Barbie Turns 50! How Has She Influenced Your Life?

Satin Stitches | Feb 10, 2009 | 0

Three of my favorite Barbies!

This year Barbie is turning 50. Mattel, Inc. launched the first Barbie doll in 1959 after Ruth Handler watched her daughter, Barbara, play with paper dolls and noticed that she often enjoyed giving them adult roles. At the time, most dolls were infant or toddler dolls. She felt there was a gap in the market and suggested the adult-bodied doll to her husband, Elliot, a co-founder of the Mattel toy company. What a suggestion!

Barbie made her debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York on March 9th, 1959. This date is known as Barbies official birthday. Around 350,000 Barbie dolls were sold during the first year of production.  She was marketed as a teenage fashion model. Barbie has become a cultural icon and continues to be loved by people of all ages.

On Saturday, February 14, Barbie makes her catwalk Fashion Week debut wearing 50 outfits, designed by top American fashion designers. Live models will stand in for the iconic fashion icon.

I was 6 years old when Barbie first appeared. I never owned a Barbie doll as a child. If you have read about my history-the long version, I started sewing doll clothes for my toddler doll, before I was in first grade-ALL custom designs, by the way! I soon realized that sewing for a nice chubby doll was much easier than sewing for a skinny doll with tiny arms and a big bustline, so I really was not interested in buying a new doll, to sew for. So, as a child, I never had a Barbie!

I resisted for years, until my husband surprised me with Neptune Fantasy Barbie, back in 1992, for Christmas, when I was forty years old! She was an absolute stunner! To this day, she is my favorite Barbie, designed by my favorite costume/fashion designer-Bob Mackie. This started a tradition for me.

I now have Bob Mackie Barbie Dolls EVERYWHERE-but ONLY Bob Mackie Barbie Dolls! The workmanship on the costuming is absolutely exquisite. And eBay has fueled my obsession with my Bob Mackies. If you type in Bob Mackie Barbie Doll when you search on eBay, you will see nearly all that are available.

I have a couple of inexpensive Barbies that include a Bob Mackie holiday doll, an Avon featured doll, and all the Jewel dolls. I also have the Goddess dolls, and my two porcelain dolls, which are pricier. Many of my friends and family know of my Bob Mackie Barbie Doll obsession. My stepson even called me at work after watching an infomercial, years ago, that featured the five Bob Mackie dolls named for jewels. Of course, I HAD to have them!

The beading, sequins, feathers, fur, satins, rhinestones and embroidery are all magnificent and wonderful inspiration for my costume designing! After all, Bob Mackie is one of the all-time greats, when it comes to costume/evening gown design. Yes, he is my favorite fashion designer, I admit it! I will be talking about Bob Mackie in a future blog.

I display some of my precious Bob Mackie Barbie Dolls at Satin Stitches. They oversee our workroom and my office. I also enjoy some of my Barbies, while I am watching television, at my home. My stepson scoffs at his Dad, who has to look at them, while watching football, with Barbies on the shelves on either side of the game. Me? I think it creates a nice contrast!

Dolls have had a place in fashion for centuries. Back before we received instant reports on the latest fashion, designers created fashion dolls. French Fashion Dolls were dolls created in the 19th century to showcase the fashions of their day.

The history of these Fashion Dolls confirms the natural pre-eminence of Paris in the world of fashion. An English Queen sent for the latest French styles as early as the fourteenth century, presumably unsatisfied by the products of her native country. The Fashion Doll was the earliest method of illustrating for foreigners the current mode in full and copyiable detail-a role later filled by fashion plates, and still later by the glossy fashion magazine.

Theatre de la Mode, in 1945 showed a collection of exquisite fashion dolls. I own a copy of the self-titled book that shows these wonderfully outfitted dolls. These dolls are on view in The Maryhill Museum of Art in Washington State. I hope to view them in person, some day. The clothing is absolutely exquisite! If you are a student of fabulous clothing design, costume or not, definitely check out this doll collection.

Barbie Dolls are considered 1/6th scale called playscale. At 11.5 inches tall, Barbie would be about 5 foot 9 inches tall, true fashion model height. No, we will not get into the bust, waist and hip proportions, even though years ago, her waistline WAS increased to make her a little more realistic! I think her shape fits in with what is expected of our current super models. I wish our famous working fashion models were a little more normally shaped, but they showcase a fantasy, after all.

Remembering that Barbie was created as a teenage fashion model, during the 1980s, Mattel started issuing Barbie dolls with fashion designers creating their clothing. Famous designers have included Yves St. Laurent, Pierre Cardin, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Christian Dior and Bob Mackie.

Barbie has been a Radio City Rockette-the quintessential dance team performer, a ballerina-every young dancers favorite, a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader, and all types of representations of women and girls from around the world and across the spectrum of interests. I cannot image how many different costumes and outfits Barbie has had the opportunity to wear over the last fifty years, starting with that little black and white striped swimsuit that she debuted in 1959! I think I own some of the best.

How about you? How many Barbie dolls do YOU have?

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Enthusiast, Barbie Dolls, Costume Design, Costumes (all tags)