Modest is Hottest!
This may be a little off topic, but I just had to share.
A couple years ago while surfing around Pinterest, I saw this idea and though genius! A mother, like myself who was sick of seeing unclad barbies lying around willy nillly, took a sharpie and well… here is the result.
We only had one barbie at the time, and call me a prude if you must, but you better believe I got my sharpie out and drew on that cute little suit. Well, I wasn’t totally happy with the results. Mine had pen marks and when I tried to go over the same spot it lifted off the first layer instead of darkening it. So, while it was better than nothing I still didn’t love it.
Fast forward a year or so. We now have more than one Barbie and I really wanted to fix the problem (which is my girls know how to take the clothes off, but not get them back on)… enter nail polish. That is when it hit me, I could not only cover up these immodest dolls, I could make it SUPER cute and totally colorful!
If you love this idea, please share it!!!
And of course I am going to show you how I did it…. (just in time for Christmas… yes, I just said the “C” word before Halloween, I am a rebel like that!) So I bought some brand new Disney princess dolls to demonstrate how easy this is.
Here they all are fresh out of the box, with their hair all pristine and their dresses still in place. Live it up girls, that is the last time you will look this good!!! (it only takes one tiny 2 year old to change that REALLY quickly!)
And about 3 minutes later…
Goodness, I love this little mini girl!!!
Okay, so the process is really easy. Just lift the doll’s arms out of the way and start with the top line. I usually do a sweetheart neck line in front, and carry the line diagonally down the side and joining it in the back, then just fill the body portion of the doll below. Move the legs as necessary, just watch out, because sometimes when you move the leg it will hit the body. You can do as many coats as you need, and you can re-coat as necessary. Also, if you mess up at all you can remove the spot with some remover on a q-tip.
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Between coats, they can practice a little yoga in the sunlight as they dry out.
Give them a good hour to cure, if you do more than one coat, you don’t want ugly smudges! The best part is all the color choices you have! And this is what you get front and back:
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Hey everyone! It looks like a MODEST pool party on the roof of the Barbie Dream house!
So what do you think? So excited about having modest Barbies around in between outfit changes! If you like this idea please share it! Thanks guys!
EDIT: So apparently people are ticked that I painted nail polish bathing suits on my barbies… so here is my response. I should explain that it is hard for me to express this without being passionate after the lash out that I have received in the last couple days. So forgive me for my somewhat passionate and defensive response.
I for one am not put off by your post. Rather, I think it’s a brilliant idea. We too have a problem with naked Barbies in our house. Like you it’s not a problem because we have a problem with our children seeing a naked body, but rather because my husband and I just get tired of seeing naked Barbies laying everywhere. So thanks for sharing the idea and specifics on how you gave the Barbies such cute bathing suits!
You are SO welcome!!!
My girlfriend sent this to me knowing I absolutely detest naked barbie dolls laying around (and with three girls, there are a TON of them!!!!) and I think this a SUPER FANTASTIC WONDERFULLY BRILLIANT idea!!!! My oldest was standing over my shoulder as I was reading this and she said, “See! We’re not the only ones who have naked barbie dolls laying around!” and I said, “right, but the little girl on here is 2yrs old.. you’re 14!!!!” LOL Anyway… she also thinks it’s a great idea so I’m sure there will be some painting going on in our house soon!!!!
Thank you!!!!
And you reply to the disgruntled ya-hoo’s… PERFECT!
Blessings!
That CRACKS me up! I think honestly the negative commenters, just don’t have naked barbies laying around the house or they would KNOW why I am doing it!!! Hope your girls have fun painting (oh and by the way another commenter said there are nail polish pens? That might be fun for making the suits more decorative, with patterns and such…?)
They look terrific! I especially like the ladies practicing their yoga poses! As far as loving our bodies, you are spot-on. It’s not necessary for us to show our bodies to the world in order to appreciate them! I’m going to have a swimsuit-adding party to my Barbies!
I love the idea and your brilliant response to a ridiculous comment! Bravo Mama!! I plan to do this with my little ones Barbies when she gets to that level! 🙂
I don’t have any daughters, but I LOVE this idea (so many cool polishes out there these days)!
I’m sorry about all the haters. I truly think you and I would be good friends. I’m the handi-person in our home and when we have the space, I’ll have that workshop I dream of…
Thanks you! And you go girl, we have honestly loved working on our house… it is so empowering!!! Get that workshop!!!
I am definitely not a prude, and speak openly with my family about everything from body parts to bodily functions, and I LOVE this idea!
Good for you! Sorry people are so willing to be hateful just because it is a virtual world. We are entitled to teach our kids how we feel best, so do what you must! I love your website and check it daily for great ideas!
I am TOTALLY with you- I don’t like to have naked Barbies all over the house! I just bought some pretty polish today, and my daughter’s dolls are getting their make-over tomorrow! Thanks! (and ignore those who say you have body issues- that’s just ridiculous!)
