When NiniMomo received Mattel's mystery box in the mail last Fall, we had no idea what it was - neither of us had ordered any dolls. We were thrilled upon opening it to find a beautifully packaged soon to debut Barbie Basics Model #10 doll, along with four amazing accessory packs and an invitation to be part of a small group of OOAK designers to re-vamp our model in her "little black dress".

The two of us here at NiniMomo were absolutely thrilled. This is exactly what we love to do. The inspiration for our little black dress was a combination of designers Dolce & Gabbana, Zuhair Murad and a touch of Dior.

We decided to keep the form and length of the dress as we loved the sleeves and the sexy dip at the bodice. We replaced the original sleeves with black organza and added a small panel of the same black organza across the chest. We cut the skirt of the original little black dress at the waist and replaced this too with sexy, black, sheer organza.

Our signature, hand-sewn beadwork, then came into play by hand-beading the entire top of the original dress with clusters of mixed tiny seed beads and sequins in shades of Jet black, gunmetal, racu, and metallic gray. We added a little padding at the shoulders to create that retro 80's feel and dipped the dress slightly in the back.

Our hand-sewn beadwork which is heaviest along to top and shoulders continues to drizzle down the sleeves and once again becomes heavy at the wrists.

Inspired by a combination of Dior and Dolce & Gabbana is her thick faux leather belt featuring a dramatic matching peplum. The sheer skirt has also been covered in shimmering hand-sewn beadwork to match the top. Beadwork is heaviest along the waist and hips and then drizzles down and becomes heavy again along the hem.

We loved the idea of incorporating accessories for this doll with the multitude of choices given to us in the four accessory packs. We chose a simple, classic black chiffon wrap which we embellished with accents of hand-sewn beadwork to match the dress. A silver lame clutch was perfect for the look and we added hand-sewn beadwork to the front flap. we added in some of our own earring findings in sterling silver and finally, the silver, black and rhinestone shoes were the perfect finishing touch which we found in one of the accessory packs!
As for her "make-over", we rooted her with eyelashes and gave her deep burgundy plum lips along with smoky blue eyes and smoky shadow. Her hair was custom heat-permed into lots of cascading curls and we trimmed a bit off the length. Barbie Basics doll #10 has amazing hair to work with!

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