Welcome Back to LookinBratz.com!
Hey Angelz!
Well… it’s been an eventful past month, to say the least. It feels like I have so much to say, but my head is filled with so many thoughts that feel impossible to communicate.
I want to thank everyone who has shown love, grace, and support to me recently. I originally wanted to relaunch LookinBratz.com at the end of last month, but things did not go according to plan. Then, when least expected, I received backlash for my poor choice of expression and went through turmoil earlier this month. I wanted to quit everything and give up. I flew off the handle at one point and the stress that I was undergoing went beyond the boiling point. It’s an awful feeling when it feels like the world is closing in on you and all you want to do is scream. That’s how I’ve felt the past month, even before I announced the relaunch.
I have already apologized to the people I may have hurt, but I want to offer another apology for lashing out (though some of it was justified) and not being completely rational. I never wanted to shut the site down completely nor had I planned to have it offline for as long as it has been. It’s only been a month, but it feels like forever.
I have been back-and-forth trying to find the best time to relaunch the website. Truthfully, with the negative reactions to the recent Mean Girls drop, I was unsure of when to re-publish. I also wanted to take a moment to breathe, re-configure, and put my best self forward as I take this next step. And if you have no idea about anything I’m writing about, don’t worry about it! ;)
On that note… we’re back! LookinBratz.com is up and running despite all the hiccups on this road to relaunch. But, for me, this isn’t a relaunch. This is a rebirth.
When I conceptualized LookinBratz.com in 2015, I didn’t have the slightest clue how it would look or function or if it would even be useful to people. By the time I launched the site in 2020, I was overwhelmed by how positively the online Bratz community reacted to it. I had never experienced that much praise and support at once, and it felt validating to know my work was appreciated! However, I knew that the website wasn’t all that. I am self-critical and have a difficult time viewing my work from an outside lens. I am and will always stay this way, by the way, but I am learning to work through some of those feelings. There were many things about the website I did not like: graphics, functionality, fluidity. I also had more ideas I wanted to develop, but I had no idea where to start.
In mid-2021, I was experiencing a lot of major changes in my life and it took me away from focusing on LookinBratz.com. I tried my best to do upkeep and work on projects, but I found it hard because it could not take priority the way I needed it to. I tried kicking into action when 2022 rolled around, but found myself slugging along—this would be the year I would start to focus more heavily on content creation. My free time was almost completely run dry by the end of 2022 and I have been going non-stop since, leaving little time to focus on big projects like this.
And now we’re here. Reading a blog post on LookinBratz.com. The new LookinBratz.com. Well, sorta new. Definitely revamped and like a million times better, in my opinion. The self-critical hater in me… he’s impressed. This website is my baby and deserves intense care. I swear I will never let it go the way I did these past two years, but do understand that I needed time to marinate and cook. This website was a labor of love to begin with, but now it’s so much more. The time, energy, and money put into making this dream come true was intense. And trust me, social media content creation is not as lucrative like some people think it is—at least not for me, especially when my content can be incredibly niche. Just clearing up a misconception because, truthfully, this website is not cheap and I am not rolling in dough the way people think I am.
But, regardless, I am happy to pour myself into LookinBratz.com because I believe in it—more than I ever have, now. I hope the community and whoever uses it feels the same. This is not just a website, but hopefully a touchstone for Bratz collectors and fans. Moving forward, I hope to make it a platform that spotlights community members and helps others build a deeper connection with the brand we know and love: Bratz.
Bratz has been my ride-or-die since the day I fell in love with it. Aside from close family, Bratz has always been a constant in my life. Through good times and bad, I have always found room for Bratz. This platform is my love letter to the brand. To Carter Bryant; to MGA Entertainment; to all the brand creatives and team members past and present; to Yasmin, Cloe, Sasha, and Jade: thank you! Because without you, and without the support of the community you have inspired, I would not have dedicated so much of my life to this. Because, for the first time ever, I feel proud of myself.
So… where do we go from here?
Let’s talk about what’s new on LookinBratz.com! If you couldn’t tell, the website has received a huge makeover with a ton of new graphics. The main artwork created and featured throughout LookinBratz.com was illustrated by @TheVinylScene, who created the artwork back in May 2022—can you believe I’ve been sitting on it this long? The artwork, of course, is based around the 2004 fashion packs. Every single page has been given updated graphics, including this Blog where you will see a new banner with artwork from @JoeySunnyDesign. Joey has done some amazing artwork for the website, including graphics modeled after the Bratz and Your Thing magazine offices and Cloe’s bedroom, and has been an amazing friend I have made on this journey!
The Database has also had some work done, with new banner artwork created by @ComfyBratz. I have always wanted to work with Comfy and I was so excited when he was interested in contributing to the site! Comfy also created additional artwork based on the Primp ‘N’ Pretty bath and body line and recreated some of the logos featured in the Database.
Though not entirely new, the Database now has detailed information about nearly each entry—this is especially useful for dolls as you can learn more about face screenings, head and body sculpts, hair fibers, exclusivity, and more details about the dolls; to unlock this feature, just click on an image in the Database and hover over it (desktop) or click the purple circle in the bottom-right corner of the screen (mobile/tablet).
