Musings on generations of Barbie girls and the value of feminine creativity
Ever since I heard about the Barbie movie coming out over a year ago, I was ecstatic. I’ve always been a “Barbie” girl myself in terms of spending countless hours exploring makeup and fashion as a means of expressing creativity; I also shared special memories with my mother sharing her vintage Barbies and handmade clothes out of a box not unlike the case featured in Billie Ellish’s What Was I Made For music video released for the movie.
For the week or so leading up to (and spoiler alert: after, too) the movie’s release, my mother reminded me of this past gift I had created for her - a custom repaint as her on a Barbie doll, with custom clothing and cards styled to match her 70’s modeling shots.
For the week or so leading up to (and spoiler alert: after, too) the movie’s release, my mother reminded me of this past gift I had created for her - a custom repaint as her on a Barbie doll, with custom clothing and cards styled to match her 70’s modeling shots. We talked fashion and how much it has changed in even our lifetime’s worth of experience with it. She informed me of the revolutionary designer - Rudi Gernreich - of a beloved dress purchased by her father in law. He did so with shining pride, a real statement of true support for the early ‘70s. A note to self - it’s about time to re-create this one-shoulder gown as an extension of her personal Barbie design.
Read more on designer Rudi Gernreich as the modernizer of nudity, and a private soul
I was pleased to a make an early premier of the film, so early there wasn’t even a Barbie poster to pose with (so I opted to snap her shot in front of the Oppenheimer poster - another movie I’m desperate to see, and am enthralled at the concept of a drive in double feature with the two sharing a screen)
The experience of being in a theater flooded with pink, shared solidarity in a theater of strangers…I cried and laughed with the audience while clutching my titular-themed boxed Barbie; happy to be lost in a sea of bright pink and mothers and daughters, anxious to share the tangible doll and movie (and message) with my own young daughter and my lovely, intelligent, and emotionally-aware “Ken”…
…Eager to share the all-too-true-feeling satire, the historical fashion influences and legacy of businesswomen, what my own mother taught me…things she taught through her sharing her love of dolls, fashion, makeup, and female ownership and independence. I’m still in the throws of engaging in this conversation, but I am grateful to have the lines of communication open with the world and a creative, open-minded family to help me through it all.
I’ve been anticipating this movie release for over a year now, and while waiting I started working on zombie rag-doll/Sallys/PinUp cloth dolls with button joints. A few years ago, I found a delightful fabric at Joann’s…I ended up using it for a set of mini and mommy matching aprons while I was getting comfortable with my then-new sewing machine, and long before I found myself revisiting plush and doll making. The cotton fabric I noted the design’s producer was Alexander Henry - which I squirreled away samples of year after year from remnants and holiday releases with no real plan to do anything with it.
After a few more advanced sewing projects under my belt - and after iterating off of some designs by Pretty Creepy Dolls (found on Etsy) - I have started focusing on these ‘modern primitive' folk dolls with a goth-er Weird Barbie vibe; and since seeing the Barbie movie found myself NEEDING to package them, so I gave them these carriers using dollar store parts
