[♪ Music ♪]
Hello, friends, and welcome to another video.
This week, I'm gonna be dressing like Bratz dolls from the early 2000s.
Now if you were between the ages of five and twelve in 2001,
you'll probably remember when Bratz dolls exploded into toy aisles for the very first time,
with their giant heads, multi-ethnic squad, lack of feet,
and emphasis on trendy, funky, current-looking fashion.
Barbie, who had been the Queen Bee of the doll market for forty-two years,
was undeniably shook.
I was nine when Bratz first came out, so I was maybe a little too old for Barbie,
but I was definitely interested in Limited Too.
So I found myself loving the Bratz's clothes.
And my mom hated the fact that they were called "Bratz,"
since that's basically what every parent wants their child not to be.
Unlike Barbie, who has more of a timeless, professional look,
Bratz were much more contemporary.
So I figured, by trying this experiment, I would both be fulfilling a childhood dream of dressing like a Bratz doll
and also opening a time capsule into over-the-top, early 2000s fashion
So I bought four dolls from the early years of Bratz
and made sure that I had one of each of the four original girls:
Yasmin, Cloe, Sasha, and Jade.
That leaves some of the other dolls, including my favorite, Meygan, out of the picture.
but I think even just doing these four, should give us a good dose of early 2000s nostalgia.
All right. Let's dive right in.
So for this first outfit, I picked Yasmin as our fashion muse.
So this is my 2001 original Yasmin outfit.
[Tyler] This is OG?
This is "Gen 1" Yasmin
[Ad jingle] ♪ The girls with a passion for fashion--Bratz! ♪
Yasmin is one of Bratz's most produced dolls,
appearing in almost every collection that they've made,
and she's also named after the president of MGA Entertainment's daughter, Jasmin,
so it's safe to say she's a house favorite.
Yasmin's nickname is "Pretty Princess"
and she's interested in fashion, as they all are,
but she's also shy, quiet, reserved, and a good writer.
[Tyler] Where are you getting this?
From the Bratz Wiki page.
[Tyler] Okay, gotcha. All facts.
Yasmin's main outfit here comes with
a purple velour-ish velvet tube top
a pair of white jeans with orange embellishments at the bottom,
purple platform shoes,
a woven backpack,
and a brown bandana headband.
This outfit was pretty difficult to find in human sizes.
It was weirdly impossible to find
low-rise white flare jeans.
My pants are a little high for 2001,
but for my 2018 booty and abdomen they're just right.
We also tried to DIY
a more accurate-looking headband/bandana,
but they kept turning out looking like nun-in-training habits,
and that's definitely not the vibe.
[Saf] Oh, my god, there's a Von Dutch store!
I need a trucker hat
[Tyler] I think it'll compete with your bandana too much.
Pretty much everything about this outfit
reminds me of clothes from the early 2000s
that I really wanted to wear but wasn't allowed to.
On the back of Yasmin's box,
it says that she's interested in Bohemian styles,
but I would say her outfit reminds me more of
styles worn by pop and hip-hop stars of the time.
I think that if Instagram existed in 2001,
the Bratz would definitely be influencers.
They'd be Fashionnova babes.
[Tyler] When your Bratz boyfriend has a second plastic phone.
[Saf] *laughs*
I feel like the closest comp [comparison] to Yasmin's outfit
is probably Jennifer Lopez from the Jenny from the block music video.
But shades of this crop top and low-rise flare jeans style can be seen on
Aaliyah,
Destiny's Child,
Christina Aguilera,
3LW,
and just generally like MTV from 2001.
[Tyler] Yeah, you could be on "Next."
[Next contestant] Honestly you're just not my type ...
so I'm gonna have to say "Next."
Yasmin's makeup is an interesting mix of contemporary and throwback.
I don't remember such
complex eye looks existing back in the day,
but the lip look, with the dark lip liner
and a lighter, iridescent center is very much that "noughties" style.
