February 16, 2009

History Lesson: Barbie turns 50

I'm a barbie girl, in the barbie world
Life in plastic, it's fantastic!
you can brush my hair, undress me everywhere
Imagination, life is your creation
Come on Barbie, let's go party!
-Lyrics by Aqua, "Barbie Girl"

Even though I preferred playing He-Man, She-Ra and Skeletor with my brother & cousin, I did play with Barbie (think my mom made me) every once in a while. Have to admit Barbie really did have always have the best shoes in town.

Barbie broke into the fashion spotlight in 1959 and literally came to life this Feb 14 at the Bryant Park Fashion week:



According to BarbieMedia.com:
"She may be petite, at just 11.5 inches tall, but her wardrobe is anything but tiny. Her amazing outfits have been designed by more than 70 fabulous names in fashion, cut from more than 105 million yards of fabric (and still counting) and she has had 1 billion pairs of the most to-die-for shoes.

Barbie® boasts five decades of fashion heritage, working with more fashion designers than any other brand in the world.

As model or muse, Barbie has relationships with more than 70 of the biggest names in fashion. From Calvin to Cartier, Gucci to Galliano, Versace to Vera, they all have something to say about Barbie:

"Barbie represents a confident and independent woman with an amazing ability to have fun while remaining glamorous." -- Diane von Furstenberg

"Barbie doll has been a cherished fashion phenomenon for five decades, so it was exciting to be able to dress her in one of my signature gowns." -- Monique Lhuillier

"It's been my honor to dress some of the most glamorous women in the world and Barbie is certainly among the ultimate 'It' girls!” -- Patricia Field

"As a little girl, I spent countless hours playing with my Barbie doll's, even designing and sewing one-of-a kind outfits for the doll--I guess you could say Barbie gave me my start as a designer," -- Cynthia Rowley"

1 comment:

Unknown said...

That was such a cool runway show! Barbie is really so hot. Every time I wear anything high waisted I get a stomachache about an hour in... If I had Barbie's body that would never happen.