The Mattel Barbie doll came to be in 1959. Barbie was a shapely teenager with a good job as a fashion model and an extensive wardrobe to rival that of all dolls that came before her. The state of Barbie’s modern clothes closet, one representing 62 years of sartorial spoils, is vast, intriguing, and the focus of my most recent preoccupation. As a fashion historian, I’ve been thinking about Barbie’s clothes and contemplating their significance. Do her fashion offerings actually reflect popular culture and mirror the evolving trends seen during the late 20th-century? My investigation into this theme revealed a fascinating and profound narrative resulting in the first American touring Barbie® exhibition and the soon-to-be-released publication Barbie® and the Catwalk, an Icon’s Fashionable History.

I credit the pandemic for the newfound downtime which afforded the opportunity to explore, pursue, and identify direct links between specific fashion designer catwalk presentations, or significant cultural events, and an ensuing Barbie outfit. My curiosity was amplified by the luxury of time and by the realization that my research was novel and could prove impactful to the Barbie-brand legacy.

Barbie’s sartorial canon boasts diverse references to French couturiers, presidential first ladies, and popular musical stars yet, curiously, does not include enthusiasm for the aesthetics of the original punk movement, or the deconstructed and avant-garde themes of the Japanese designers during the 1980s, or even the minimalist themes of the 1990s. I find the style trends that were not embraced by the brand to be just as fascinating as those trends that were accepted and marketed.

Of course, a thorough investigation of Barbie’s fashion is achieved only when the behind-the-scenes artisans of Mattel’s design team are considered. These folks were paid to attend European couture runway shows, to study Vogue magazines, and to analyze street-level trends with the goal of creating up-to-the-minute clothing for Barbie. The collective genius of this team is found in their ability to translate life-size styles and silhouettes into ensembles that are, at once, practical to manufacture and yet still recognizable once adapted into Barbie-scale. These skillful and innovative interpreters were expert at identifying and echoing the popular fashionable trends of any particular era.

Consider the following few fascinating examples that reveal the significance of Barbie’s fashionable history and do plan to visit the new Barbie fashion exhibition in Las Vegas, Nevada. Barbie, A Cultural Icon: 60 Years of Fashion and Inspiration is on view through April 15, 2022 (BarbieExpo.com).

By the early 1960s, most American living rooms were furnished with a television set and the new First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy was well aware of the medium’s influence and power. She strategically hired an American couturier with success in Hollywood to craft her visual identity. Her “Secretary of Style” Oleg Cassini created at least 300 outfits for the first lady between 1961 and 1963 and is credited with developing and defining the iconic Jackie Look.

Her confident and sophisticated style was immediately embraced and emulated by American women. The look was characterized by streamlined and monochromatic silhouettes which were typically devoid of decorative embellishment. Perhaps this was a deliberate gesture; one intended to communicate the seriousness with which she approached her position. Jackie aspired to be more than a decorative element on the arm of her husband and endeavored to serve as a contributing partner in the White House. It’s not surprising that the first lady served as a sartorial role model for Barbie and her designers.

The miniskirt silhouette was a radical departure from the acceptable skirt lengths of the previous decade. The iconic silhouette is now an established symbol of the 1960s and represents the birth of a movement dedicated to the empowerment of women.

As a visual archetype of the era, the miniskirt served to symbolized progressive and youthful innocence while renouncing the establishment’s authority to dictate sartorial norms. This aesthetic theme was identified by various names such as the “little girl look,” “baby doll look,” “urchin look,” or the “school girl look.” Conventional motifs typically used in the design of children’s clothing were the signature style elements of the look.

Various clues point to the “little girl look” in this example (pictured). The playful, floral-print, and mini-length dress coupled with the school-girl knee socks serve to negate the maturity of the wearer. This sartorial trend, intended to symbolize a woman’s agency over personal self-expression, strikes a curious contradiction with the deliberate neutralization of the inherent power realized in adulthood.

Initially, donning a mini-length silhouette was viewed as a counter-culture statement but by the late 1960s the political sting of the miniature garment was diminished. Barbie‘s adoption of the “little girl look” coincided with society’s acclimation to the look as a fashion statement, rather than as a political declaration. This revelation illustrates the brand’s intention to merely reflect rather than to instigate social conversation.

The increase in disposable income seen during the 1980s resulted in a burst of consumerism. This financial boom gave rise to a form of conspicuous consumption known as status dressing. Status dressing blatantly broadcasts that you inhabit the preferable upper class lifestyle of the rich and, or, the famous. By acquiring and wearing the costly work of a couturier, you are outwardly negotiating and expressing your public identity. Your social position, personal degree of disposable income, and taste level are discernible via status dressing.

Barbie crafts and asserts her 1980s-class identity via a series of fashion collections which serve to acknowledge her cultural status. The acquisition of the design work of celebrity-like fashion artisans is an expression of her stratified lifestyle and social position. It will likely come as no surprise that Barbie’s ensemble titled Paris Pretty Fashions style #6558 (pictured) references the work of a French couturier. The spring/summer-1988 collection from Yves Saint Laurent is remembered as a celebration of the splendor and luxury of couture. The designer presented a series of joyous pieces displaying intricate and sophisticated embroidery treatments. A few standouts were inspired by the famous Vincent Van Gogh paintings, namely Sunflowers and Irises.

The bright colors and bold prints seen in these looks serve as an expression of the decade’s excess and loudly proclaim social status in taste and wealth. Barbie’s Paris Pretty evening ensemble imitates the Saint Laurent silhouette, embellishments, and the designer’s runway styling.

Karan Feder is a leading expert in the field of performance costume history, preservation, and exhibition. She is a veteran of the entertainment industry with further professional experience and resources within the museum, attraction, fashion, and marketing fields. Her company Entertainment Exhibitions is a full-service advisory and collection management firm specializing in the care, study, and preservation of performance costumes.

***Karan Feder is pictured at her new exhibition “Barbie: A Cultural Icon: 60 Years of Fashion and Inspiration.” (Courtesy Frank Molnar/Red Rock Lifestyle.)***

Feder is known for her instrumental contributions to the development of the costume & textile collection at the Nevada State Museum-Las Vegas. The unique archive is recognized as one of the most significant museum collections of cabaret costumes in the world. She is credited with spearheading the initiative to save the entire existing costume stock from Las Vegas’ legendary Folies Bergère cabaret show which played at the Hotel Tropicana from 1959-2009.

Feder contributes fashion and costume related expertise to numerous national and international media including film projects, news programs, podcasts, print publications, professional symposiums, and other entertainment programming.

Karan Feder formally served as the Guest Curator of Costume & Textiles at the Nevada State Museum-Las Vegas and is an elected member of the Costume Society of America’s Board of Directors. Feder is a proud member of the prestigious Costume Designers Guild and a voting member of the Television Academy (The Emmys).

Feder is author/co-author of six publications focused on classic entertainment culture and performance costume.

Please visit: www.EntertainmentExhibitions.com