Real Housewives of Atlanta reality star Cynthia Bailey is continuing her mission to empower and uplift young women with her new Cynthia Bailey Prettie Girls! Collectors Doll by the One World Doll Project.
Even in 2013, it is hard for parents and young girls to come across fabulous African-American fashion dolls, but Bailey’s new doll will help change that.
“I grew up playing with dolls myself,” she told AtlantaBlackStar. “I never had a doll that looked like me or anybody I knew… We don’t have a lot of dolls like this out on the market.”
Bailey said she was honored to have the opportunity to work with the One World Doll Project, which specializes in creating multicultural dolls.
“I was just really honored,” Bailey said. “I think the company is really selective about who they want to work with and who they want to make a doll with, so I was first and foremost very honored.”
While designing the doll, Bailey decided she really wanted her collector’s doll to actually have the shape of most African- American women and feature a curvier body type than what is seen on most dolls today.
“I wanted her to have a booty so she does have a little shapely butt,” the Alabama-born supermodel said. “It’s not a stallion booty or a donkey booty, but she does have a little booty. That was important for me because she is a sistah at the end of the day. So, you know, everything from her ‘fro to her fashion to her body type, I really wanted it to be that of an African-American girl.”
Bailey’s doll is also sporting a large, fierce afro that the RHOA reality star said was yet another important style choice for her first doll.
“I thought it would be cool to do my first one with a ‘fro,” Bailey said. “I wear an afro a lot on the show and when I wear my afro, I really just feel so empowered and just fabulous. There’s nothing like putting that afro on when you’re like, ‘OK, look out for me today now. I got my afro on.’ ”
Fortunately, dolls with curly, natural hair are slowly starting to pop up more and more in today’s market; however, many African-American dolls are priced to be collectors’ pieces for adults rather than commercial dolls that the average parent can afford to purchase for her daughter. Parents may be able to find African-American dolls with natural hair for their children but many of these dolls will cost a lot more than the blond hair, blue-eyed dolls that are available at a more affordable price.
Even Bailey’s collector’s doll is priced higher than the average beauty doll which typically ranges between $20 and $45 at Toys R Us. Bailey’s “Prettie Girls!” doll is $69.95 on the the One World Doll Project’s website.
One World Doll Project is also releasing a line of multicultural dolls that are priced at just over $20 and dollmaker Karen Byrd has also released a line of dolls rocking a variety of fabulous, natural hairstyles.
