Barbie, the deep dive
With the release of the live action Barbie movie which has arguably been a cultural phenomenon, let's take a moment and reminisce on the history of this groundbreaking fashion doll.
Before Barbie and fashion dolls, girls played with baby dolls in order to teach them the logistics of motherhood. Ruth Handler created Barbie in order for young girls to have imaginative play with a doll that resembled an adult woman. She named the doll after her daughter, Barbara, who inspired her when she played with paper dolls and often created adult characters.
Barbie was officially released to the public in March 1959, sporting a blonde ponytail and her iconic black and white striped swimsuit at 1959 Toy Fair in New York City.
Barbie first faced criticism and people believed that she was inappropriately dressed, but she became very popular among young girls. She was initially marketed as a teenage fashion model to explain her wealth of clothes but as time went on, Barbie took on many careers like astronaut, teacher etc. She was also depicted as a normal teenager who simply liked shopping and hanging out with her friends. Other characters were also included throughout her time like her boyfriend, Ken (who was named after Ruth Handler’s son), and her friend, Midge. Her sister, Skipper, was also introduced. She also had other friends of color like Christie, and that year, a Latina doll was released. A wheelchair doll named Becky, who was Barbie’s photographer friend, was also introduced in 1997.
Barbie was considered progressive as she challenged gender roles throughout her time. She had many jobs and was financially secure. She was a solo homeowner, enjoyed shopping for pleasure and never married her boyfriend, Ken. Other issues with Barbie would soon arise, and that will be discussed later.
Barbie resonated with each generation solely because the brand changed with the times (while still keeping Barbie's edge). When the trends changed, so did Barbie, and that is why she still has her appeal. For example, in the 80s, one of the most iconic Barbie dolls, the Barbie Day to Night doll was released as more women entered the workplace. Barbie had obviously put her own spin on the outfit with her working outfit turning into a dress. Other iconic Barbie dolls in my opinion are Totally Hair Barbie, Teen Talks Barbie (for mostly the wrong reason as the phrase “Math Class is Tough” that was included stirred up controversy), Malibu Barbie, Superstar Barbie, Barbie and the Rockers etcetera, etcetera.
Barbie had cultural influences rooted deep into the brand, and played into pop culture. The Barbie brand released its first designer partnership with Oscar De La Renta in 1985, and in 1990, Bob Mackie collaborated with them. However, one of the most famous fashion designer collaborations in Barbie history is the Moschino collaboration in 2015. Barbie has also inspired an aesthetic called Barbiecore, which is seen heavily in the new Barbie movie and in pop culture overall. Barbiecore includes loads of pink and lighter shades of colors and more hyperfeminine clothing. Barbiecore was an aesthetic that faded in and out in Barbie’s fashions and persona throughout her time. In some instances, she preferred less pink pieces and other times. . .she went absolutely wild.
Barbie also was influenced by pop culture when they made celebrity dolls in a public figure’s likeness. They created Barbie dolls resembling Nicki Minaj, Zendaya and Jennifer Lopez. In 2018, Barbie actually launched a line of dolls called Barbie Inspiring Women where they create dolls in the likeness of historical, trailblazing women such as Frida Kahlo, Rosa Parks and Sally Ride. Other dolls were made of trailblazers like Vera Wang, Yara Shahidi and Ibtihaj Muhammad.
Barbie has created a lot of different media including movies and the iconic web series’. The first Barbie movie was Barbie in the Nutcracker which came out in October of 2001. It was followed by Barbie as Rapunzel. However, fans claim that the Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper is the best and most acclaimed movie. I’ve never seen it (shocking!) so I cannot debunk those claims. My favorites when I was younger were Princess and the Popstar, Rock n’ Royals, Dolphin Magic, Fairy Secret etc. Barbie also made an appearance in Toy Story as well. The Barbie movies had dolls released alongside them to correlate with the characters. Sometimes, they would release Black versions of the White Barbie dolls in the movie.
However, Barbie wasn’t always the most acclaimed fashion doll. Everyone might be thinking of the major legal battles between MGA Entertainment and Mattel over Barbie/My Scene vs. Bratz, but instead, let’s throw it back to the OG cat fight: Jem and the Holograms vs. Barbie. Jem and the Holograms was a cartoon created by Hasbro, and preceded the doll line, Jem and the Holograms which was widely successful. To compete with Jem and the Holograms, Mattel created Barbie and the Rockers. Hasbro claimed that Jem was a working woman and had a personality, while Barbie’s persona was shallow and only involved shopping and dating. The battle went on for a little while until Barbie triumphed in the end and Jem and the Holograms slowly faded away from shelves.
