Out of the 70s two of Barbie most well known dolls from that time are Superstar Barbie and Malibu Barbie. Following the trend of extreme tanning of the 70s, Malibu Barbie was introduced in 1971. Her hair was down, long, and blonde, her skin was tanned, and she wore a one-piece light cyan bathing suit. This was the beginning of Barbie’s eyes shifting from the side to looking straight on.
Probably the biggest problem with Barbie was the lack of diversity. I mean the first Barbie doll literally only had two different hair color options, let alone different skin color options. Mattel in 1966 released Francie, she was a teen instead of a young woman like Barbie, and her outfits also reflected the very popular and very bright Mod style of the mid to late 60s. She was white like Barbie, but a year later in 1967 they released a ‘Black Francie’, she looked the same as the White Francie but had darker skin (obviously) and brown hair, Francie however made no black facial features. She was discontinued a year later, but that same year in 1968 Barbie’s friend Christie was released. Christie had her own face sculpt that incorporated black features in it. (Francie on the left, and Christie on the right)
Six flags roller coaster ride- BATMAN
One of the things Barbie is most known for is her many careers. Almost every year since her inception Barbie has taken on a new career, delving into some of the traditionally male-dominated fields. Within a few years of her debut (the early 60s), she has been to the moon (became an astronaut in 1965) which was 4 years before Apollo 11 landed on the moon, she’s been a ballerina (1961), a fashion designer (1960), a student teacher (1965), a nurse (1961), and flight attendant (1961).
Barbie in 1961 finally met her boyfriend Ken. Along with a boyfriend Barbie got a brand swimsuit in 1962, a red one piece with a matching pair of red mule heels, and a couple of friends, Midge and Allan.
Reproduction Enchanted Evening Barbie (Left). Reproduction Solo in the Spotlight Barbie(Right)
Barbie originally was always sold in her iconic bathing suit, with the idea that you’d only buy that one doll and then buy a bunch of different fashion packets to dress her up with. Some of her most well-known outfits from this time (early 60s) include Solo in the Spotlight, Enchanted Evening, and Friday Nite Date. Solo in the Spotlight and Enchanted Evening were so popular that they both got reproduction dolls in the 90s.
Margot Robbie as Barbie (in the original Barbie outfit) in the teaser trailer for the Barbie Movie
The first ever Barbie was released on March 9, 1959. She wore a black and white striped swimsuit, black mule heels, gold hoop earrings, white cat eye sunglasses, and her hair in her signature high ponytail. She was available in blonde and brunette. Barbie was unique to most dolls, at the time when most were babies (baby dolls), Barbie was depicted as a young woman. Barbies creator, Ruth Handler, wanted to prove that a doll modeled after an adult woman would sell, while on a trip in Europe she found a doll being sold, Bild Lilli, the Lilli doll based on the german comic strip character of the same name from Bild newspaper (which looked very similar to the first Barbie doll). Which originally was just a novelty gift for adult fans of the comic, overtime became extremely popular with children. She brought one and redesigned it, creating Barbie.