This is very similar to the LipLix color that was, like, my very first lip gloss in third grade.
Overall, this outfit was really fun, but mildly uncomfortable.
Certain aspects, like the iridescent lip gloss
and the bandana, really
reminded me of my own tween years,
but the tube top and pants required a lot of
adjusting on the go,
and the platform shoes
were kind of like mini stilts.
[Tyler] Don't step on that dog with those boots on.
I also stuck out a lot in this outfit, partially because of how tall I was,
but also because of how long my white pants were,
which actually mirrors Yasmin's proportions,
as her legs as her legs are incredibly long when compared to her much shorter torso.
How about over six feet, biatch!
So for our second doll, I picked Cloe,
the blonde of the Bratz pack.
Say hello to 2002 "Xpress It!" Cloe.
[Ad jingle] ♪ The girls with a passion for fashion--
♪ "XPress It!" Fashion ♪
♪Bratz. ♪ "XPress It!" Fashion Bratz each sold separately.
I think the XPress It Collection is basically just, like, a funky fashion collection,
with most of the girls just wearing contemporary clothing
in, like, warm-toned colors.
Tyler, don't forget to XPress yourself!
Do I spell that with an "E" or an "X"?
Only an '"X";
if you spell it with an "E" you are Xspelled
from the Bratz-X!
[Tyler laughing] What was that?
I was trying to put an "X" at the end of Bratz.
Cloe's outfit here includes a sparkly skinny scarf,
an orange tank top,
a denim maxi skirt with a lace inset,
a bedazzled red belt,
cowboy boots,
and a red and brown handbag with the word "angel" on the front.
Hi, my name's Cloe
and my nickname is '"Angel."
And I like drawing, art, and soccer.
[Tyler] This is a nightmare--
you're like evil Woody.
More like I'm, like, Limited Too Jessie.
She's also wearing a few simple twisty braids in her hair.
These braids are almost like the ones that would be made by one of those twisty ConAir things
that you would use at a sleepover.
This outfit was reasonably easy to find
except for the lace inset on the skirt, so we sewed this in.
Besides that, the bag, the top, and the scarf we got secondhand.
This outfit to me reads more like that boho style that Yasmin's box mentioned earlier.
Around this time, many celebrities donned peasant tops, flowy maxi skirts, and layered tunics in earth tones.
And in fact the term boho-chic was apparently coined in 2002.
On me, I think it looks more like a Phoebe Buffay.
Like, you know, I could have an acoustic guitar in my arms and be serenading a smelly cat.
Denim was also wildly popular in the early noughties,
with denim skirts being a favorite option in pretty much any length.
The denim skirt's a little bit big, but I feel like they just don't make denim maxi skirts like they used to.
[Tyler] It's more like a curtain.
[Safiya] Yeah.
It's a bit more of a folksy look than I remember Bratz having,
but I guess as fashionistas, they basically explored every style out there.
[Tyler] Hey Saf, you wanna play soccer?
[Safiya] Sure! That is one of my passions, besides fashion.
You know, I'm a... naturally athletic--
I don't want to play anymore!
Cloe's makeup kind of contrasts with her boho-esque clothes,
as her lips are frosted and lined with a hot pink color--
Oh, sorry, Bratz don't have mustaches, ignore that--
bringing that Bratz glam to an otherwise more toned-down outfit.
I do think that lip-gloss technology has advanced slightly in the sixteen years since this doll came out,
but it still goes away pretty quickly.
I don't think the Bratz were drinking coffee though.
It's unclear how old they're supposed to be. They're like kind of in high school, but they're also like rock stars.
I was never really a maxi skirt kind of tween, so I didn't ever have anything like this outfit.
But I did enjoy wearing it.
I've gotten a lot of compliments on the cowboy boots, actually.
Like people have, like, actually been, like, I like your boots!
Maybe that's them kind of being, like, not the rest of the outfit though!
[Tyler] You're trying hard!
