Friday, August 10, 2018

Barbie Fashionista 93 Revamped!

Barbie Fashionista 93's original body and the articulated brown neo-Blythe body illustrate the complexion match and the inch and a half height difference between the two.

Since I had nothing to lose except height, high-heel feet, foot size, and a frozen body with one perpetually bent elbow, I decided to rebody Fashionista 93 (first seen here) using the articulated brown neo-Blythe body shown above.

In this photo, taken after the head removal, the disgusting pink lip color is vividly apparent.  It looks as though the doll has taken a huge swig of Pepto-Bismol.
After gingerly removing the doll's head from the body, it was easily placed onto the articulated one.  The next image illustrates how feisty 93 became after her mobility increased.

"I know... you wish you could move like this, don't you?"


After rebodying 93 (hopefully, I will think of a name for her before this post ends), and seeing how the lavender lacy dress swallows her, "we" knew what was in store for her next -- new clothes and shoes to fit.  She is seen next in the lavender dress and in the first of the several Sparkle Girlz fashions she tried on with a pair of red neo-Blythe shoes.

The original lacy dress is too big for 93's new articulated body.  The Sparkle Girlz one-piece denim romper with floral bodice fits better.  With hands on her "imagination*," she wears this with a pair of flat Mary-Jane-style red shoes.  *Back in the day, when a young girl would put her hands on  her hips, adults or anyone older might admonish, "Girl, get your hands off your imagination."

Lip Color Change

After rebodying and finding suitable clothing and shoes for 93 to wear, the next upgrade was a new lip color.  Enough of that awful pink already!  While doing her lip color change, Ryan (Rainbow Fashionista 90) enjoyed a lip change as well.

After the lip color removal, both looked even better with nude lips.  I was tempted to skip repainting but decided I needed to know how they would look with a more appropriate color.  ("I can always remove it," I thought.)
I used a Q-tip moistened with fingernail polish remover to remove both dolls' original lip color, which gave them the lovely nude lips shown above.


Next, a mixture of maroon and true burgundy acrylic paint was used to darken their lips.  Ninety-three's ears were also pierced with yellow quilting pins which now serve as stud earrings.  Why yellow?  I did not have red and the yellow brings out the yellow in the bodice of her romper.

Ninety-three's new lip color and yellow ear studs are better seen in this close-up photo and this is when my opinion of her changed.  She really is a cute doll!
Before and After Lip Color


What a difference a change to a more appropriate color makes.
For both dolls, I left the lip color a matte finish without sealing with varnish.
More Redressing for 93


Since her earrings were yellow, I selected fashions that would coordinate with that color.  The first selection was CeeCee's yellow and black check shirt dress.  This dress had an okay fit, but 93 needed to try others before making a final decision on what to wear. 

This gray bodysuit with a painted-on red tie and plaid skirt paired well with her flat red shoes.

Next, she tried on this cold shoulder floral blouse and a pair of denim shorts.  Because the top almost covers the shorts, "we" decided against this fashion.
Of the three, "we" chose the gray bodysuit and plaid skirt.  Ninety-three is now wearing this ensemble with a pair of red Mary-Jane-style neo-Blythe heels.

The red high heels add length to her small feet and provide a more mature look.
After discovering that the light stripes in the plaid skirt are not yellow, but are white, I painted 93's earrings with red acrylic paint.

To keep them in a steady position while painting, the pointed ends of the quilting pins were stuck into a wedge makeup sponge.  The paint was allowed to dry before re-piercing 93's ears with the pins.
Yes, the red studs look better with the chosen fashion.  Now, should she wear her only original accessory, the Malcolm X-style horn-rim sunglasses or not?
The answer to the question in the above caption is, "No.  She should not wear the sunglasses."  She gave them to her uncle Boris who wears them well as illustrated in the final two photos of this post.

Model 17 from the Barbie Basics Denim collection is now 93's Uncle Boris.

Nia is her name.  She poses in this last photo with her Uncle Boris.

I chose the name Nia for Fashionista 93 after first showing her to my husband and saying, "She needs a name."  He said, "Brenda.  Name her Brenda."  I questioned his choice with, "Brenda?  Why Brenda?"  He answered, "It's a name you can spell and pronounce."  I thought about it for a minute and wondered if she reminds him of a Brenda he once knew.  I thought some more and using a doll-naming convention that I have used in the past to remember people who have died prematurely as a result of senseless American violence, I decided to name her Nia in memory of Nia Wilson, the 18-year-old teen whose life was brutally ended by a deranged, knife-wielding murderer at a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train station on July 22, 2018.  So, Nia is her name. 


