Nice Ascot
“Love Your Leg Warmers!” – Ken
“Nice Ascot!” – Barbie
When Nick and I decided we would attend our first Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party on our recent Disney trip, we immediately started to hunt for the perfect costume idea. Carl & Ellie, Lady & The Tramp, Simba & Nala… the Disney couple costume possibilities are endless! As we made our way through the list, there was one idea that we knew would be perfect. Barbie and Ken from Toy Story 3!
Aside from their stylish outfits and iconic scenes in the movie, we have a personal connection to these characters. For as long as I can remember, family and friends have always referred to us as “Barbie and Ken,” so when we ran across this idea we figured why not go for it?!
Once the idea was put in place, it was time to bring these plastics to life! I immediately found Barbie’s unitard online, so I felt very hopeful. Ken’s costume would be a bit of a challenge, but I was excited to try and get the details as close as I could do the movie details!
How To Make Barbie’s Costume
The most important part of Barbie’s outfit is her iconic unitard. While most went with this Dark Turquoise Unitard, I chose the lighter, Turquoise Mystique Unitard! Aside from the second option being a lighter shade, the material is also stretchier which makes all the difference when it comes to comfort.
Unitard Pro Tip: If you decide to go with the Dark Turquoise Unitard size UP…seriously. The material does not stretch, so you’ll need a larger size for comfort! If you decide to go with the Turquoise Mystique Unitard, it’s pretty true to size so stick with your normal size.
After the unitard, there are Barbie’s striped leg warmers! It was super important to get these as accurate as possible, so when I found these striped leg warmers on Etsy, I was thrilled. Looking for a quicker alternative? Amazon Prime has these striped leg warmers.
Hot pink is definitely Barbie’s color, so adding all the right colored accessories is a must for this costume. Hot pink pumps and chiffon scarf are both pretty easy to find, but when it came to Barbie’s belt I decided to go DIY! I grabbed some 1.5″ hot pink ribbon at my local craft store along with adhesive velcro dots and a silver rectangle slide buckle. In about five minutes I had a quick and easy hot pink belt! Most others usually go for this elastic belt on Amazon, so if you’re looking to order something fast this is a great alternative.
Our last little touch that we had to add was this adorable “Nice Ascot” pin from Viva La Mouse! When I ran across it on her Instagram, I knew it would be the perfect touch to complete our costume.
Outfit Details:
Turquoise Unitard | Striped Leg Warmers | Hot Pink DIY Belt (similar here) | Hot Pink Chiffon Scarf | Hot Pink Pumps (similar here) | “Nice Ascot” Pin
How To Make Ken’s Costume
Ken’s look is safari goals and with a few simple DIY details you can recreate this look in no time!
Believe it or not, when it comes to Ken’s costume the best place to start is his shorts. If you can find turquoise shorts first, you’ll be able to match the other blue shades perfectly! We found Nick’s shorts at JC Penney on sale, but there are tons of other options online too. Once you find the perfect shade, be sure to match fabrics for his iconic Nice ascot! We found our fabric at a local fabric store, but there’s this easy online option as well.
Ken’s Costume Essentials Pre-DIY!
What’s next? Ken’s shirt. Most prefer to search for a blue jungle print top, but I went the DIY route. I started with a light blue short sleeve button down shirt from Target and used acrylic paint to create the pattern! For the teal spots I used “Indian Turquoise” paint. As for the black details, “Lamp (Ebony) Black” was the shade. For the gold spots I used a Metallic “Glorious Gold” paint.
Step One: Paint initial spots with “Indian Turquoise” paint.
Step Two: Add accents to spots with “Lamp (Ebony) Black” paint.
Step Three: Finish the metallic print with spots of “Glorious Gold” paint on each mark.
Pro Tip: Add your own flair to the design! I loved adding hidden shapes like Mickey and a “K” for “Ken” (or “Killebrew”).
We found Nick a black leather belt with a silver clasp and decided to paint it ourselves. Using the same metallic gold and black paint, we painted the clasp black and the belt gold! Once finished, I cut out a yellow square of card stock and taped it to the belt clasp to add that little detail.
Last but certainly not least, we had to create Ken’s shoes! Since such bright blue shoes are pretty impossible to find, we painted our own. While researching costume details, Nick noticed Ken’s shoes seemed to be boating shoes with laces around the shoe. We found some canvas boat shoes at Walmart and customized from there! I painted the shoes with a few layers of white acrylic paint first to create a solid layer when it came time to paint the color. After the shoes were dry, I started to paint the shoes with “670 Blue Pearl” metallic acrylic paint. While the metallic paint was originally an accident, I think the shiny finish really added the “plastic” feel that Ken and Barbie’s shoes normally have! Although we didn’t decide to go with a Ken wig, you can find one here!
Outfit Details:
Short Sleeve Light Blue Button Down | Blue Chino Shorts (similar here) | Classic Canvas Boat Shoes | Black and Silver Plaque Belt | Turquoise Ascot
As our outfits started to come together, we were so excited to eventually reveal our costume to friends and family! Since we were staying at Disney’s All Star Movies Resort which features a life-size Toy Story area, we thought this would be the perfect place to take pictures of our final looks.
All in all, I think our first Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party experience was definitely one for the books! The people of Magic Kingdom loved our costumes and Nick even recieved a few “Nice Ascot” comments which totally made his night. We had such a fun time as Barbie and Ken, and I can’t wait to see what other costume ideas we come up with in the future.
When your fam already calls you Barbie and Ken so you just decide to go for it ✌🏻💕 #mnsshp pic.twitter.com/hNUjV6G7k3
— Kait Around The Kingdom 🏰 (@KaitKillebrew) September 25, 2018