It was also, of all of the outfits, one of the more comfortable ones.
Especially because my cowboy boots were not platforms.
She doesn't have feet either! She's my friend.
[Tyler] How do you know what feet are?
[Safiya] I mean she doesn't have shoes.
So for our third outfit, I chose Sasha to be our guide.
So here is 2003 winter wonderland Sasha!
[Ad jingle] ♪ Wintertime, wonderland! Cloe, Yasmin, Sasha, Dana, Jade. ♪
[Safiya sings] Wintertime, wonderland!
So for this wintertime wonderland outfit,
we really wanted to find snow,
even if we weren't able to actually snowboard or sled as it seems like Sasha is doing.
So we drove about an hour away to get to Mount Baldy.
We have snow on the side of the road. Snoooow!
Which was a questionable health and well-being decision,
given the fact that Sasha's outfit seems like it's mostly suitable for, like, fifty-degree weather.
I feel a little bit less like Shaun White and a little bit more like
if Paris Hilton had, like, done "The Simple Life" at, like, a ski lodge.
Bu, hey, at least we got to take Sasha to the snow.
Apparently it's eleven degrees up there.
See these gloves and parka might not be Bratz approved,
but Bratz can't get hypothermia.
Sasha's ski outfit includes a blue faux fur hat and blue sunglasses,
a green turtleneck with a sparkly snowflake appliqué,
a white vest, a blue sequined belt, a green messenger bag,
medium-wash jeans, blue faux fur leg-warmers, and white platform boots.
[Tyler] This chair lift is very frozen, and we are very much wearing jeans.
[Safiya sings] ♪ Wintertime, wonderland! Riding a chairlift. Sasha! ♪
Sasha's makeup is also very glittery and festive,
with the trademark Bratz cut-crease and lipliner being traded out for just more glitter.
Wow! Oh, it's not that bad up here. That ski lift was ... devil!
This outfit was pretty difficult to piece together.
Some things like the jeans and the vest were pretty easy to find,
but a lot of the embellishments had to be DIYed.
And I couldn't find a green messenger bag like hers anywhere.
Besides that, I feel like I was able to stay true to the spirit of her outfit,
especially with the matching blue faux fur hat and leg-warmers.
See, this could weirdly be a good thing to wear while skiing or snowboarding,
cause if you get lost in the mountain, people might be able to see you from the air.
Colorful shearling and fur,
faux and real, became very popular in the early 2000s,
with some of the main proponents of this trend being rapper Cam'ron, Paris Hilton, and
pretty much anyone who wore pastel uggs.
This is so much better than skiing.
Even though Sasha has a "snow disc,"
snowboarding and extreme snow sports in general
became very popular in the late 90s and early 2000s,
being seen as more rebellious, younger, and cooler
than old-school downhill skiing.
[Tyler] When you're pretending to snowboard but you've only ever seen Johnny Tsunami.
It also had a bigger media platform than ever before
with the winter X Games being broadcast live for the very first time in 2002.
but I thought she was like "Stop that"!
Overall, I think I was pretty unprepared for the snow and cold in this outfit.
The jeans were probably the worst part
"My butt's still wet, can you tell?"
[Tyler] Actually, yes I can. It is very clear.
The hat was probably the best part because at least my ears didn't get cold
But on the way down the mountain, my hat flew off
and just barely got rescued by the ski-lift attendants,
who strapped it to the chair behind us.
[Safiya] Wow, thank you.
I'm pretty sure the people working on the mountain thought I was insane.
So for our final outfit,
I let Jade take us out on the town.
This is my 2003 Spring Fling Jade outfit
This doll doesn't have a commercial,
because she was a Jade exclusive collector's edition,
but I think her bold outfit stands on its own
two silver shoe plug-is.
Are those the Bratz boys,
come to pick me up for the Spring Fling?
Well, you're too late; I've already arrived
and I'm going stag!
