Barbie In The 1950's

Standing eleven inches tall, with long cascading blonde hair, Barbie was the first ever toy doll produced in the United States equipped with adult features. Ruth Handler was the woman behind Barbie who co-founded Mattel, Inc. alongside her husband in 1954. Her incentive to pursue the production of Barbie was immediately after seeing her young daughter ignoring her baby dolls to play with paper dolls of adult women. It was then she realized there was a significant gap in the market for a toy that allowed young girls to imagine the future. From that day, Ruth and her husband continue to create Barbies that reflect changes in society, ranging from the typical 1950s ‘teenage fashion model’ which reflected the upper-class glamour of the 50s stars,

These fashions began in the 1950s, which typically mirrored the sophisticated charm of 50s stars such as Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe, often possessing pursed scarlet lips, donning high arched brows, and a diva like pony tail with either blonde or brunette curly bangs. This particular Barbie often resembled a high fashion model, with ivory-like skin, slim legs, and a narrow waist and hips. Even in the 90s, Barbie’s style was influenced. For instance, the fads in this era typically consisted of double denim, doc martens, and leather jackets, along with chokers and the infamous berry lip. This particular style can be compared and contrasted to the fashions of Barbie today. For example, Barbie nowadays can be portrayed as a very diverse and culturally accepting doll, ranging from ambiguously ethnic looking dolls to Caucasian looking dolls. These wide variety of dolls have acquired ‘4 body types, 7 skin tones, 22 eye colours, and 24 hairstyles and countless on-trend fashions and

Women and young girls each have many interests, some only appealing to a small minority and some appealing to a large majority of a nation. The most popular trends tend to be reflected in the appearance of Barbie. For instance, Ruth Handler captured the zeitgeist of the 1980s period and portrayed it in the fashions of Barbie. These fashions consisted typically of wild and frizzy hair, heavy makeup, and bold, peculiar outfits that embodied individuality. This fashion statement was initially derived from popular musicians and dances that consisted of these wacky costumes. Despite everyone’s attraction to Prince’s shoulder pads, and Run D.M.C’s dookie chains, over time women’s attention shifted to career interests too. Overtime, as women’s career interests expanded and changed, so too did Barbie’s. With over 150 careers on her resume, Barbie continues to take up occupations that take on culturally relevant and aspirational positions whilst also serving as a role model for young females. For example in the 1980s, Barbie took to the boardroom as CEO, just as women in this period began to spring into Chief Executive Positions. In the 1990s, Barbie also ran for President of the United States of America, prior to any female candidate obtaining a rank onto the presidential