It’s rare, but every once in a while there’s a motivated seller on eBay that has exactly what you’re looking for at the right price. In my case, I found two motivated sellers that had the two halves to a complete outfit.
A classic vintage Barbie fashion known as Red Flare includes a red velvet, white satin-lined coat. I’ve been drooling over it for a while, but never thought I could afford one in good enough shape (velvet and satin are hard to restore!)
While perusing vintage Barbie fashion on eBay, I came across a listing for Red Flare. Not only was the coat in near perfect condition, but the set was complete with the hat, purse, gloves, and even the shoes!
Aside from the completeness of the ensemble, the price caught my eye – only $17.99. I pounced. While it’s more than I usually spend on vintage Barbie clothes, it was too good a deal to pass up. Everything is in absolute perfect condition and required zero restoration. Sometimes luck is on your side as a vintage collector!
Still, Red Flare is simply a well-accessorized coat. Barbie needs a dress to go with that coat! The fashion, Silken Flame is often paired with Red Flare as it is a white satin and red velvet cocktail dress.
A few days of searching lead to an amazing deal. It turns out a seller decided to have a clearance sale and they marked the dress down to $6.76. It was a little wrinkled and missing a snap, but no stains, (that’s huge for satin), and no red fading into the white satin (also huge as that’s not really fixable). No accessories were included, but that didn’t matter to me because I already had shoes and a purse!
The satin skirt has obviously been smashed in storage for a long time – the most notable fold across the entire skirt proved to be stubborn.
Regardless, the satin was stain free which meant all I really needed to do was give it a good ironing. I used a combination of steam ironing and spraying the wrinkled areas with water. The combination of heat, steam, and a soaked surface pressed those wrinkles right out!
My Barbie is looking pretty good for a night on the town in her new coat and cocktail dress!
Who says vintage collecting has to be difficult or labor intensive? Sometimes the stars align and your doll ends up in a stunning ensemble thanks to a little patience and a lot of luck!
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c.b.w. 2016
C.B. Wentworth 