Jade's outfit here includes a yellow glittery news-boy cap,
a purple faux fur jacket,
a yellow tank top with the word '"chick" on it,
a bedazzled yellow belt,
dark-wash flare jeans,
silver platform shoes,
and a blue spherical beaded handbag.
[Tyler] Are you trying to club me with your ornament?
[Safiya] Watch out! This thing is kinda heavy.
[Tyler] Is it really?
[Tyler] Oh, my God, that thing would knock me out.
[Safiya] There's some mass to this. [Tyler] That's a mace.
This outfit was medium-hard to find.
We were able to buy everything,
but a lot of the extra sparkles and bedazzles had to be DIYed--
on the hat and on the boobs.
It's kind of like those bedazzled "bebe" shirts.
[Tyler] Oh, yeah.
Except instead of "bebe"it's "chick."
It's like, you know, on iCarly, instead of an apple computer it's a pear computer.
Jade's outfit here is kind of like a going-out, clubbing, or school-dancing look
and it combines many an early 2000s trend,
as seen on celebrities like Paris Hilton,
Lindsay Lohan, Hillary Duff, and Cameron Diaz,
amongs others.
Damn it, I should've brought a flip phone.
Damn it!
I need to be, like, ... "Hello"!
For Jade's makeup, she has a dramatic purple and blue cut-crease eyeshadow look
and pearlescent pink lip gloss.
I don't think my attempt to do a cut-crease today really succeeded,
but Jade never closes her eyes ... so
you can't really tell when my eyes are open,
I never owned anything quite like this,
but I did have a cap or two
and I think everyone had a bedazzled t-shirt.
I'm pretty sure that was just a rite of passage.
"Don't you know I have a passion for fashion?"
And, yes, this once was fashion.
This look kind of became a stereotype,
depicting what people thought was a "stylish but superficial" girl.
So looking back, this outfit almost dares you to judge its sparkly newsboy cap by its cover.
Bend and snap! I don't know if I can do that again,
I'm gonna fall over.
I'm gonna be honest, I think this ended up being my favorite outfit
mostly because of the giant, purple, fuzzy jacket.
It surprisingly had some swagger to it.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure this jacket is being worn to intimidate the other toys.
This used to be a teddy bear.
Don't f*** with Jade!
[Tyler] You're crazy.
The only thing I don't think I could wear again is the shoes.
My toes are gonna need some time to recuperate after this.
My feet are bleeding.
So in the 2000s, Bratz were able to storm onto the scene,
and snatch 40% of the fashiondoll market share in just five years.
Mostly because kids, including myself, wanted to dress like them.
So having gotten to finally dress like them,
I can tell you that there are some pros and some cons.
The worst part was definitely the shoes.
Bratz don't have feet, so they can never truly understand the pain of a giant platform.
It was also a little less satisfying dressing like a Brat,
given that these looks are pretty out of style,
so I was flying solo without my Brat Pack.
But the clothes themselves were just as enjoyably irreverent, fun, fluffy, and over the top as I had hoped.
In some ways, I'm still just a little unibrowed nine year old inside.
[Tyler] Aren't we all?
Aren't we all.
Even if the clothes are pretty out of style,
I think that Bratz make-up is actually more contemporary-looking now than it was back then.
I'm just gonna put up a side-by-side of Kylie Jenner's make-up and a Bratz doll face
and you guys can draw your own conclusions.
Even though the popularity of Bratz dolls has faded over time,
I think that the Bratz will always have a place in our hearts
as the dolls that knocked Barbie off her pedestal and irritated the heck out of our parents.
Thank you guys so much for watching.
If you like that video, make sure to shmash that Like button,
and if you wanna see more videos like this, make sure to shmash that Subscribe button.
A big shoutout to courtt for watching.
Thanks for watching, courtt, and I will see you guys a-next time.
Right foot let's stomp; left foot let's stomp.
Crisscross.
Oh, almost knocked myself over there.
[Tyler] Everybody clap your hands.