Barbie - Everything About The Plastic Babe
May 25th, 2007
Barbie’s emergence
- Back in 1956, Ruth Handler, one of the Mattel founders saw a doll named Lili in a toy shop while shopping in Lucerne, Switzerland. She then went on to acquire the rights to Lili and named her Barbie, inspired from her own daughter Barbara Joyce.
- The Barbie doll made it’s debut at the New York Toy Fair in 1959. She was a teenage model dressed in a black and white striped bathing suit complete with sunglasses, high heels and gold-colored hoop earrings. She was 11 1/2 inches tall, weighing 11 ounces. She sold more than 350,000 within that year for US$ 3 each.
- Barbara Millicent Roberts is her full name and she was born on 9 March 1959.
- She had undergone a face-lift in 1961 that resulted in curved eyebrows and blue eyes.
Barbie’s sisters and friends
- In 1966, a black version of Barbie’s cousin, Francie was introduced.
- Then in the ’70s, She used to have 2 siblings called Todd and Tutti but they disappeared later. Now she has 4 sisters: Skipper, Stacie, Kelly and Krissy.
- Midge Hadley was her first friend. She had Barbie’s figure but a wider, friendly face covered in freckles. She made her appearance in 1963.
Barbie’s boyfriend
- Ken Carson was her only boyfriend for more than 40 years. They met on the set of a television commerical in 1961 and they have been inseparable ever since but after 43 years, in February 2004, they broke up. The separation was said to be party due to Ken’s reluctance to get married. Anyhow, they will remain as friends.
- Ken was introduced in 1961, named after Ruth and Elliot Handler’s son.
- Ken’s baby brother is Tommy.
Barbie’s education
- A graduate of Willows High School in Willows, Wisconsin.
Barbie’s first pet
- She had a horse named Dancer.
Barbie’s business associates
- Twiggy was the first celebrity Barbie made in 1967.
- Marilyn Monroe, Dorothy of the Wizard of Oz, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Donny and Marie Osmond, Brandy, Britney Spears and many others have been made into Barbie and Ken dolls. Perhaps Barbie fans are hoping that they too can be customed made into their favourite doll someday!
- Danish pop group Aqua has a song written about her called “Barbie girl”.
Barbie’s wardrobe
- She has been dressed by numerous famous designer labels such as Anne Klein, Bob Mackie, Calvin Klein, Chanel, Christian Dior, Dolce & Gabana, Donna Karan, Escada, Givenchy, Gucci, Christian Lacroix, Byron Lars, Ralph Lauren, Nicole Miller, Prada, Vera Wang, Versace, Wedgewood and the list goes on and on and on.
- In fact since 1959, almost 1 billion outfits have been created for Barbie and her friends.
- Exclusive Barbie collections have been auctioned to raise funds for charities in the US.
Barbie’s figure
- Her statistics (human equivalent) are 39-18-33.
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