Last year when I kicked off 30 Days of Creativity on June 1, I made a new outfit for Barbie Basic doll Laura Lee. I might as well turn it into a tradition, so this year, as promised, Mattel’s Debbie Harry Barbie doll is wearing a new design made exclusively by me for her. However, it was Tim’s comment about my doll that inspired me. He said that she needed “a Stephen Sprouse something” to wear.
The truth is, I had no idea who Stephen Sprouse was when I read Tim’s comment. But I know now, and if you’d like to read more about the late designer and his work, check out The Stephen Sprouse Book. If you look at some of the images there, you’ll see my inspiration. (Hint: If you wish, you can turn off the music on that site in the lower right corner.)
Sprouse was known for his use of Day-Glo colors and street art, including graffiti, in his designs. He also made collections based on retro looks. Using elements from past decades to create new Barbie fashions is exactly what I most like to sew, so I couldn’t think of a better way to kick off this month’s projects.
Posed against the backdrop of an unfinished painting by Timothy J. Lambert, Debbie shows off her midi coat of many neon colors with LOVE graffiti made so popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Debbie removes her coat to reveal her yellow vinyl mini dress, With a front zipper, she’s got the fashion vibe covered from the 60s to the 80s. I call this her Cherry Pie dress–a double nod to the 80s big hair band Warrant and to the Louis Vuitton collection which made use of Sprouse’s rose motif–including a dress with a large sequined rose.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my first creative effort. If you check out 30 Days of Creativity’s Pinterest site, you can see what other folks are creating. Maybe you’d even like to join in!
Love the cherry with the red tights!
Thanks!
Wow. It must only be June by a whisker over there.
Love the coat and the dress – especially the cherries!
Thanks so much. Yes, I for sure was working on that outfit Tuesday to have it ready to post in the wee hours of June 1.
This is fantastic!! 🙂 Love it!
Thank you very much!
This is awesome. I knew you’d like Stephen Sprouse.
Thank you. Yeah–especially all those photos of Marc Jacobs posing nude to promote the Louis Vuitton Stephen Sprouse collection. =)
Your stitch work is perfect. And the coat sure takes me back to Laugh-In! I made banana bread at 1:30 a.m. while watching the space shuttle land.
Thank you very much. And my stitch work is perfect in photos, which can hide lots of bad errors–like the wrong tension when I was sewing the coat that I was too lazy to rip out and redo.
You created something! You should be doing 30 Days!
I love your Barbie designs!! The Cherry Pie dress is awessome.
Thanks, Gary. =)
I would not have pictured her in colors so bright but it really works! Awesome!
Thanks, Steve. =)
I must say you really got off to a creative start! Très chic, très hip, très sexy! I wanted to say the vinyl mini-dress was just the berries, but the appliqués were cherries and that didn’t make any sense.
Thanks. (I’d have gotten the sense of it.)