years later, I purchased a few varieties for my children and grandchildren. My youngest grandson loved their classic Oatmeal Creme Pies. Introduced in 1983, their Donut Sticks were my favorite. I no longer buy or eat any of these sugary snacks today, but owning a black version of Little Debbie Barbie remained a desire.
Recently, I purchased two of the five Little Debbie Barbies that wear more contemporary clothing than the original 1992 doll. I used the dolls' clothes to redress two Barbies that use the 1990 Asha head sculpt. The first redressed doll is featured in this post.
An Asha-faced Barbie wore a cute butterfly-print purple dress.
A basic Barbie fashion doll from Walmart that originally wore a purple butterfly print dress was used to redress the 40th Anniversary Little Debbie Barbie Special Edition Doll Series IV as illustrated below:
The Asha-faced doll wears the 40th Anniversary Little Debbie Barbie's blue gown, silver drawstring purse, and silver hair ribbon as a headband.
The 40th Anniversary Little Debbie Barbie wears replacement silver high-heel shoes but is otherwise complete including the accessories shown with the doll and in a separate photo next.
The doll is shown with the accompanying accessories.
Accessories include empty boxes of Little Debbie Snack Cakes—Honey Buns, Brownie Lights, and Oatmeal Creme Pies—a blue hairbrush, a serving tray that illustrates Little Debbie snacks, and a doll stand.
The front of the box and the doll in the box are illustrated here.
After redressing the Asha-faced doll, I placed it and the packaged Little Debbie Barbie accessories in the 40th Anniversary doll's box.
There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________
Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published, so don't waste your time. To contact me directly regarding dolls or any of my posts, please use the contact form on the right of the home page, which is visible in "web view." A link to web viewing should be visible at the bottom of this page.
If you're not already a subscriber, visit, "like" and follow the Black Doll Collecting Facebook page or bookmark the Black Doll Collecting home page and visit on Tuesdays and Thursdays when typically new posts are published.
Stock photo headshot of the Barbie Signature Collection 65th Anniversary Barbie
Preordering for the lovely 65th Anniversary African American Barbie commenced at the Mattel Creations website on 03/05/24 at 9 p.m. PST. I preordered at around 5 a.m. on 3/6/24 without any problems. The website reportedly jammed due to high traffic when ordering commenced.
The doll retails for $60 plus tax and shipping. My order is scheduled to ship by June 19, 2024. The downside of ordering from Mattel Creations is that I had to become a Mattel Creations (MC) member for an additional $9 to order from their site.
My preference was to order from Amazon to eliminate the extra $9 MC club membership and shipping, but I went ahead and secured the doll from Mattel. The Amazon buy page is "live," but preordering is not available at this time (3/6/24 10 a.m. CST). Keep visiting the Amazon link below if you'd like to eliminate MC's club fee and shipping.
Preordering was available at Walmart's website earlier today, but the doll is sold out there at this time (3/6/24 10:00 a.m.) Here is the Walmart buy pageto check back for replenished stock.
Back-of-the-box stock photo of the 65th Anniversary African American Barbie
Good luck if you plan to purchase this lovely doll.
There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________
Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published, so don't waste your time. To contact me directly regarding dolls or any of my posts, please use the contact form on the right of the home page, which is visible in "web view." A link to web viewing should be visible at the bottom of this page.
If you're not already a subscriber, visit, "like" and follow the Black Doll Collecting Facebook page or bookmark the Black Doll Collecting home page and visit on Tuesdays and Thursdays when typically new posts are published.
Of the five dolls received for my birthday, Barbie Looks #14 is the only one I have deboxed. Photos of this lovely doll alone are shown above. Photos of the doll with other Barbie Looks dolls in my collection are shared below.
From L-R are Barbie Looks dolls #2, #4, #7, #10, and the newest doll to my collection, #14.
Barbie Looks #2 and #14 share the same head sculpt (known as Elle by Barbie collectors).
The shared head sculpt between Looks #2 and #14 is where the similarity ends. #2 is on a Curvy Barbie body, has a lighter brown complexion, and has an Afro hairstyle. #14 is on a Tall Barbie body. She has a much deeper complexion, and her hair is styled in an Afro puff. Both dolls are striking.
Because the other ladies have pierced ears, Elle insisted on having hers pierced, too. Instead of the bold choice of earrings the others chose, this Elle opted for turquoise studs to match her color block top.
The ladies strike one final pose.
After Jon returned to his display area, the ladies posed for the above final photo. A beautiful representation of sisterhood, their beauty radiates.
There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________
Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published, so don't waste your time. To contact me directly regarding dolls or any of my posts, please use the contact form on the right of the home page, which is visible in "web view." A link to web viewing should be visible at the bottom of this page.
If you're not already a subscriber, visit, "like" and follow the Black Doll Collecting Facebook page or bookmark the Black Doll Collecting home page and visit on Tuesdays and Thursdays when typically new posts are published.
Available on Amazon, the Bessie Coleman Barbie is $35.00 with free shipping for Prime members.
About the Doll and the Person It Portrays:
This Barbie Inspiring Women doll honors Bessie Coleman. She was the first Black and Native American female pilot, and the first Black person to earn an international pilot’s license.
Bessie Coleman Barbie doll wears a traditional olive-green aviator suit, tall lace-up boots and a cap emblazoned with her initials: “BC”.
As someone who loved flying through the sky and performing aerial tricks, she naturally comes with a helmet and goggle accessories!
May this aviatrix’s trailblazing achievements and remarkable courage inspire people everywhere to soar to greater heights.
The Bessie Coleman Barbie Inspiring Women doll comes in displayable packaging, making her a wonderful gift for collectors and children ages 6 years old and up.
The doll is also on Target's website where, if you use your Target Red card you'll receive a 5% discount, and if you're a Rakuten member and enter Target's website through Rakuten before purchasing, you'll get an extra 1% cashback on the purchase. Not a Rakuten member? Join here.
There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________
Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published, so don't waste your time. To contact me directly regarding dolls or any of my posts, please use the contact form on the right of the home page, which is visible in "web view." A link to web viewing should be visible at the bottom of this page.
If you're not already a subscriber, visit, "like" and follow the Black Doll Collecting Facebook page or bookmark the Black Doll Collecting home page and visit on Tuesdays and Thursdays when typically new posts are published.
55 years ago, Francie was the first Black doll released by Mattel, and paved the way for more Black dolls and dolls of color to be added to the line. We're honoring her groundbreaking anniversary with this vintage reproduction.
There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________
Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published, so don't waste your time. To contact me directly regarding dolls or any of my posts, please use the contact form on the right of the home page, which is visible in "web view." A link to web viewing should be visible at the bottom of this page.
If you're not already a subscriber, visit, "like" and follow the Black Doll Collecting Facebook page or bookmark the Black Doll Collecting home page and visit on Tuesdays and Thursdays when typically new posts are published.
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