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.
For what it is worth my 8 year old daughter was looking at pinterest with me when we saw a pin for this. She loves the idea and so do I. We will be doing this with her Barbies soon. Hold your ground and your convictions and well done for teaching them to your little one. Some people are not happy unless they have something negative to say. I thought your comments in your edit where dead on and very true. ~Blessings~
Ok, I have just found this post, and I LOVE your idea of painting the naked Barbies! I cannot believe you had such horrible feedback on this! We have two sons, ages 9 and 6. Our 4 year old daughter is extremely into Barbies, but every time I look around, there is a naked Barbie somewhere. I am trying so hard to teach my children that their bodies are special and that there are things we just don’t “show” to anyone else. I don’t want my sons to learn about the female body from a Barbie; goodness knows real women do not look like Barbie!! Thank you, again, for such a wonderful idea! Love, love, love your blog, as we are in the middle of a major remodel project ourselves!! What craziness!!
Candace, thanks for the comment! We are so glad you like the blog! Good luck with your projects!
“I don’t want my sons to learn about the female body from a Barbie; goodness knows real women do not look like Barbie!!”
AMEN!!!
I wasn’t allowed to play with Barbies until I was 8, because my mom wasn’t ready for me to be exposed to their “mature” bodies. I got mononucleosis when I was 7, right around the holidays, which was horrible because I had to be away from the rest of the family as they celebrated. My parents were divorced since I was a toddler, and my dad brought me a Barbie when I was sick, not knowing about my mom’s 8+ rule. She let me play with it just while I was sick, then it had to be put back away. (Because I would forget Barbie had breasts for the next 6 months???)
Anyway, when I was eventually allowed to play with Barbies on a regular basis, they were required to be dressed at all times. If my mom found one in any state of undress, Barbie got taken away. Your nail polish bathing suit trick is mighty clever! I love the yoga poses as they dried, too!
I love this!!!!!!!
I just stopped by to give you a fist bump!!! Its hard to keep barbie modest… my girls just got their first barbies because I really have been fighting tooth and nail against it. I love your idea! And the idea of modest any kind of doll, sorry about the lashing you got , but remember if you’re getting beat up you must be doing something right 😉 keep it up momma!!!
Love it! They’re so cute! Sorry for the mean things that people said, people get really worked up on the internet over the silliest things sometimes. Keep being awesome 🙂
I believe you have every right to do what you think is best for you and your children in your own home. I love the idea of painting swimsuits on my daughters dolls. Especially because I have little boys in the house. Also, they look pretty and if she wants to take him to the bathtub they already have swimsuits on! Who cares if people think you’re a “prude”! THEY aren’t the ones that are there daily for your children, teaching them what they need to know! Love your idea and keep on thinking creatively 🙂 Good Luck!
I love this idea, it is so fun and I also plan to give it a try. Thanks for the inspiration!
Love this idea!
Love this post! I’m sick of my house looking like a Barbie crime scene with lifeless, naked bodies lurking around every corner. Bathing suits are going on now!
I loved your idea & I did it to my daughter’s dolls (Rapunzel, Merida, a horsewoman Barbie, and Jessie from Toy Story. I didn’t make mine bathing suits specifically. I did matching bra & briefs/boy shorts (looks like a modest two-piece as well) on most of the girls. Jessie has a younger body type, so she got a one-piece. I also matched their original clothes. I also did the Flynn Ryder (Eugene) doll. He got permanent marker boxers/swim trunks covered with a layer of nail polish. My daughter is 4 and she helped me pick out the colors for their suits. While I painted & she chose colors we talked about how bodies aren’t meant for everyone to see naked.
Let the haters hate. I think those of us who loved the idea make far more sense than the haters!
Erika! I love hearing this! I love how you involved your daughter and talked about the importance of bodies! That is exactly what I am talking about!!!
Thank you for sharing this. I am sorry that you received such negative feedback regarding having bathing suits on a Barbie. I also agree that this is a good solution to having naked barbies around. I will be doing this to the barbies in our house.
Loving this!!! I am a no bikini , modest clotges , value your body momma. I bought a few barbies that actually came with a printed on swim or lingerie. I love those two dolls. The rest of the little women my son does the annoying huhuhu giggle because its NAKED gasp. I will pit a glitter coat overe these. Thinking it wont scratch off as quickly
I like it. It’s a permanent shirt! Pull on an home made skirt and Mom no longer has to dress dolls either. Win-win.
I love this idea and am going to go upstairs and get the Barbies and paint them right now!!! It will be a great surprise for my little girl when she gets home from school. Thanks so much!
Why is anyone over reacting about you painting some dolls. Holly Cow! I have two little girls, and I have taken time (like most mothers) to make sure I talk with them about their bodies and how special and private they are. It’s not for EVERYONE to see. Too bad you can’t paint some nail polish over the way some of these teenagers dress now-a-days. There is nothing at all wrong with tthe human body, and I totally get that you are NOT saying there is. I think the people jumping on you about it either have no daughters, or have nothing better to do. We have dolls, and my girls love to change the clothes around and sometime the dolls get left naked and laying around. It does get old. If I had a penny for every pair of doll boobs I have seen in my life time, I would be crazy rich. Painting a suit on the dolls so that they wont be left lying around naked is a cute and fun idea. As a matter of fact, my five year old would get a kick out of it if I gave her a bottle of nail polish and told her she could paint the doll. Plus, since you can remove the polish with remover, what’s to stop to kids from getting to change the dolls “swim suit” every once in a while.
My daughter is only 5 months old, so I will be needing this in a year or so! I love this idea! I also LOVE LOVE LOVE your response to your haters. Thank you for standing up for modesty and for showing that just because you are modest, that doesn’t mean you are a prude, but rather that your body is special enough not to show to the world.
Thanks for the comment Lauren!
I normally wouldn’t leave a comment, just read it, pin it, and move on, but seriously!? People, if you don’t like the idea, just close out the window and move on. This is a fun idea, the dolls are looking great after their little makeover, and I think it’s really unfortunate that so many people are so hell bent on getting offended. Get a life.
I couldn’t agree with you more! Besides, it isn’t a doll’s responsibility to teach our kids about body image… it is the parent’s job! Good for you standing up for good moral values and modesty!!!!! MORE parents should do so and we wouldn’t have so many misguided children looking to the media and their friends to find out what is right and wrong.
I am 100% behind you on this idea. We do not need naked barbies – the girls love them in their “swimming suits”. Modesty is a great thing to teach our girls. They are beautiful covered.