Curiouser and curiouser. Did you know Barbie clothes are on Pinterest? And no, we’re not talking tennis outfits and miniature lab coats. We’re talking designer duds worthy of the Met Gala. I see them and find myself thinking (besides whose fingers are that small), I’d wear that.
According to Yahoo News, it’s a craze for the crafters. Setting up an Etsy store and manufacturing Barbie outfits with your own little hands is an actual business. For example, cutting off the bottom of a tiny-sized baby lotion bottle, covering it in colorful duct tape, punching a hole punch through the top side and inserting a ribbon yields a Barbie tote. It’s cute and sturdy enough to carry a towel and a change of shoes to the beach. Of course, she needs a change of shoes. She wouldn’t be caught dead in a pair of flip flops. Pfft.
As a child, I thought Barbie was pretty cool. I hoped as an adult to be able to morph from waitress to astronaut in a matter of days. What a great life to be a doctor on Monday and a professional horse jockey on Thursday. I wanted to live in the townhouse, wear heels every day and have permanent pearls attached to my neck. Little girls across America prayed for her life, her wardrobe and those breasts. And a boy like Ken to do whatever we want and never argue. Even if GI Joe was cuter.
I had a Barbie closet filled with outfits. None of them looked like the gear offered on Etsy. Can you say Dior replicas and suits trimmed in mink? The white suit with cinch waist finds me nodding aloud, “Yep, That’s my style.”
Searching for the perfect wedding dress? Go no further. Barbie designers know what’s in your heart. With shoes to match.
A little digging finds a website with named collections and varied view photos of a cream jacket with oversize black buttons, little black leggings tucked into black and beige heeled booties and a tan satchel. It’s an outfit I’ll be wearing come winter 2017 even though it belongs in the fall/winter collection of 2016.* This girl has no qualms about wearing last year’s offerings. Another designer has turned to not only etsying her creations but blogging about them as well. You can visit the Matisse collection and blog here.
I don’t find rompers for playing in the backyard. This is not the Barbie that brothers pull the heads off and toss over the fence. I get the feeling this is the Barbie that elicits a police bullhorn, “Put the doll in Dior down and nobody gets hurt.”
I was the mom who allowed Baby Chicken to not only rip open the boxes of Holiday Barbie, Belle Barbie and Cinderella Princess Barbie but watched them swim in the pool. I believe a couple of them even got haircuts at the kitchen table. This was to the horror of friends shelving them as collector items for their little girls to look upon and handle with gloved hands, Of course, they have their retirements fully funded thanks to Birthday Wishes Barbie and her pink ball gown.
The trend is lost on me. I do believe girls across the country could play a mean game of runway with all those accouterments. Just visit the site and follow the links to Capes, Coats and Outerwear or Sleepwear and Lingerie.
To each his own is something I live by. Whatever you like doesn’t much bother me. I do have just one thing to say. I don’t want to hear a damn thing about my cats ever again. Meow.
*Photos courtesy of https://bvisayc556.wordpress.com and http://www.dagamoart.com.
The Duchess Diaries 