Dyed, Colored, and Repainted 35th Anniversary Barbie

A photo of Mattel's 35th Anniversary Barbie, released in 1993 or 1994, was taken before I dyed and colored the doll in 2017.

In the "Dyeing to be Black" 6-part series published in March 2017, I dyed and colored a 35th Anniversary brunette Barbie. The doll's hard plastic torso did not fully absorb the Jacquard iDye Poly brown dye, so I colored the torso with a colored pencil to match the doll's dyed vinyl head and limb color.

This photo illustrates the final result of the 2017 dyeing and coloring project.

Some 9-1/2 years later, after a recent mishap in the doll room caused several wall-stacked boxed dolls (mostly Barbies) to fall, with my dyed 35th Anniversary Barbie being one of the fallen, I discovered that the dyed head and limbs had faded to a much lighter brown, actually beige while the colored torso remained cocoa brown. So, I had to remedy this by painting the torso to match the limbs.

I took this photo in September 2026 after I discovered the doll's dyed head and extremities had faded.

I removed the doll from the box, removed the wrist tag, and took this photo. 

After undressing Barbie, the next three photos were taken:

I pulled her bangs away from her face and wrapped her ponytail into a bun before painting. Rubber bands held the bangs and ponytail in place. 

After rinsing the torso with water to remove as much of the colored pencil as possible, I took this close-up photo and the next full-view photo.

The following two photos were taken after painting Barbie with one layer of Apple Barrel Territorial Beige paint and placing her in an empty coffee mug to air-dry.

The paint closely matches the head and extremities. For full coverage, I applied several more coats.

The following photos were taken after the final coat of paint dried and before I attempted to seal with Mr. Super Clear Matte Finishing Spray. 

Final coat of paint, photo 1

Final coat of paint, photo 2

Sealing:

I could only seal the front of the torso before I ran out of Mr. Super Clear Matte Finishing Spray. After the front dried, the next day I used FolkArt water-based varnish satin finish. I prefer Mr. Super Clear because the finish isn't shiny. The FolkArt product adds a slight sheen.

The following two photos were taken after the sealant dried.

 

I redressed her, took a complexion comparison photo, and returned Barbie to the box as illustrated in the last three photos.

Reattached to the box liner

The 35th Anniversary Barbie's complexion falls between the complexions of redressed Barbie Fashionista 206 and the playline 60th Anniversary Barbie.

And here she is... now a near even color.

Working on this doll off and on, this project took about two weeks to complete. 

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©Black Doll Collecting/dbg

There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
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Creating a 1960s Brown Skipper

A 1964 Skipper posed for a picture during a break from a brown concealer application.

My first attempt at dyeing a 1960s Skipper brown was in the 1990s. It was a failure. I attempted to make modifications to that doll in 2013. Improvements were made, but she never satisfied my desire for a better brown version. 

In April 2026, during a hiatus from this blog, I purchased an original straight-legged Skipper released by Mattel in 1964 to colorize brown to represent the Black version of the original Black Skipper that Mattel made a prototype of but never produced. This task required several steps that I captured in photos. I used the photos to create the following video.

Creating a 1960s Brown Skipper

Skipper: Before and after

Related Links

1960s Black Skipper Released

A Guide to Vintage Skipper Dolls

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All photos and text are copyrighted and cannot be used elsewhere unless permission is granted by the author.

©Black Doll Collecting/dbg

There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________

Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published. To contact me directly, use the About page link, which is also visible in Web View mode, find, and use the email link.

Visit and follow DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum for detailed installations of antique, vintage, modern, and one-of-a-kind black dolls. http://virtualblackdollmuseum.com

Washday

"Washday"

A member of my doll group shared the link to an eBay auction for the above painting which, according to the seller, is entitled "Washday." I took a look at the painting and my heart palpitated because of its endearing depiction of a little girl in an outside scene washing her dolls' clothes in an aluminum washtub using a washboard.  The previously washed clothes are neatly hung on a clothesline.  Her dolls sit patiently as she completes her washday task.  This task brought back childhood memories of my mother using a washboard in the bathtub to hand wash clothes.  It also conjured up memories of the times as a young girl when I helped an aunt or cousins hang clothes on their clotheslines.

I closed the browser window to the auction page only to return less than an hour later to make an offer to the seller, which was accepted.

The seller's description is copied below:

Beautiful vintage Certified (1935819) Artistic Impressions Inc Original Canvas Reproduction Black Americana titled “Washday” #2635. Young girl is washing and hanging her doll’s clothes while they sit in little chairs watching her. There is an artist signature, but I can’t decipher it - see photo. Solid oak wood frame - no glass. It is in excellent condition! 15” x 19”

The framed canvas print did arrive in excellent condition.  On the back of the wooden frame is stamped 100 series (which must mean that 100 copies exist).  The Artistic Impressions gold seal which bears that name and the serial number shown in the seller's description is in the back center of the frame.

Additional detailed photos from the auction are shared below:

The little washer's dolls are seen seated in two chairs.  One appears to be made of cloth.  The other one's medium is uncertain, but it too could depict a cloth doll.

Dressed in a red print sleeveless dress worn over a white long-sleeved shirt, with sleeves rolled up, the little washer works diligently to get the item of clothing squeaky clean.  Her multiple sectioned-off braids are held together at the ends with colorful rubber bands or small ponytail holders.  The previously washed clothing is hung neatly on a clothesline in the background.

In this photo, the seller captured the artist's signature, which is written in gold paint.

On closer inspection of the artist's signature, it appears to read G. Rose.  I have not been able to find additional information about the artist or the company that produced the framed print.  I was, however, able to find a place in the doll room to hang the print.  Several photos of that location in the doll room are shared next.

Washday now hangs in the doll room as illustrated in this photo and the final two.

The painting fits perfectly in the small area of wall space that is left on a side brick wall of the doll room.  Thanks are in order to my husband for hanging it for me and to Dawn S. for sharing the link to the auction.


dbg
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