Thanks Kayla!!! I hope you love how the swimming suits turn out!
Thanking the Lord today for your modesty stand. Keep on girl!
Thanks Kathy!!! I had no idea that there would be any sort of opposition, it has been interesting to say the least!
I wish painting clothes on a Barbie is all anyone had to worry about. I didn’t see the comments but I can imagine from your post update they where not pretty. I agree naked barbies lying around are not fun to look at. And your solution seems like a cute idea to me..cheers and chin up. Haters gotta hate 😉 frances
Thanks Frances!!!
I think this is a) hilarious, and b) fantastic and c) a great way to get all those darn nekky barbies off the floor, lol! Anyone who is bashing you for painting suits on barbies is waaay too concerned with how much affect a plastic doll has on a kid. Seriously. My kids see me unclothed when I change, and they have no shame in their own bodies, but man I get sick of seeing naked barbies all over the place! Personally, I think I’ll be lining up about 20 dolls tomorrow while the kids are at school and giving them new bathing suits! And those lucky ducks (the barbies) don’t even have to face the dressing room mirror! This is great, thanks for posting!!
I agree!!! Hope you have fun painting!
I think is as an awesome idea! Kudos to you for taking the time to do it! 🙂 I love your response to those rude comments people posted….having you teach your girls instead of the naked barbies is awesome! Love, love, love this post and am promoting on every social media I have! Have a great night!
Thanks Danielle!
What a great idea. I work in child care, for a before and after school program. So we have pre-K through 4th grade age children. I too did not like seeing naked Barbies and Kens laying around, with such an age range. So I gave them all permanent marker bathing suits. in a variety of colors. The girls sport modest 2 pieces and the boys shorts. The marker, although permanent seems to rub off on to other areas of the dolls, when in the storage box…. So next time I will try the nail polish to see if the transfer of color is less likely, and hopefully the bathing suits with hold up just as long. Thank you for the great idea. Oh, and the parent that felt that naked Barbies with their perfect unrealistic bodies, would somehow make a child feel better/more comfortable about their own body, hhhmmmmm think you are off your mark. Sure, play in the tub with naked Barbies/dolls, bathing suits optional lol, but, like the rest of the family, put some clothes/diaper on when you are running around the house, that goes for Barbie too.
I was so happy to find your awesome idea for a well known problem with these dolls. I too teach my daughters modesty and don’t see the need for dolls to be naked. Lets face it they only wear those clothes for about 5% of their lives!! lol
I love this! I fully agree with your approach to how we show that we love our bodies. Naked barbies is not the answer. I think you’ve got it right! Thank you.
I wish the comments were viewable on the actual post, I’m only getting them via e-mail and I don’t think I’m getting them all. I’m reading there were some negative comments but I have not actually read anything that I thought was negative. I was very curious to know what others thought about this post. When this was initially posted I didn’t totally understand if the bathing suits were to “hide” the nudity from children or just because there were a bunch of naked Barbies floating around all the time. Personally, if the suits are being painted to “hide” nudity I think it sends the wrong message to girls about naked bodies, like it is a negative thing. That though, is my personal opinion and I do believe others are entitled to do whatever is right for them in their house. Like I said, I wish I could see all of the comments purely based on my own curiosity regarding other peoples thoughts and points on the subject. Any chance on getting that fixed soon?
I guess you aren’t getting my responses? I think I’ve responded to you at least twice? I have had my tech guy trying to figure out the comment thing, but the truth is we are getting a whole site redesigned in a couple weeks, so I imagine it won’t be fixed til then. The negative comments I have received have mostly been on Facebook and Pinterest, not so much on the blog…
Love it! And I love your response. What a great Mom you are and I agree with you 100%!
Thanks Carrie! That means a lot!
I think it’s a brilliant idea and I’m not even that modest of a person. But modesty is definitely a good value to teach our daughters. Barbie’s body is so unrealistic that if she were real, poor Barbie would be dead. Exposing our children to fully nude, unrealistic examples of a woman’s body should not be our approach to teaching them to love their own bodies. Ignore the naysayers. I will definitely be using this!
I love how you put it! I think you are right! THANKS!!!
I LOVE the idea. I’m getting out the nail polish right now. As for all the negative attacks I can’t see on the website… Yes, we are screwing up our children by not letting them have naked Barbies. Really? Give me a break. Right now we only buy the ones that are already painted. And they do sell them like that. The ballerina ones and mermaid ones are often painted.
Yes, and the Disney princesses (at the Disney store) have painted on panties too!!! But I agree!!!
What a brilliant idea! I have never understood why Barby needs to be naked, and I think the swimsuits are so pretty. Thanks for the ‘Duh- Why didn’t I think of that idea.’
I agree, why is she naked in the first place!!