Barbie fell under fire for its lack of diversity (which was true of the brand at the time) at numerous times. Although they had dolls of color, they weren’t portrayed in the same glamorous light as Barbie was. They were always her friends, and most of the time, they were comparatively substandard to Barbie. To combat these complaints, Mattel released The Marvelous World of Shani, a line of all-Black dolls that had Afro-centric features. They would release her boyfriend, Jamal, the next year and create a few more waves before an abrupt cancellation. In 2009, Stacey McBride would attempt more diversity by creating So In Style, another line of all-Black dolls that featured: Grace, Trichelle and Kara. They had released other dolls and had continued over the years before being discontinued in 2015.
Mattel also released a new doll line called My Scene to counteract MGA’s Bratz dolls in 2002. They were ethnically diverse, and the dolls were focused on fashion, travelled frequently and went to the club every night. They are only of importance to this deep dive because Barbie was a part of the line, but her character “moved away” in 2006 and was replaced by another doll named Kennedy.
Barbie Fashionistas came out in October of 2009. These dolls were simply nameless dolls that had fashionable outfits that you could mix and match and were articulated. The 2000s and early 2010s were the most fashionable, most pink and glitter era of Barbie with the web series Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse beginning in 2012 and having an accompanying fashion doll line. The Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse web series had made numerous memes all across social media, and is definitely a highlight in Barbie media. I strive to live in a world where the main issue is a lack of glitter.
However at that point in time, Mattel was financially suffering and Barbie sales (while still high) were declining. However, in the 2010s beginning in 2016, parents and society overall started to criticize Barbie for her: materialism and superficiality, her unrealistic body proportions and her lack of racial diversity. There is truth to the statements that were made at the time. At the time, Barbie wasn’t as diverse as it is now. There wasn’t a lot of representation for people of color or a lot of body representation, and young girls weren’t able to see themselves in the dolls that were being created. Representation does truly matter! As for the materialism controversy, I will say that Barbie should be socially aware to the issues and nuances of our world, as she does need to keep up with the times to stay relevant. But a fashion doll is just that: a fashion doll. They are used for imaginative play among kids, and by no means, should they be forced to be educational toys to appease parents.
It was time for some changes. Mattel had decided to rebrand Barbie. She was scrubbed clean of her more girly, unattainable and basically perfect persona and lifestyle. Mattel rebranded to be more relatable and more diverse. Instead of a glamorous public figure with over a million jobs, she was now your average girl next door who wore t-shirt dresses and rompers with misplaced ruffles.
In all seriousness, Mattel rebooted the Barbie Fashionistas to be more diverse and added brand new skin tones and three new body types (curvy, petite and tall). They marketed the rebrand under the hashtag: The Doll Evolves. However, the quality of Barbie had witnessed a major downgrade throughout this time. Due to the body types that were added, it took more fabric to make the personalized outfits according to the body types work, which means that Mattel couldn’t be more experimental with outfits and truly had to stay simple.
The old Barbie Fashionistas, which were less diverse, had more intricate and stylish outfits and articulation. Although I can understand why these changes were made, I still yearn for the glamour, fashion and allure that the past Barbie had while capturing the diversity that modern Barbie has.
Mattel also released the Barbie Vlogs which portrayed Barbie in a more relatable light where she did fun challenges, talked with her friends and had real conversations with the audience on important topics like mental health and racism. They also launched the Barbie Style Instagram where Barbie was featured in one of a kind outfits, and even made political statements. They also launched Barbie’s TikTok account a little while ago.
Mattel also released a new series called Barbie: Dreamhouse Adventures featuring Barbie’s family and friends, and her coming of age misadventures. Barbie movies have continued to come out like Big City Big Dreams, Dolphin Magic, Princess Adventure etc. There has also been a brand new character introduced named Barbie (but she’s black). It’s a fun little Easter egg in the movie, Big City Big Dreams, that Malibu Barbie meets Brooklyn Barbie while they are in New York entering a preforming arts program. The main interpretation of this character by me is that she is the Black version of Barbie. As I mentioned before, Black doll versions of the original characters in the Barbie movies were released alongside the other dolls, so I believe that Brooklyn is meant to represent and validate that character (which I support). Mattel launched a series called It Takes Two following the two characters in New York City.
Over the 2010s and early 2020s (this time period), new lines like BMR 1959, Barbie Looks and Barbie Extra have been created. Even though, Barbie has witnessed a boom in popularity due to the new Barbie movie that has come out. As everyone knows, the movie stars Margot Robbie as Barbie, Ryan Gosling as Ken and is directed by the icon, the legend: Greta Gerwig. The movie also includes a soundtrack with songs from Lizzo, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa and my personal favorite, Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj. The movie also released dolls inspired by the characters in the movie, and products in collaboration with Beis, Aldo, Primark and much more.
Overall, Barbie’s history is a rollercoaster and it doesn’t seem like her momentum will die anytime soon. She is an icon in her own right, and she’ll continuing setting trends and following them throughout her lifetime.
I hope you guys enjoyed this post and were able to maybe take away something from this. If you are interested (or want to), make sure to share this post or follow me (if you have a blog). Sending everyone well wishes!
Ciao,
Miki ✌🏽
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