BarbieOldNewGreenRedo : My Dolls who have Closets!

"Start at the very beginning, a very good place to start." from Sound of Music

I had a small wood/cardboard suitcase like this for my Muffy/Ginny dolls, so figure since 1953-4. I got my first Barbie in 1960, and of course she needed that suitcase for all her clothes...I sewed.

But, now Barbara M Roberts of BMR Ltd, (my first Barbie) is in my doll stories. And that poor case, has long since disintegrated, so the whole doll room has become HER's and all her friends' Closets.

My very first 'new' contemporary Barbie doll, I found in a thrift store to play with the Grandgirl, who named her Richelle and a jointed Ryan doll, named Kurt. Richelle always wears shades of violet and purple. Pickings were pretty slim back in those day, 2013-4...so I sewed and scrounged purple/lavender clothing aside for Richelle. That's when I decided she needed her own closet instead of a go-fish situation in the enlarging piles of dollclothes.

Here's the many faces of Richelle.

She first lived in the HFIM house, then a basement apartment with Ryan, and now in the Grandgirl's house (we built and got back when she turned 12) which is in the doll room now. She married Ryan and they share the house with Midge(repro) and really cute Allan,(Ryan doll) who have an apartment in the lower level of the house.

Allan and Midge have only one room and a full bathroom and a dressing area, needed a separate closet, with use of the upstairs livingroom and kitchen. Most of my doll closets are cobbled redo's...or wooden/plastic silverware trays, or of course, cast off Mattel closets from thrift stores, which I have redone

Ryan and Midge have this closet, which was one of those jewelry cases with a drawer and two spinning hooks. I removed the hooks and inserted a dowel rod for hanging clothes. This works perfect for a wardrobe. Painting it brown for the original 'mancave' when this was my Grand's dollhouse.

The house was built around the furniture i found, that's the window above that was designed for this particular piece of furniture. This dressing area holds the wardrobe with a drawer, a bench trunk, perfect for putting on and storing shoes.

Their bed's mounted on an altered jewelry box and has two drawers for clothes...perfect for a new couple.

Hanging pieces and sports equipment can be stored under the stairs. (Behind the TV shelf below.)

Ryan and Richelle have a large bedroom, bath on the third floor. Richelle even has space for her drafting desk for her job. (Interior Designer)

I haven't trimmed this closet but I did pull the pins out of the hinges...and removed the door and saved it for possible use. It's a plastic doll closet, with new wallpaper on the back, (of course lavender). This a great closet for a girl. Lucky Ryan gets to put some shoes in there. His underwear and tee shirts, jeans are in a slide out box under the bed. There is also a white chest of drawers for them to share.

Ryan's hanging clothes and more of Richelle's shoes and purses are in this closet in the bathroom. This is a redo of this piece.

This was a Barbie in the Dreamhouse piece. Well, it was a failure, I think I found three of them in a few weeks under the price of $4.00, many still had the shoes/purses etc, in them as the cranking mechanism didn't work and little fingers over spun the turner on the left and jammed all the shoes and purses off the shelves and jammed the door and the turning mechanism. REALLY a Mattel disaster. I still see them now and then, anyway, I dissected this HERE.

Moving on to the GrandView (redone Grand Hotel). The GrandView has two apartments currently upstairs...but approximately 12 more apartments in my imagination. That's a lot of beds, lol.

The real apartments are a studio and a larger apartment, both have main rooms, but without bedrooms. (On the To-Do list).

Lara, the manager of the GrandView lives in a small studio with a bathroom, kitchenette and a living/sleeping space.

Lara's Kitchenette, here in the still working stage. The shower door on the left, swings out and is the 'door' to the bathroom.

Lara sitting on her first bed, the second has drawers underneath. The huge hotel, takes up all of a 6 foot table spread out with Sindy's bakery kitchen attached, so everyone in this building has their own portable closet.

Another doll with storage and clothes issues is Colette/Callie, a Mattel Jazz Baby. She is so thin and long legged, it makes dressing her difficult. And, she is particular and lived in Paris for a long time and has a definite sense of style. Well, I call her a Dramatic Diva, but also a bit conservative, except for her diamond necklace which she wears with everything, even in the bath.

