ZiZi and Her Short-Sleeved Dress

ZiZi and Natalie in swapped dresses

The sleeves on ZiZi's brocade dress had to go, at least partially. It bothered me to see her wearing a long-sleeved dress with open-toe shoes/sandals, so I grabbed a pair of scissors and snipped 2-1/4 inches away from the lower sleeves.

Sewing was not required afterward.

To prevent the cut edges of the now short sleeves from raveling, I painted these with clear fingernail polish, making sure the fingernail polish-dipped brush only touched the edges of the cut sleeves.  (To prevent the cut edges from fraying, I do this with cut ribbon edges, too.) 

Next, the dress was placed upright to lean against a mug on my desk for an hour or so while the fingernail polish dried.  (It did not actually take that long for the nail polish to dry, but I wanted to ensure it was completely dry before ZiZi was redressed.

She looks so much better and cooler now.

ZiZi is back on display with a few of her friends looking as confident as ever as shown above and as seen in the short video below. 

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Glam Boho Barbie #85 and More Redressing

One of Glam Boho's first in-the-box photos

Glam Boho was ordered several months ago from ShopMattel dot com. Shipping of the first preordered dolls took place during the last week of September, which is when my doll arrived. At the ShopMattel site, the doll, shown as Fashionista #86, is currently not available. It is unknown if quantities will be replenished.

I do not know if the #86 used to describe Glam Boho at ShopMattel is an error or if dolls will be released in boxes marked #85 and later #86.  As indicated in this photo, my doll's package is numbered 85.

Before releasing Glam Boho from the confines of her box, she took this headshot comparison photo with Natalie (The Barbie Look Curvy Nighttime Glamour).  Reportedly (online) they both use the Carnaval head sculpt but look slightly different. They do share the same hair color, but their eye colors and shapes differ.  Natalie's eyes are hazel.  Glam Boho's eyes are gray and her eyebrows are fuller than Natalie's.  Glam Boho also has freckles.

Freed from her box, Glam Boho poses with her extra romper and aqua hat lying beneath. She carries a black shoulder bag and wears a yellow lacy dress, black choker, and silver (painted plastic) drop necklace.  White wide-strap high heels complete her look.

Her freckles are barely visible in this photo.  An additional photo later in this post better illustrates the freckles.   

I have decided to name her Rainbow, but will call her Bo for short.  She did not spend much time in the extra romper, which she paired with a pair of black high-heel Mary Jane-style shoes found in the shoe stash.  The romper is cute, but Bo prefers her yellow dress, which she put back on before posing with her big sister, Natalie.

They do look like sisters or mother and daughter.  I have not decided on their exact familial relationship.  Bo's complexion is a shade lighter than Natalie's, which is not uncommon in families.

The illustration in the lower right-hand corner of Bo's box shows her wearing the aqua scarf with the faux bow in front.  I am not at all fond of head scarves tied in this manner.  Therefore, Bo will wear the bow of her scarf in the back or to the side.

In this photo, Bo wears the bow of her headscarf to the side.  Her freckles can be seen somewhat better in this photo.  Stretching or otherwise enlarging this image might aid in visibility of the freckles.

Her honey-blonde hair with highlights is curly and of better quality than Natalie's.  Except for two side braids that frame her face, illustrated in the previous photo, Bo's hair is worn loose.

In my post about Natalie and ZiZi's redresses, I mentioned an eBay seller, who makes Barbie clothes from knit fabrics using a glue gun instead of sewing.  After Natalie and ZiZi swapped clothes, I checked eBay to see if this seller was now making clothes for curvy Barbie.  I was pleased to learn she has incorporated fashions for the curvy dolls into her merchandise.  I purchased two dresses made for Curvy Barbie from this seller.  Bo and ZiZi model these next.

Bo wears a black knee-length, collared dress with black high-heeled Mary Janes.  The dress accentuates her curves but is not unflattering.

ZiZi chose to try on this one-shoulder yellow dress.  The yellow nicely complements her complexion and like Bo, the dress accents her curves.  She temporarily borrowed Bo's white sandals.

Both ladies eventually returned to what they wore before trying on these knit dresses, but they explored different shoes.

Bo thought this pair of aqua ankle booties would look great with her original yellow lacy dress and aqua scarf, and they do.  Unfortunately, the top front of the booties juts out a bit due to the arch of her feet.

After ZiZi put the brocade dress back on, she and Bo made one last shoe swap.  ZiZi now wears the aqua booties.  That color picks up the aqua in her dress.  Bo wears her original white high-heel sandals.  Natalie was content with watching their quick redresses and shoe swaps.  Because she still enjoys wearing her tan dress and animal-print jacket, she had no desire to participate in this redressing session.

If you need clothes for your curvy Barbies or fashions made for ModelMuse and other average body types, check out Barbie-Couture's economically priced fashions on eBay.


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A Quick Redress: Nighttime Glamour and ZiZi

The Barbie Look Nighttime Glamour Barbie checks out a new lavender dress, hoping she can wear it.

Several weeks ago The Barbie Look Curvy Nighttime Glamour Barbie (shown above in her original clothes) and ZiZi (Zig and Zag) were redressed.  In ZiZi's case, she was re-redressed.  The lavender dress Nighttime is admiring is what inspired the ensemble changes.  As indicated on the package with check marks underneath the illustrated Barbie body types, this dress is cut to fit all currently marketed Barbies.  I wanted to see for myself.  I was surprised with the outcome.

Nighttime was the first to try it on.  While she seemed pretty happy with the dress (the fit is fine), I do not think it "does anything for her."  It is somewhat matronly looking in my opinion, which may be due to the length.  I tried tucking the hemline under to see if that would help, but it did not add the flair she craves or that I crave for her.

