Barbie Through the Years

No doubt about it, Barbie dolls have taken the world by storm. Every second, a Barbie doll is being sold somewhere in the world, catapulting it into a billion dollar success with business interests that range from the dolls, to movie cds, to computer games, to clothes to shoes and other fashion accessories.

It is said that if all the barbies that have been sold in the market since 1959 are to be placed one over the other from the head to the toe, the dolls would have circled the earth not just once or twice but seven times.

It may seem such a great idea now but at that time when it came out in the market, toy critics were pretty skeptical with it. The doll is an innovation. Never before had they seen a doll that is so small and yet so sophisticated. Compared to the dolls that came out that year, the Barbie doll seems to be too complicated for a kid.

Still, Ruth Handler pushed on with her invention, launching a TV campaign that caught the imagination of little girls worldwide. It was not long before the Barbie doll became a bestseller. The idea of creating a Barbie started when Ruth saw her daughter playing with paper dolls and paper clothes.

She then thought, why not make a three-dimensional toy that little girls can actually play with and dress up? Why not make a teenaged doll which little girls can look up to? She researched the market and found that there are no manufacturers of dolls like the one she is imagining. She then created the doll through her company, which she founded with her husband Elliot Handler.

The very first doll that came out is a teenage fashion model, clad in a black and white striped bathing suit. She had long hair tied in swirled ponytails. Through the years, Barbie dolls adapted the current fashion of that decade, sometimes even blazing in her own fashion trends. She even wore couturier creations and designer clothes, not only from the United Stated but also from around the world. In fact, in 1960, she began wearing outfits like the Gay Parisienne™ and the Easter Parade, which are both gotten from the famous fashion houses of France.

Barbie became the image of American girls, copying the styles of famous fashion icons like Jackie Onassis. One of the most popular look that Barbie set is the American Girl, who has a chin-length Dutch-boy hairstyle.