Me Me Me

I read a rather bizarre story this weekend about a designer who makes jewelry from bits and pieces of Barbie dolls. Like, earrings formed from Barbie hands. Or necklaces that have Barbie eyes and lips worked into the design. I have been pondering this and don’t quite know what to make of it. 

I owned the original 1959 Barbie, with a ponytail, striped swimsuit and cat-eye glasses. Lord, I wish I had that doll now; I could probably take a nice vacation from the proceeds. Sadly, I have NONE of my Barbies, and believe me, in the 60s I had every possible permutation. Barbie and Ken, Midge and Allan, Skipper and Scooter. Bubble-headed Barbies. Kens with fuzzy and vinyl “hair.” The Barbie Dream House. The Barbie Mystery Date board game, in which the loser was stuck going to the prom with Poindexter. A bevy of shiny leatherette carrying cases for Barbie’s clothing.

Oh, the clothing! None of that velcro junk my daughter had during her circa-1990 Barbie-loving period. The original Barbie clothes had snaps and hooks and didn’t look cheap. Each outfit came with a brochure that showed all the other outfits, the better to form a wish list for future acquisitions.

These days, girls are done with Barbie by first grade. (Luckily, my adorable daughter missed the age of Bratz, the hooker dolls. Barbie looks like Eleanor Roosevelt compared to those.) But back in the day, we were still playing with Barbie at age 10. I swear, it’s true! An innocent time indeed: cookies after school, a little homework, Barbie fun, and soon it was time for The Beverly Hillbillies or Bewitched. No Gossip Girl, in which we’re supposed to believe that Chuck Bass will start running the family corporation at 18 — if he can control his taste for hos and cocaine long enough to assume his birthright. (Okay, I buy it, because Chuck is played by the divine Ed Westwick.)

Alas, it’s a different era in every way, and I’m relieved not to have a 2009-era 10-year-old whining for Juicy Couture rather than Limited Too. Fortunately, my adorable daughter WILL be able to haul out her (extensive) Barbie collection to share with her little one someday. Her dolls and clothes are carefully folded away, ready for Granny Kathy to participate in planning Barbie and Ken’s wedding with the next generation.

Tags: Barbie, Gossip Girl

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 27th, 2009 at 2:18 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.