Rightly or wrongly I was determined that my daughter was not going to have Barbie dolls, but by the time our daughter was 3 our house was awash with Barbie and all her paraphernalia. How did this happen?
To try to even things out I presented our son with Barbie - he proceeded to use her spiky limbs as a weapon! We had Malibu Barbie, Night and Day Barbie but best of all was Wedding Day Barbie! Tiny little handbags were lost as were multiple pairs of shoes ... bits and pieces of Barbie limbs would appear in odd places. Thankfully all could be replaced by the neverending Barbie gravy train at the local toy store.
In my own way I became quite fond of Barbie, and I grudgingly admitted that she did provide hours of fun for my daughter and her friends.
When Barbie: The Icon arrived in the library I couldn't help myself, and immediately borrowed it. Perhaps it's the memories of times past, but I have had a lovely time browsing its full page photos of Barbie dressed in her finest, as well as enjoying the writing.
The focus of the early seventies was to make Barbie increasingly bendable...
and
Barbie has become the interpreter of aesthetic and cultural transformations that have distinguished more than half a century of history, but unlike other myths of contemporaneity, crushed by time passing, she has had the privilege, as a doll to be timeless.
Bendable and timeless! Oh how I envy her.
Some Barbie facts:
- After a 43 year relationship Barbie and Ken break up in 2004. Barbie meets a new man, Blain - a surfer from Australia, however by 2011 Barbie and Ken are back together again. Phew.
- Barbie has had more than 150 careers including being US President, watch out Hillary Clinton!
- It wasn't until 1980 that a black Barbie doll was created , called... ta da...Black Barbie.
- Fashion designers who have created her outfits have included Donna Karan, Vivienne Westwood, Calvin Klein and Dior.
- Her full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts.
Find more Barbie stuff - including movies - in our collection.
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