you'd think eighteen years would be enough time for me to grow out of my barbie habit, but when i stumbled upon a treasure trove of vintage and contemporary commercials and promotional material, it was all i could do to stifle the giddy squeal rising up inside of me. after watching nearly every one, i found it tough to pick a favorite, so i pulled a couple of gems from each decade. equal parts hilarious and fantastic, i'd be lying if i said i'm not still harboring an urge to hit the ebay circuit and start snapping up some of these plastic stunners.
1962: okay, these outfits are actually all pretty killer, but i draw the line at cuffing my chin with glee and using the word "swell." chill out, girl.
1967: the trade-in offer (and that overenthused guy's rapping) is pretty sweet, but i don't think i would have been able to give up one of my beloved dolls to get a new one.. especially not to that creepy mechanical shopkeeper. and is that marcia brady? jan really couldn't catch a break..
1971: wait - orange skin, feather-thin arched brows, and obnoxiously large sunglasses? a couple of wardrobe tweaks and we're looking at jersey shore barbie here.
1973: so mustache = bad guy, but sideburns = hero. this must be why i have such mixed feelings about terry richardson. by the way, what is this doll's hair made out of, anyway? steel wool?
1984: also known as working girl barbie and bonfire of the vanities ken.
1988: very glamourai, no? but it seems sort of awkward to be cozying up to jungle animals while pretending to wear their skins. just sayin'.
1992: wow. well, fly girl threads aside, i really can't take this seriously until she works on those moves.. the spastic shuffle just isn't gonna cut it.
1992: and moving right along from the streets to the trailer park, we have the best-selling barbie of all-time. seriously - more than ten million people bought this very doll. no, i can't figure it out either.
16 comments:
Hahah I love Barbies. I love their old makeup look in the second video. If i wouldn't feel so immature, I'd still be playing with Barbies. I used to love dressing them up!
http://splashitup.blogspot.com
love barbie. her hair colour is just amazing, i want hair barbie blonde! x
barbie ♥
keep going on with ur blog =)
good work!
I hope u visit me and follow me.
greetings from the cold germany.
tzoules k.
YESSSS. I love Barbies. I remember reading about their changes in NYLON and this post was super interesting.
Every girl gotttstaa love barbies!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
quirkyexplosion.blogspot.com
haha! So so good.
x x x
i was never really a girl who enjoyed playing with barbies, but i did like this post!
It makes it so visible to see how commercials are made to influence the society at the time because they change so much from one year to another! and so does the Barbie!
Great post - always have and always will love Barbie! :)
www.friendinfashion.blogspot.com
xx
Wow that website it amazing. I was never really into barbies as a kid, too busy trying to impress my brother, but they're effortless retro aura is not lost on me. Those ads & pictures are just...perfection
OH, I don't think anyone's Barbie crazy will ever die down. I visited a Barbie exhibit last year and the only thing that stopped me from snapping up the vintage Barbies was the fact they weren't for sale ;-)
too funny. my friend has actually been joking lately about how she wants to pull out all her old barbies. i still have all mine saved from my childhood in my attic. my mom won't let me get rid of them in case she one day has a granddaughter. lol.
I still love barbies too. I would love to own some really old ones.
i adore this
fantastic inspiration
gorgeous blog, keep it up!
thanks for sharing as always
and thanks for your sweet comments, it means the world to me!
-cma
COSMICaroline.blogspot.com
I love the song your title is from!
haha. this is brilliant!
Oh my goodness. Thank you for this.
These commercials are amazing! I'm still kicking myself for not keeping my old barbies.
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