Next, ZiZi tried it on.  While it looks a little better on ZiZi (in this photo the hemline is tucked under), it's just not her style -- too conservative.  With it she wears a pair of flat white T-straps that were part of the original outfit worn by Goddess Emerald (named by me), a Barbie Fashionista from 2014, first seen here.

ZiZi looks a bit surprised.  Trying on the lavender dress and returning to the tan and animal-print ensemble she had been wearing was all she had planned to do, but now it seems her friend has confiscated her clothes.

While ZiZi was trying on the lavender dress, Nighttime (Natalie... I just named her) put on what ZiZi had been wearing.  It fits her to a T.  The tan dress with animal-print jacket was made by an eBay seller who uses a hot glue gun in lieu of sewing.  She uses knit fabrics which can stretch and conform to a doll's figure, which is why the curvy Barbies can wear this style, even though it was made for ModelMuse and other slimmer Barbie body types.

Feeling a little dismayed because ZiZi does not care for the lavender dress and definitely does not like it at the designed length, which is shown in the photo immediately above, ZiZi decided to try on Natalie's original dress.  "Two can play this fashion swap game, " she thought.

We all love this dress on ZiZi, which she continues wearing the white T-straps.  I am thinking about  shortening the sleeve length from full sleeves to short sleeves (but not sleeveless).

Natalie complimented ZiZi on how cute she looks in the brocade dress by saying, "Girl, the gold in this dress really compliments your hair color.  It's so you!"  ZiZi thanked her and told her she understood why she confisc.. decided to continue wearing the tan dress.  "It shows off your curves as well as it does mine," she said.  There is no love lost between these two.

A unanimous decision was made to place the lavender dress back into the original package and stored it for now.


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ZiZi Goes Shoe Shopping

As illustrated above, ZiZi's original black shoes did not work well with her new clothes.  They look too much like work shoes.  I had gone through the doll shoe stash several times without success in finding a suitable pair for her to wear with her camel sheath, animal-print shrug, and gold lamé shoulder bag.

After a week or two of wearing the black shoes, ZiZi noticed a pair of beige sandals worn by "Romper Chic (RC)," and said to her:

"I love your shoes.  May I try them on?"  RC agreed.

ZiZi thanked her and asked, "Do you think these go well with this dress?"  RC replied, "Yes, but what will I wear?  I'm certainly not wearing those black shoes you had on."

Overhearing this conversation, I decided to recheck the doll stash for shoes for RC where I found a  pair of yellow mock fringe, open-toe booties.  RC tried these on.  The somewhat overbearing ZiZi saw the yellow booties and liked those, too.  She said:

"Oooo girl, those look good on you.  I think I like those better.  Here, you can have your shoes back.  Let me try those on, please?"

The ever compliant RC gave the yellow booties to ZiZi and was actually happy to have her own shoes back.

ZiZi loved the fit and look of the yellow booties, but in the back of her head she thought, "These shoes are yellow and I'm not wearing yellow."  In the back of RC's head, she thought, "I'm not letting go of my shoes again, no matter what."

Closer look at the yellow booties

This woman is so hard to please.  She continued wearing the yellow shoes for about a week, but sensing her discontent, I returned to the shoe stash one final time and found a pair of gold lamé flat sandals that match the color of her hobo purse.

ZiZi is finally pleased with these sandals.

The sandals are not made for Curvy Barbie's foot size, and in human shoe-fitting standards would actually be too small for ZiZi, but she likes them and for now, that's all that matters.


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Fab Fringe Gets a Little Edgy

After she arrived as a birthday gift from my son last year, Fab Fringe (the tall redhead Barbie with the short Afro shown above) remained in her original unflattering clothes:  floral front, long-sleeve shirt, denim shorts, and black booties.  Later in the year, I purchased three Black Dolls Matter T-shirts from the Etsy shop of the same name.  Fab Fringe replaced her original top with one of those T-shirts and continued wearing her denim shorts and booties with it, as seen here.  Because of her short hair and the need for earrings, I pierced her ears shortly after she arrived, after which she wore gold hoop earrings.

After Zig and Zag (or ZiZi) borrowed Fab Fringe's gold hoops, I made a pair of earrings for Fab Fringe by removing two crosses from an inexpensive necklace and adding earring hook wires to each.

Her new earrings suit her well.

What gives Fab Fringe her edginess is the black leggings she now wears underneath a black skirt made from a headband and of course her Black Dolls Matter T-shirt.  Initially, she was going to wear the skirt without the leggings, but the stretch of the fabric made it see-through.  She slipped on the leggings to avoid being that edgy.

Fab Fringe is going to a protest rally that will be held outside the headquarters of a major doll manufacturer. It will be a peaceful protest, but her presence alone, coupled with her attire along with the other ladies who will accompany her, should send the proper message to the doll company that their lines should reflect the society in which we live.  Their concern is the lack of African American male dolls.  Where are they?  The ladies want to know.

The ladies who will join Fab Fringe are Emoji Fun Barbie, ZiZi, Tamica, and Musician Barbie. Take a look at their signs.

Fab Fringe's sign reads:  Black Male Dolls Matter

"Mass Produce August Joel Tate" is Emoji Fun Barbie's request.

ZiZi agrees males are needed but she wants articulation!

Tamica, who sometimes spells her name "Tamika," lies on the ground with her sign that reads, "Where are the Male Dolls?"

Musician Barbie is asking for an AA Silkstone male.

These ladies want the men represented and they want them now!

While their protest is for more Black male dolls, they realize representation in doll form for everyone matters.  Black dolls matter, Asian dolls matter, Latino dolls matter, Native American dolls matter, indigenous dolls of other areas matter, etc., etc., etc.

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