Callie at the 2022 Barbie Convention

This is as casual as she gets, ...

Wigs, vintage clothes, and quiet drama are her favorites.

ChinChilla to off set a cotton jumpsuit add diamonds on her neck...why not?

Colette favors 'Chic' and original styles. Occasionally a print, but definitely never anything 'cutesy' or pastel. When she does wear color, it is on the strong side to highlight her caramel coloring or stunning neutrals. So all her clothes are in HER travel case.

Her Mother, Ella, blew into town as a whirlwind, and is very dramatic in her clothing, singing, and her

blunt mouth. She's moved in with Collete and actually purchased the condo with her divorce money from her third husband.

She's another lover of purple...and a luscious Curvy.

She is also a singer/performer which adds to her drama and mystique, and her wardrobe!

I really need to sew for both of them, as stylish curvy clothes and super slim clothes aren't reasonable and limited. They are both singers and have formal wear, wigs, furs, and all sorts of things that are strictly theirs, so I keep their favorites in Mattel vinyl cases as shown labeled before.

Next, Vickie and Joe have their own condominium, two wall shelves where they have a large walk-in closet/bathroom on the second floor right.

Their one bedroom condo is quite large and has some great features with a luxurious master suite with lots of storage and display space which they haven't even filled up. It's in an old building 4 floors up in a north side Chicago precinct, close to both their work places.

Vickie has her entire store,Vickie's Vintage, as a closet...but, at home she uses casual clothes and keeps a few work clothes. Shoe storage is of course a must, we haven't started on purses yet, maybe the bedroom wall.

Vickie has this new shoe storage, I found 2 of these clear thingy's at DAISO... a Japanese home decor store and shall I say fabulous source for small stuff, very reasonable. If you have one near you, by all means visit and put your "Mini's Thinking Cap" on when looking at everything.

Joe's shoes and boots are in the closet on an antique silver cracker server, by the bathroom door which is perfect for him. He's a man with Police Uniforms, as well as plain clothes for Detective work. He also has 'gear' which needs stowing, so they make this double Mattel closet configuration work.

I'm still working on this, two Mattel closets put together with only one door left attched. I may make a wall with two more of the doors doors. I save doors to use from Mattel totes. Now I'm trying to decide what to paint everything. Vickie and Joe like wood and earthy colors, the pink wallpaper tried to unify it, until 'they' are ready for remodeling. I finally have this configuration for the entire bathroom worked out.

Eventually this will have a unified floor all the way through the second floor.

Their one bedroom condo is quite large and has some other great features. Like this Kitchen Pantry wall...which displays and puts everything you need at your finger tips. Not that they cook that much. Anytime I see a box with built-in dividers in a thrift store, I buy it...way easier than building...and for instant dioramas, they make great walls. This one required NO work, yay!

See, Vickie hasn't even filled her canisters on the lower right.

There is great storage in the desk and wall unit, two more thrift store finds. Their living area actually has a balcony. I just haven't put up the window frames, there's a table and chairs out there and a great view of the north side of Chicago.

Joe traveled when he was in the service before retiring and becoming a Police Detective. He doesn't talk about what he did in the service, ????. Vickie has the store which keeps her very busy.

Now, Jacquie has her own salon in the GrandView. Hubby, Craig, is a construction worker, and they have three kids. Jacquie is a busy lady. Her salon has no storage except for business needs, so all her belongings, her dioramas, are all in one big gray tote under my worktable when not in use. She is a Curvy so her is a bit sparse.

Jacquie's been waiting for the perfect articulated Curvy body to match her skin, and it's been a long wait.

Jacquie likes bright colors, but also is more relaxed in her home wardrobe choices. She is the only one in the Salon, that doesn't wear a uniform. Like anyone could find a Curvy Salon Uniform.

Well that's it for this batch of closets, more to come.

I have a well populated Doll Story Family, there will be

Another Closets Post!