18 May 2010

Barbie Romance Bridal Couture 2010 for Fashion Doll Quaterly Magazine

Walking into wedding hall with stunning gorgeous wedding gown never fades away in the bottom of every girl’s heart. Bridal couture is able to turn every girl into a lovely angel on the red carpet. That is why Nigel Chia have fall in love with bridal couture, a dress that is full with purity, charm and femininity, filling the girls’ most memorable moment of life.

Vera Wang, Rosa Clara, Pronovias and JLM couture are creating the leading trend in bridal couture field where they have designed numerous gorgeous, luxurious and elegant wedding gowns for brides all over the world. Therefore, Nigel Chia is taking Barbie® into the world of bridal couture in this summer, allowing Barbie to enjoy the joy of being a gorgeous chic bride.

Young and talented, Nigel Chia is a full time veterinary student, part time fashion designer and a Barbie® fashion designer. At the age of twenty two, he has been falling in love with Barbie® when he was only ten years old.

“Barbie® are my childhood soul-mates and hence, I understand what Barbie need. I believe that they really deserve the best garments to make them look ever more gorgeous.” said Nigel.

In his pursuit of perfection, every single piece of dress is well and meticulously designed. The chic cutting, details and fabrication, make his Barbie® as flawless as ever. Nigel’s Barbie® Romance Collection 2010 marks the birth of brides of elegance and stylishness. Not forgetting the fresh face-ups, accessories as well as voguish hairstyles that definitely catch your eyes!

Let’s face it, the 21st century is here and although we all love classic wedding styles, sometimes it’s time for a change. Note that recent trends seen in wedding dress fashions in 2010 include ruffles, sweetheart necks, mermaid skirts, floral prints, long bridal veils as well as longer trains. But in Barbie® Romance Collection, Nigel has taking the risk on combining the classic, vintage design with the latest trend and the result is overwhelming. “Classic and vintage will never fades away in bridal fashion, that makes me came out with an idea of adding some touches of extravagance and uniqueness into classic design, allowing Barbie® bride to be vintage fashionable!” said Nigel. The silhouette of his brand new collection ranges from simple yet elegant to delicate and seductive mermaid-cut gowns. On the other hand, the feather-laden gowns with the touch of Swarovski crystals, ribbons, large bows, floating laces, and tulle also contribute to the uniqueness of his collection. In wedding fashion, Nigel love to use ribbons, laces, bows and feathers to add whimsy and eccentricity. These design elements introduce fantasy and establish an optimistic tone.

Talking about the inspiration of this collection, Nigel expressed, “Barbie® is the root of my inspiration in this particular collection. Apart form that, graceful swan have inspired me on using feathers as part of the material in my design and sexy little mermaid allow me to create a dress which is full of sequins embellishment with mermaid bottom silhouette. Basically, all the inspirations come form the combination of fairy tales and art of nature.”

Creating the detail on 13 inches Barbie® dress has appeared to be the challenge of Barbie® Romance Bridal collection. Every single bead, sequin and crystal is hand sewed by Nigel and every dress is also fully lined. Indeed, it required tons of patient and fine technique in sewing and completing the finishing touch of Barbie® bridal couture. “The cutting pattern is based on the human measurement cutting pattern technique, thus all the dresses fit Barbie® perfectly as I wish to make every single gown as realistic as possible.” stressed Nigel.

Bridal fashion won’t be complete without make up and hairstyle! The repaint of Barbie® appeared to be another highlight of this collection. Nigel has transformed Barbie® into sensual and sexy look bride with smoky eyes accompany with extra long eyelashes, light color lips and natural blushing. The most important is they looked so real!
“Actually, I just start to learn the repaint technique recently and it is fun indeed since I am able to make up Barbie® the way I wish it to be in order to create the complete looked according to the dress they wear.” said Nigel


Middle: Sexy and elegant, this high neck modified mermaid gown of French lace and chiffon with a drop waist and large bows waist band tinge with Swarovski crystals and fuse lace skirt transform the Barbie® into a sexy goddess.

Glamour and elegance, a thought shared by Nigel Chia who lavishly sequined them all over the skirt of this strapless modified mermaid gown with combination of laces and chiffon.

Classically beautiful and understated, this Japanese silk Nigel Chia strapless soft A-line gown with a large bow embellishment and laced top would frame the Barbie® beautifully.

Freedom of movement and purity of line have always been hallmarks of Nigel Chia’s design and this chiffon and lace single strap dress with diamond embellishment at it’s empire waist is no exception to the rule with it’s fluid beauty.

Playing Fairy Godmother once more Nigel Chia has created the Fairy Princess, a strapless drop-waist feathered ballgown with laced top and a Swarovski crystals belt that makes the Barbie® fairy wedding dream come true.



Right: Flirtatious and impossibly light looking, this tulle and French lace Nigel Chia gown with a strapless dropped waist ballgown structure, pleated origami empire line with Swarovski crystal embellishment and gathered tulle skirt is bound to be the dream dress for many Barbie®.

Photos, Setting, Dresses by Nigel Chia

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Barbie Face Up Repaint

This is my 1st attempt to repaint the Barbie for a new photo shoot of Barbie Romance Bridal Collection 2010. Indeed, it is much more difficult than repaint the BJD since the face of Barbie is much much more smaller than BJD face, thus it need lot of patient to paint all the detail. Overall I have spent about 5 hours to finished the 1st repaint. They look really different form the Barbie original factory face up and turn into a high fashion doll. For me, the most exciting moment is when applying extra long lashes as it make them glow!

Before Repaint
After Repaint
Before Repaint
After Repaint


Photos, Face up, dresses all by Nigel Chia

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17 May 2010

Nigel Chia Bridal Couture photo shoot @ Hotel Heritage

This is my 1st bridal couture photo shoot which was being done on 24th April at Hotel Heritage. It was really exciting, amazing and memorable experience for me indeed! I m really glad to know a few amazing friends over there too. Special thank to Seraph, Jim Chen all the photographers, make up artist and models.































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Jessica as Geisha

Jessica is wearing Kimono design by myself inspire by movie Memoir of Geisha







Photos, Face up, Dress, Setting by Nigel Chia

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Nigela in Wonderland

Inspired by movie Alice in Wonderland, I have design a cute blue dress for Nigela.




New face up for Nigela! She is no longer a chic lady but a cute girl now with more blushing, longer lashes.......



Photos, Face up, dress by Nigel Chia

Please do NOT use any write up or pictures without prior writing for permission!