Barbie + Ken – Rollerblades | 2023

Barbie + Ken – Rollerblades | Barbie The Movie

Made for : Dragoncon 2023

Background : I just wanted something fun and comfortable to wear in the Dragoncon parade. Something I wouldn’t overheat in. Plus, this was the only Barbie I had as a kid, the one with the sparking rollerblades, so I had to make the outfit really.

Things used :

Barbie

Do you know how excited I was to see this Barbie when the stills got leaked all that time ago? She instantly reminded me of the only Barbie I ever owned as a child – Hot Skating Barbie.

I knew then that this Barbie outfit was going to be a MUST to recreate. Even more so when I figured out they filmed the scenes on Venice Beach, a place I was about to visit on my Honeymoon. It’s not often I get to visit an actual filming location for a big movie like this.

Anyway~

On to the construction.

Leotard : I was very fortunate that sometime last year, I had picked up Butterick 6541 at the thrift store, not for anything in particular at the time, but because I thought this super silly 90s pattern would surely come in handy eventually right? Fast forward to Barbie, turns out it was perfect.

I used view D as the base for the leotard. The only alterations I made to the pattern were adjusting the back so it had a thong cut and I lined the whole thing.

During the mock-up part, I found the recommended size was too big/baggy on me so I ended up making it a size smaller. I made the leotard using a 90s neon sport lycra from Spoonflower and lined it using a neon pink spandex from Arthur’s Emporium. Because I decided to line it, it meant I could hide all of the seams on the inside giving it a much more professional finish. Adding to that, were the deadstock 90s Barbie tags also from Arthur’s Emporium that I sewed in to the side seam and one into the centre back inside. I then painted all the white swirls with a holographic glitter Eto really make it sparkle.

Shorts : Originally I did set out to make these myself, I got as far as cutting out the pieces of Butterick 6541 view G from neon pink spandex, sewing them together and then trying them on. Once on I didn’t like how they looked so abandoned them. Luckily I found a pair of hot pink athletic shorts at Kmart. They’re not the neon colour I wanted but I loved the fit of them especially compared to the sad looking ones I tried to make myself. If I do find similar ones but in neon, I’ll use those instead.

Rollerskates + Gear : I splurged and brought the officially licensed Barbie inline skates from Impala Skates. The protective gear is slightly different in that the back fabric is the funky 90s pattern same as the bodysuit rather than a plain neon yellow spandex. I did consider swapping mine out but I couldn’t find anywhere locally that stocked neon yellow spandex. Anyway, CostumeKenz shows how she swapped hers out in her YouTube video.

Ken

Vest : Made using McCall’s M5252 as the base. Realistically, I should have made this from the same Sport Lycra to match my Barbie one, but I wanted Cam to be comfortable so I made his from a cotton with the same print. I made view A and lined the whole thing in a bright yellow cotton.

Just like my Barbie one, I added the deadstock Barbie tags to the side seam and the back on the inside. I also painted the white swirls with holographic glitter.

One crappy thing about it though, was I couldn’t find a brightly colored open ended zip long enough for the pattern ANYWHERE. So his vest only zips up to just below the neck.

Shirt : Made with the Simplicity pattern S9314. NO alterations thankfully, and made from a pink cotton spandex. Once again adding the tags to the seam and back.

Shorts :

Bum bag : Made following this tutorial on Spoonflower’s website. I made it from some sort of weather proof polyester, lined with left over yellow cotton from the vest and matching neon yellow hardware, apart from the buckle. I could only find black.

The Spoonflower pattern was okay (and great for a free one), but it was a bit too flat for my liking. I would like to make this piece again, or potentially, just buy an already made one. They’re cheap enough.

Shoes : As Cam isn’t as confident in Rollerblades as myself, he chose to go in sneakers. I found a pair of white ones from the second hand store, spray painted them neon yellow and swapped the lanes out for hot pink ones.

Hat : Both Barbie and Ken’s hat were made the same way from left over scrap pieces of each costume. I found two identical visors at the thrift store which I took apart, kept the brim and made a pattern from the unpicked pieces. Then it was just a matter of reverse engineering the visors using the fabric scraps. The only difference I made was adding strips of bias (made from the left over scraps), along the bring and bottom edge of the hat band.

I wanted to make the head straps adjustable to fit over wigs so I sewed velcro strips into the back.

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