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20 comments:

  1. She looks so much better with her new body, and especially her new lip color! The lip color is a huge improvement for both dolls. I love her new clothes, also.

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    1. Thank you, Roxanne. The lip color and the new body are great improvements. Thanks again for the heads up on the articulated neo-Blythe brown-complexioned body. I had no idea who'd use it when I purchased it a few months ago, but I knew it would eventually connect with someone's head. :-)

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  2. I knew you could and would make her look adorable!!! By the way, you probably know this, but if you struggle at finding clothes for this body Licca-chan clothes will fit. Shoes will too, but they're a little snug.

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    1. Thank you RM197! I didn't know the Licca-chan clothes would fit this body. I appreciate the tip.

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  3. As usual, you've upgraded both dolls with appropriate lip color. "Pepto Pink" is NO doll's friend.
    Love the photo of "feisty" 93 triumphant over unarticulated body!
    I have a cat named Boris. He does not wear sunglasses, however, being an indoor kitty.

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    1. Thank you Gini! Almost anything would have been an improvement over the "Pepto Pink."

      I named Model 17 Boris because he reminds me of the actor, Boris Kodjoe, who can be seen at the following URL:
      https://www.famousbirthdays.com/headshots/boris-kodjoe-4.jpg

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  4. Love your work. She is really pretty now.

    At first I was wondering why you would choose to name her Nia, a frequently used name in the Barbie world. But after reading what you wrote about that poor girl, I think it is the perfect name.

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    1. Thank yoy, Amaruq.

      I did not know that Nia is a name frequently used in Barbie world, but had I known, I probably would have still named her Nia as I do not have another doll with that name.

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  5. I am new to your blog, love the lip repaints you've done on these dolls. So much better than the originals! Nia is lovely and I love her Uncle Boris in his cool sunglasses. Her name is a beautiful tribute.

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    1. Thank you for visiting and commenting on this post Rarrie Cae. I hope you are now a follower. You'll find that my posts are not isolated to Barbie or other fashion dolls. I am an incurable collector of a variety of black dolls. I suppose it would be nice to have a narrower focus and would probably be less costly, too. :-)

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  6. She looks much better with her new lip color and new body! And Ryan's new lip color suits her much better as well!

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    1. Hi Phyllis,

      Thanks so much. I would be nice if Mattel would add more articulated bodies to the play line and use more appropriate lip colors. Will it take another several decades for them to get this right?

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  7. I just watched a YouTube post on a collector who’s just had it with Fashionistas for both quality and inarticulation so Nia’s Fury at her old body is seemingly justified and perfectly timed. I know we’ve discussed it before, but Mattel would go a long way to filling a void if they would release MTM in a number of skin shades to match their dolls...that said should we have to purchase two dolls to create the doll that should have been produced in the first place? Agreed that pink lipstick has to go. Finally...yes...why Brenda...? Nia is perfect for all of the reasons you christened 93 as such. πŸ˜”πŸ’–

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    1. Thank you, Julius! Mattel is a slow learner. Hopefully, they will catch on soon and realize that even children enjoy articulation.

      I keep saying I won't but another Fashionista, but they keep producing doll-lightfully new head sculpts and I keep giving in.

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    2. Doll-lightfully...you know I’m going to have to borrow that! I think those neo-Blythe articulated bodies really are the way to go and with the number of shades they come and some of the fab faces that mattel releases I can definitely understand your giving in to temptation! I’m not sure Mattel know where it’s going or what it’s doing, so while collectors find their own solutions you’ve got to wonder if the company is being left behind?

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    3. Hi Julius,

      Feel free to use doll-lightfully. I did not coin it, but I have used it for quite some time when I a doll or something about a doll brings me delight.

      Except for the shorter height, I really do like the neo-Blythe articulated body.

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  8. I have to add thanks for correcting - removing that awful Pepto Pink lip color for these otherwise lovely dolls.

    I agree that it's hard to completely give up the Fashionistas because they can have interesting faces worthy of better bodies. Eh, Mattel ....

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    1. You're welcome... the Pepto Pink had to go, D7ana.

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  9. Nia looks much better with the new lip color. I like the photo of her triumphant over the Fashionista body, too. Understandable.

    The glasses look great on Uncle Boris. He's cute in that straw fedora.

    Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Thank you for commenting on Nia's better-looking appearance sans pink lipstick, her new body, and Uncle Boris' glasses and straw fedora. :-)

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