Challenge 3 - Silkstone Barbie

Well, Little Black Dress, sounds easy doesn’t it?

…Erm no!! This challenge was going to be difficult for me right from the start, I haven’t really dressed Barbie dolls before, it is no secret! The Silkstone Barbie is completely new to me.
The designs for this challenge seemed straight forward. I initially decided to do a cocktail length, fishtail, strappy dress with a hat that was really going to make a statement. My “Plus One” colour was going to be Hot Pink, Barbie Pink, of course!

I decided to use black chiffon and line it to keep everything neat. I made up the dress in panels with the flared skirt edging the hem, but when I put it on the doll decided the length wasn’t right, it was too short to be a cocktail dress, the flare of the skirt started just above the knee and the hem fell just below, which would have been fine but it lost the hourglass shape of the dress. I remade the dress, making the flare shorter and the actual dress longer. The dress is fully lined and zips up the back.

Then on to the hat. Had to have a hat! Isabella Blow inspired me on this point, she sadly died on the 7th May, but was fabulously eccentric and loved her hats! I wanted mine to really make a bold statement. I made the shape of the basic hat in a kind of toreador fashion. I lined the underneath with gathered tulle to reflect the underskirts. The feathers were trimmed to shape and attached to the hat.Very dramatic but the whole thing started to argue with itself, the dress and the hat clamoring for attention. It wasn’t working together at all.

Back to the drawing board, literally!

Ok, day 4 of the challenge and time is getting on. I really had to get to know the doll as inspiration wasn’t coming from any where else.

The Silkstone Barbie’s have incredibly dramatic eyes, they demand the very height of fashion, they look like they only mix in the most exclusive circles. Very high society. So whatever I do for her it has to be very classy. The doll also has the archetypal Barbie figure which can only be emphasised. I liked the off the shoulder look but didn’t want a soft look, I want bold and dramatic. The Hot Pink “Plus One” colour had to go really, the Silkstone Barbie is not like the conventional Barbie and she didn’t look like she appreciated the connection. This was where I considered the green, I thought if the doll had green eyes, it could look really great. Or blue? Blue eyes?

No I want drama! I want red! Blood Red!!

If this dress was for a real size person, I would want it to be black velvet, but this just wouldn’t work on a Barbie sized dress! This fabric is great for a Barbie, on her it looks like scaled down velvet and would work really well.

I kept the lines straight and the neckline plunges in a very sharp point. The neckline is lined in red tulle to keep bulk to a minimum and just give it a little touch of something different. The skirt I wanted to keep very simple, straight and fitted. The sleeves are ¾ length, to balance the cocktail length of the skirt. The skirt has darts in the front and back to keep the shape close to the doll also there are bust darts in the front of the dress to keep it tightly fitted. The dress fastens up the back with a zip.

I added a tiny red satin ribbon belt with the smallest buckle ever. This was originally silver but was painted black to match the outfit. When it was on the work surface I had to draw a circle round it so it didn’t get lost! Knowing my luck I would find it a week later stuck to the back of some paper!!
The belt breaks up the blackness of the dress and emphasises the waist.

Then on to the jewellery making. This is the job I really put off, I haven’t made much in the jewellery line before and really didn’t think I would be doing more than stringing a few beads together! But, I know most of the other designers are expert Barbie designers, so I had to pull out all the stops. Out came the pliers and the black wire and lots of little crystal beads. The tiny black crosses I “acquired” from some life size jewellery. I started off making the necklace with the black beads but it just didn’t look right so went with the red. I wanted the necklace to follow the plunging neckline of the dress but I also wanted it to follow the neck round, so the beads went round the neck and the cross pendant dropped into the neckline. Earrings were made to match.

I still wanted a dramatic looking hat but had to make sure that it worked with the outfit and didn’t overshadow everything else!

I kept it quite simple, with the veiled look, and added the lovely red and black feathers.



The handbag was made to match the dress and the jewellery and ties the two together. The handle was made from jewellery findings and the red crystal beads. The front of the bag is trimmed with beads and a tiny black crucifix.

Shoes, well, I found a perfect pair of tiny black court shoes.

I was originally very happy with them as they were, but when you put the whole outfit together there is a distinct lack of red on the lower half of the outfit.

I didn’t want to add bows or buckles or flowers as it just wouldn’t go with the outfit.

So I decided to paint the shoes in the blood red colour. Everyone loves red shoes and these look great!

They are tiny and very difficult if not impossible to hold whist painting, so I stuck them with blu-tack to the ends of a couple of pens!

This made things so much easier!

The picture shows them after their first coat of paint (the edges are a bit rough at this stage!)

The shoes were given two coats and a tiny crucifix painted on the backs just to go with the rest of the outfit.

Well, that’s it done, finally!

I am really pleased with this outfit, it seems to really reflect the Silkstone’s personality, a true Vamp, she looks like she could eat you alive!