Double-O-AK
I’m a fan of lots of things, although I wish I could explain why I decided to make a certain Barbie without starting out with, “I’m a huge fan of [fill in the blank]!” But…oh, well…
I’m a James Bond 007 fan (the film version of the character). I’m also a pretty persnickety one. I’ve been wanting a Bond-inspired Barbie for a long time (because I’m sorry to say there are some truly frightening Bond/girl figures out there), and Mattel has actually released some! But I’ve been disappointed in my expectations of what a Bond Barbie would (should?) look like.
The James Bond 007 Ken and Barbie came out in 2002. I’ve gone back and forth for years on whether to get it. Ken as Bond? ::shaking head:: I just don’t see it. IMO, Ken can’t hold Bond’s martini! (Sorry to any Ken fans. I really am. I just never got into Ken.) I was more interested in Barbie as Bond girl.
Hmm, it’s a nice doll, but nothing really appeals to me. Her garter holds a cell phone!?? Come on! Had I bought this Barbie, I would replace the phone with a gun (à la Pam Bouvier from Licence to Kill) or a knife. I like the shoes. I was interested to learn that Barbie’s outfit here was designed by the costume designer from Die Another Day, the 20th Bond movie. I’m not surprised, though, that I have yet to go after this set because I wasn’t into the costumes of that particular entry too much…mostly only Miranda Frost’s.
I would much rather have a Barbie of one of the female characters from the Bonds. And in 2009 and 2010, Mattel granted my wish…sort of.
Above is the Barbie Loves Bond collection, featuring the Bond women from Dr. No, Goldfinger, and Die Another Day in Wave 1 and from Live and Let Die and Octopussy in Wave 2. Very, very cool. But there’s only one of the five who is among my favorite Bond women: Solitaire from Live and Let Die (played by Jane Seymour). Yay? But not so fast: she’s not in any of Solitaire’s outfits that I actually like, of which there are several.
So I thought about getting the Mattel version of Solitaire and redressing her in something more to my liking. But I prefer other face molds than the Drew/Lara one used for Solitaire. Also, from what I can tell, they did not get the eyes right. Seymour has one green eye and one brown eye, which surely adds to the idea that her character possesses special powers when it comes to seeing things in the tarot cards.
If Mattel had painted the eyes to match Seymour’s, I would have snatched the doll up in a second. Since I don’t really repaint Barbie faces, my version of Solitaire will have the same inaccuracy as the official version. Yep, you already knew where this was going: I’m going to make my own Solitaire Barbie.
Here’s the look I decided to go for:
The film and promotional pictures never show a full shot of Solitaire in this dress. So I had to guess what the bottom looks like. That also means I had no idea what shoes she wears in that scene. But it can be fun to fill in the blanks. Here she is:
If you note in the photos of the real Solitaire, she has this crazy braided topknot that’s super tall. I had originally intended to attempt that with this doll, but here again I learned the lesson that Barbie hairstyles are not as flexible as you’d think. Quickly I realized I actually preferred her hair this way. Jane’s Seymour’s hair is one of her most famous attributes. So I ended up being happy I chose this doll with that Rapunzel-like ‘do to represent her.
I made her most important accessory: her tarot cards. There are eight cards shown in the film. I made seven of them. An image of the eighth card has apparently been lost in the mists of time. The back of the cards (as I’m sure you will already know if you’re a Bond fan) incorporate “007” in their design.
Solitaire will now begin the reading:
One of her other accessories is a piece of stationary from The San Moniquan Hotel to which she attaches a reversed Queen of Cups card and anonymously sends to 007 as a warning that his female partner Rosie is a double agent.
If you know how to get miniature pictures to print clearly, please hit me up in the comments. I’ve searched for pointers, to no avail.
Her last accessory is a gold snake-like decoration she wears on her forehead. Nail art stickers are handy for all sorts of uses…
So even though they released an official Live and Let Die Solitaire Barbie doll, I just had to make one to suit my own tastes. What else is customizing for? ;)
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