Sometimes customizing fashion dolls can be as simple as redressing a doll in an outfit other than the one she came in, or as elaborate as totally repainting, rerooting, and reshaping!  Above you see some dolls in my collection that I have customized to one extent or another. 

The first doll on the left is my Princess of Mallorca doll.  She features one of my first spiral perms and handmade jewelry, but her dress is a commercially-made Fashion Avenue gown.  Next, is a doll I created for the 4th of July, featuring a boil perm and a hand-made dress.  The handsome guy in the middle is my rendition of Jon Bon Jovi.  He's had his hair rerooted, and a full facial repaint.  His jewelry is handmade, and his clothing items are hand-embellished but commercially made.  The next doll is a My Design doll from Barbie Collectibles.  Not exactly customized, but I chose the outfit, hair color, eye color, etc.  Next is an example of a redress.  This is Strawberry Party Barbie (I love her strawberry-blonde hair) wearing Summer in Rome.  Finally, we have Generation Girl Barbie as a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader!  The outfit was hand-made by a lady that is a regular at local doll shows.

Another very exciting aspect of doll collecting is participating in swaps.  Swaps generally involve one collector creating a customized doll for another collector, usually with a specific theme, and then exchanging them.  I have the good fortune of belonging to a few groups with extremely talented artists, and have become the recipient of many beautiful swap dolls.  The lovely lady in the upper corner was done by Tess Barton, and the redhead to the left was done by Suzy Sease.  Click here for more!