A quick interjection about the Database: There is still so much more to add. That was always the case since the day I launched because there will always be undiscovered items and new items added as the official Bratz brand continues to grow. If you submitted an item between mid-2021 to mid-2024, it may not appear in the Database yet as the focus was put on enhancing the current entries and adding pages for 2022-2023 releases between the main line and spinoffs. All 2024 Database pages will be launched at the end of this year or at the start of next.
The Database also features new banners with artwork by my good friend @LmaoItsCoco and buttons that drop you down to specific sections created by my other good friend @Son.OfEros. I did not want to feature bad quality artwork throughout the site like I had done previously (because resources are tapped and HQ artwork is hard to find), so Coco helped recreate and redesign old artwork while giving it that classic Bratz feeling and attitude. Some banners may not have artwork, meaning they will receive it at a later time. @Son.OfEros helped create several new pieces for the website which we’ll get into in a moment, and Coco really came through for me with creating new artwork based off old artwork. But, let’s talk about Coco…
Not only did Coco help create new Database banner artwork, but he helped to create my new favorite feature on here: the Screening Guides! From late 2021 through mid-2023, I identified and catalogued over 300+ Bratz faceups across the entire brand. After this, Coco took over and began illustrating the faces so we could create face charts for this feature. 300 and counting Bratz face cards later, we did it. Coco: I may have monetarily paid you, but I do not know how I can repay you as a friend and collaborator. You and Vanessa have inspired me in a lot of ways, and I am forever grateful we were able to connect. We have created magic here.
The Screening Guides feature every single Bratz faceup (pause for Mean Girls x Bratz, until the end of the year) between every spinoff (sans Petz, Ponyz, and Mini Bratz). Bratz, Bratz Boyz, Lil’ Bratz, Lil’ Bratz Boyz, Bratz Babyz, Itsy Bitsy Bratz, Bratz Kidz, Bratz Lil’ Angelz, Bratzillaz, and even the odds and ends of the Bratz brand… Every. Single. Face. One place: LookinBratz.com. I worked day and night to perfect this feature, and I am so happy and relieved to finally share it with y’all.
Plus, there are more Guides! My longtime friend and doll hair mistress @DollsOrWhatever inspired the new Hair Guide on the website and contributed to it. The Hair Guide is for collectors trying to learn more about different doll hair types used on Bratz and how to treat them, and it also sprinkles some Bratztory in the mix! Some graphics in the Hair Guide were created by Comfy, but the key art featuring Head Gamez!/Design Your Own Rina was illustrated by the amazingly talented @Dramatic.Doll. Back to Bratztory, that page has been moved to the Guides feature where it will be further developed. Additionally, there is now a Buyin’ Bratz Guide that features contributions from community members around the world; this guide will feature information about where to buy Bratz dolls globally and will be updated as new information comes out.
Stilesville Central has received a total makeover with entirely new graphics across the board. Character Profiles now have unique main images displayed on the main Character Profiles page and on the profile pages individually; this is also the case for the Media Profiles. These new graphics were created by @Son.OfEros, who beautifully brought my vision to life. New profiles have been added to the Media Profiles page to include media released since 2021, more (niche) video games, and mobile apps. All of the Character Profiles now have a “Release History” in the last section, which features every single doll release across the main line and spinoffs for every character in the Bratz brand—also, buttons that jump you to spinoff sections of the character’s Release History!
City Cinema has been given an updated look, focusing on the glamour of Hollywood and Bratz-ifying it! New artwork based on The Movie collection was illustrated by @ZD.Designz, who has always been an amazing collaborator and truly elevated the site with their contributions—stay tuned for more in the future! The Stilesville Reporter has received a small update with plans to develop it more in the future, but a new feature has arrived to Stilesville Central: Rock Out! Now, you can listen to Bratz music directly on LookinBratz.com at Rock Out! No more begging streaming services to add Bratz music when you have LookinBratz.com—though it would still be nice if they added it, just saying!
The Downloads page has new downloadables and more to come, of course! The LookinBratz.com Shop has brand-new artwork created by, unsurprisingly, Coco, who always understands my sense of Bratitude and creates dynamic artwork that makes the website shine! I have also published my Portfolio for collaborators and for anyone interested in learning about my LookinBratz.com work/content, as well as a Support page for anyone interested in supporting me and the site!
That just about sums it all up! I am so ecstatic that I can share this Bratz greatness with y’all, and I am incredibly excited for the future of this website and Lookin’ Bratz “the brand”. What I’ve learned in all of this is that growth takes time and it does not come to everyone, but it has come to me in a way I could have never imagined. I have proven to myself that I can make my dreams come true by putting my all into this project and that I am going to continue making those dreams come true, but that doesn’t mean my work here is finished. There is a lot more good to come, but as a Stilesvillian scholar once proclaimed: It takes time to look this divine! But what we have here is pretty damn divine, if you ask me.
To the community that has supported me since day one and continues to grow; to the friends who helped me with this project, either in big or small ways; and have talked me off several ledges; to the creatives who contributed artwork and friendship; to Richie, my everything; to my mother, my idol: Thank you.
To growth!
xoxo, The Founder, President, Editor-in-Chief, Creative Director of LookinBratz.com, and the reiiiiigggning king of BRATZ!
