Medieval Barbie

During the Middle Ages, probably one of the biggest mistakes was not putting on your armor because you were "just going down to the corner."
Jack Handy

"We owe to the Middle Ages the two worst inventions of humanity - romantic love and gunpowder."
Andre Maurois

"Faint hearts never win fair ladies."
Danish Proverb

As a child I used to be fascinated with Medieval costumes. I dreamed of myself dressed up as a fair maiden in King Arthur's or Richard the Lionheart's courts. Then I realized how heavy and uncomfortable those 'fair maiden' outfits actually were to wear. Furthermore, I started thinking about how hot would a woman get if she has to wear a long wool dress in the summer, (without any possibility of taking a shower in the near future). Regardless of my disillusionment in Medieval garbs I still decided to transform one of my Barbies into a fair lady from the Middle Ages.

I made her dress out of scraps of red and black velvet, as well as antique lace. I accessorized the outfit with embroidered flowers and little beads. To complete Barbie's costume I braided her hair in the fashion of the times.

However, I consider the stand I made for the Medieval Barbie as the best feature of my project. To make it appear as something belonging to the Middle Ages I painted a piece of plastic to look like a stained glass window. Then I took peanuts (packing peanuts, not the edible ones), cut them in half, glued them to a piece of cardboard and painted the whole thing to look like a stone wall. I also added fake ivy to give certain romanticism to the stand.