One evening I was surveying my doll
cabinet gleefully when I discovered it suffered from a serious
deficiency in terms of brunette superstars. I decided it was high time
to look for that one brunette that had been on my mind ever since her
redhead sister arrived. The brunette was none other than the beautiful
Paint’n Dazzle Barbie 1993. There’s something very much irresistible in
the 90s with their charming tackiness and wildness - crimped hair, baggy
clothes, crazy colors, huge earrings, flowers and sequins, you name it,
the doll has it all!
The Brunette is every bit just as
gorgeous as the Redhead but she was a lot more difficult to get. In my
country she appears but rarely, not in the right condition and certainly
not in her own clothes. Fortunately, I happen to be on friendly terms
with eBay where she comes in great abundance, mostly NRFB and, since not
many appreciate her as much as I do, she’s affordable! Lucky me.
I’ve already described the Paint’n
Dazzle series when I presented the Redhead, but in the meantime I’ve
discovered the series had much more to offer than I thought. For one
thing, the Blonde came available in two versions – one was the regular
doll with her unnecessary accessories and the other with an additional
outfit. It’s good that she did, because the standard blonde’s outfit
seems to me a missed opportunity. I don’t know, but when I look at the
Redhead and the Brunette, I think there’s something missing.
Fortunately, Mattel came up with a brilliant idea and released a line of
themed fashion packs. That was just in case somebody wasn’t satisfied
with the result of their creativity applying the fabric paints and the
sequins on the doll’s outfit. What’s more, neither Ken nor Skipper were
included in the series, but they got their fashions so that they could
hit the town dressed in the clothes all smudged with paint and sprinkled
with rhinestones. And if this seems a bit excessive, there’s still
more! Mattel released a convertible that you could … customize just like
the outfits. You don’t believe me? See for yourself.
The Brunette arrived all stinking of
mildew, but I didn’t bother to do anything about it. Many of my dolls
had and what they needed was a little time in a neutrally smelling
environment to be perfect again. Anyway, I purchased the doll NRFB so I
was less than eager to tamper with her gorgeous hair and outfit. And the
hair is beautiful and so soft I was sure it was made of saran. It turns
out I was wrong, because one collector of Barbie of more than 20 years’
experience claims the entire series had kanekalon implanted. I think
she’s right because when you touch the hair it’s a bit too light and too
thin to be saran. On the other hand, it’s far too shiny and silky to be
kanekalon. It certainly lacks all the cotton pads quality that I got
used to with my 90s girls. There’s the bangs too.
Have I mentioned I’m a sucker for a
purple gaze? Several times I think. One of the reasons I’m so fond of
this doll is her purple eyes. The eyes are of course two toned and two
shades of pink eyeshadow bring the color out even further. Her lips are
juicy magenta and her cheeks are rosy. Her hair of chocolate hue and her
dark eyebrows make the doll’s complexion seem a bit darker than the
Redhead’s but that’s just an illusion.
The Brunette’s outfit has been
criticized for its tackiness although the doll herself seems to be
universally admired for her beauty. But I love the tackiness, it’s great
and it’s the reason why I wanted the doll new. The outfit had a very
thin chance of surviving all these years in a used condition because in
most cases the paint and sequins would have been used with the
irreversible effect and that is a pity. The outfit is so bright and
colorful and I really like it. The best part of this three- piece
ensemble is the baggy jacket. It’s made of the kind of fabric that
imitates denim and in a very convincing manner too. The jacket also
comes in two versions and the difference is in the pattern that goes
across the front part below the line of golden sequins. It can be either
colorful flowers where yellow, green, pink and purple dominate or some
geometrical sort of patterns in orange and green. The flowers are more
to my taste and that’s why I decided to enter bidding rather than choose
the buy now option two auctions below. The prices were almost the same.
I didn’t post the pictures of the other jacket because I don’t like
stealing them, but you can see them on your own.
The doll is also wearing a high top
showing her belly and it’s got the same golden sequins as the jacket.
The jeans seem to be the most criticized part of the entire outfit and
there’s some truth to it, I admit. Though I like the color and the
decorative waist part, this kind of pants wouldn’t flatter female’s
contours to say the least. The bagginess adds a good pound or two to the
hips, legs turn into a pair of carrots and a high waist doesn’t seem to
add to one’s gracefulness. Such a pair of jeans would normally bring
out all the flaws of a woman’s shape but it’s Barbie and she looks great
whatever she wears. The accessories include a pair of wide toe pumps,
an oval ring and a pair of ginormous earrings plus a standard Barbie
brush. I love those brushes though I never use them. I wish modern
Barbie dolls would come with these too.
There’s quite a number of 90s superstar
brunettes that I like and I’m happy to own two of my most favorite ones –
the queenly Happy Holidays ’97 and now the Paint’n Dazzle the Brunette
’93. There’s still the charming Holiday Treats ’97 that I like very
much. Mattel released a very pretty doll just as the mold was slowly and
quietly dying out. I might end up buying her as well but in the
meantime here’s the sisters – the Redhead and the Brunette. There’s one
more thing that I thought I might mention just if anybody was interested
in acquiring the doll too. Both the Redhead and the Brunette seem to
come with their legs slightly apart due to the way they’d been stored in
their boxes for over two decades. It doesn’t bother me one bit because
it goes well with their fashion and the overall attitude of the dolls,
but it may be problematic if you wish to redress the dolls into
something more elegant. Anyway, both girls are very charming and if
there were more dolls like this nowadays, my interest would go beyond
year ’97.
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