Happy 60th Birthday, Barbie!

Happy 6oth Birthday, Barbie! Time flies…  Today, every passing minute sees more than 100 dolls sold worldwide, with 58 million sold every year. The iconic plastic doll has been a surgeon, a pilot, a singer and a president. She has been in a wheelchair and has a prosthetic leg. She’s been the Duchess of Cambridge, several characters in «Mad Men» and every member of Destiny’s Child.
But on her debut at the New York Toy Fair on March 9, 1959, she was just a doll in a swimsuit and ponytail, with white sunglasses in her hand.

First Barbie in 1959

Barbie’s success has remained as she continues to reflect culture and the world girls see around them.
Her evolution has been crucial, but never was easy. Created by Ruth Handler, who owned the toy company Mattel with her husband Elliot. She was inspired by the paper dolls her daughter Barbara played with, as well as a German doll named Bild Lilli.

Did you know that the inspiration for Barbie came from German BILD Zeitung? A doll called Lilli that was created in 1955.

Immediately, Barbie had a lot of success. She was an «adult», different to the baby dolls of the time. By 1960, Barbie was gainfully employed, as either a nurse, fashion editor, or flight attendant. The next year, she had a boyfriend, Ken, and the year after that, her first car and a pink dream house.

Lately, new additions to the «Barbie Fashionistas» line included a doll using a wheelchair and another with a prosthetic leg. For International Women’s Day 2018, Mattel released a new batch of dolls based «real-life role models» (for the previous post, click here please), among them aviator Amelia Earhart and artist Frida Kahlo.

This year, more than 20 new «Sheroes» will be immortalized as Barbies: among them, supermodel and activist Adwoa Aboah, and gymnast Dipa Karmakar, the first female Indian gymnast to qualify for the Olympics.

Me dressed in the Moschino x Barbie collection (for the post, click here).

Barbie did many designer collaborations such as an amazing shoe collection with Charlotte Olympia, was dressed by the likes of Moschino, Lagerfeld, or Christian Louboutin among others.

Margot Robbie will portray Barbie in upcoming movie about the child’s toy.

At 60 years old, Barbie stars in a Netflix series, «Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures,» and has almost 40 animated films to her name. In January, it was announced that Margot Robbie will play Barbie in a live-action movie. With 2 million followers on her instagram @barbiestyle, she’s one of of the big social media influencers and shares her outfits, and street-style shots.

I have been a Barbie fan since my early childhood and am proud of my pretty impressive collection. In my daughter’s old playroom, we still kept the Barbie corner. Happy Birthday, Barbie! Thanks to you, I feel sometimes like a little girl again…

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Via Barbie and © Sandra Bauknecht 

Barbie Celebrates Role Models

Last week to celebrate International Women’s DayMattel unveiled «role model» Barbies. After decades of focusing on their beauty and fashion sense, the famous dolls show finally their brains, strength and power as well. Not your average Barbies, these dolls are «Sheroes», meaning women who are heroes, designed to give young girls a range of inspirational and positive female idols.

The new dolls came after Mattel conducted a survey of 8,000 mothers around the globe and found that 86% are worried about the kind of role models their daughters are exposed to. Mattel’s series of empowering women dolls range from both the past and present.

Amelia Earhart, Aviation Pioneer

Many view this development as a thoroughly refreshing and progressive addition to the toy market like me. The new range showcases women from an array of professions: it includes US snowboarder Chloe Kim, Australian conservationist Bindi Irwin, Chinese volleyball champion Hui Ruoqi and French chef Helene Darroze. The range is ethnically diverse, Ibtihaj Muhammad stands for the first hijab-wearing Barbie and Mexican artist Frieda Kahlo is another «Shero» in the collection.

Ibtihaj Muhammad, Fencing Champion

But there are many voices criticizing the new dolls for still looking like «Barbie» as Mattel minimized the typical features that also have made these women special such as the famous Kahlo‘s famous monobrow (Barbie’s brows are thicker but not exactly looking like Frida) or the muscles of boxer Nicola Adams Obe.

Mattel’s message: «Inspire your little ones to paint a world of possibilities!»

Frida Kahlo, Artist

Nevertheless, it’s a great start and kids will love to have dolls that represent aspirational career paths and commemorate inspiring women. From «Sheroes» to «Inspiring Women», have a look at the latest Barbie role models – all extraordinary women honored with a doll in their likeness.

Leyla Piedayesh, Fashion Designer and Entrepreneur

By the way there is even a German lady among them: Iranian born Leyla Piedayesh who is the founder of fashion label lala Berlin. Congrats! Only a blogger is missing… I think for good when there is a real journalist as an influencer could probably be a quite tricky role model for a young girl.

LoL, Sandra

Nicola Adams Obe, Boxing Champion

Martyna Wojciechowska, Journalist

Patty Jenkins, Filmmaker

Chloe Kim, Snowboarding Champion

Hélène Darroze, World-Renowned Chef

Gabby Douglas, Gymnastics Champion

Katherine Johnson, NASA Mathematician and Physicist

Bindi Irwin, Conservationist

Yuan Yuan Tan, Prima Ballerina

Ashley Graham, Model And Body Activist

Sara Gama, Soccer Player

Hui Ruoqi, Volleyball Champion

Xiaotong Guan, Actress and Philanthropist

Ava Duvernay, Film Director

Photos: Courtesy of Mattel