Black dolls with curly to kinky natural hair were virtually non-existent when I was growing up. These days, they are still a challenge to find, but I’ve done some of the homework for you with this post. Here are four places you can purchase a natural hair doll for your niece, daughter, yourself, or another special girl in your life.
1. Natural Girls United
Natural Girls United was started by blogger Karen Byrd a few years ago. She “wanted to take on the project of customizing dolls hair, to have the look and feel of styles, and textures of ethnic women and girls, for a long time”. The range of natural hair styles in her shop is expansive, including locs, kinky faux-twists, kinky braided updos, and afros. You can even request a special style that is not already offered in the online store.
2. PoupeeMakedaa
PoupeeMakedaa is a France-based Etsy shop owned by Céline. It offers unique afro-haired dolls in beautiful African print clothing. Though some of you may squinch up your faces at the price tag, understand that her items are handmade with special attention to detail.
3. LeenGreenBean
Aileen Robinson is owner of LeenGreenBean, another Etsy shop that sells black dolls with natural hair styles. Her dolls are beautifully crocheted and not at all bland. She also sells the crochet pattern in the event that you want to construct your own doll.
4. Madame Alexander
Beatrice Alexander “founded the Madame Alexander Doll Company in New York City around her kitchen table in 1923. Her core belief then and for us still today is that dolls should be used to engage a child’s imagination.” This online store offers two dolls, in particular, with natural-looking hair. One is the Isaac Mizrahi Wild About Leopard Girl and the other is the Stars and Stripes Doll.
Do you know of any other places that sell dolls with natural hair?
17 Responses
I like it
My wife is from South Africa and has been making her own African American doll along with 3 other friends. https://shop.fairycaravan.co/product/fabric-dolls/lily-handmade-south-african-doll/
I looked at the site and they are not African American dolls.
Babysparkles.biz also creates natural baby dolls and a american doll version. They are available on our site. This is a black owned business. We are also on facebook.com/babysparklesbiz
Please check out my new line of black dolls http://www.ikuzidolls.com
Beautiful!
I create custom dolls: https://brownsugarbelle.com/product-category/custom-dolls/
Ok, these dolls are absolutely gorgeous. Love them all!
I like the last ones, but all of the options are so expensive.
icryclouds.blogspot.com
These are expensive.
Natural haired dolls aren’t really that hard to find. They’ve revamped the Kenya dolls from back in the day and Mattel has been making Black Barbies with different textures for years now.
Just noticed that the crochet dolls are created by a white woman. I don’t think that’s a problem, but since this is such a niche market I would rather support black business.
Hi, I’m the crocheter, and totally understand your viewpoint! I never set out to have this niche, I just keep getting requests mainly for black dolls. It grew all on it’s own and by word of mouth. I’m glad my dolls are so appreciated.
Crochet dolls are gorgeous!
I am diggin’ the crochet dolls…..
I’m a happy customer of this etsy store that sells adorable black dolls, along with custom dolls so u can design how ur doll will look and adorable paintings!
The crochet dolls, and maybe the Poupee dolls would probably get my money. The other dolls are cute, but they look a little too much like white dolls that were recolored with different hair put on. I’m not much of a fan of the “Barbie” or “American Girl” aesthetic.
I love the crochet dolls. I can see one of them on my desk for decoration.