I had lots of dolls when I was a kid, and Barbie was one of them. I remember that I got a Superstar Barbie in a pink dress with a frilly pink boa. She had BENT ARMS, which was quite a big deal! I guess Superstar Barbie was released in 1977, so I would’ve been eight years old.
A few days after I got Superstar Barbie, a friend came to visit with her new puppy. Well, of course, the puppy got ahold of Superstar Barbie and chewed off one of her beautiful bent arms! Oh yes, I cried for my poor Barbie. And yet…I didn’t ask for a new one. If I’d asked, I know my parents would have gotten one for me. Instead, I took her out climbing on the rocks behind our house, took her swimming in our pool, and generally gave her a rough-and-tumble life! Her dress was soon in tatters, so my mom helped me sew some new ones – basically fabric tubes!
Then I received another doll – a boyfriend for Barbie. But it wasn’t Ken. It was Suntan Eric! He had specially coated arms and legs that would turn slightly tan in the sun. Another great feature was his moveable hands!
I took Superstar Barbie and Suntan Eric out climbing on the rocks, and ooops…I dropped Suntan Eric quite a distance. Both of his moveable hands broke off!
So I had a Superstar Barbie with one arm and a Suntan Eric with no hands, and I happily played with them for several years until I was “too grown up for dolls.”
Now I’m in my fifties, and I’m back to playing with dolls!
I got a $5 Barbie at Family Dollar and made her a pink checked dress!
And then I made her a couple more dresses. They were so easy to make; I couldn’t resist!
Here are a couple of Barbie-related things I found this week:
- I thoroughly enjoyed this video: Design Expert Breaks Down Barbie Dreamhouse Evolution (1962-Now) | Architectural Digest. I never had a Barbie Dreamhouse as a child. I don’t even think it was something I particularly wanted or even knew about. Yet, this video was so interesting and fun to watch!
- I found this tutorial by Lisa Bardot called Draw a Barbie-Inspired Swimming Pool in Procreate. I had so much fun following along that I decided to join Lisa’s Art Maker’s Club!
I’m still lurking around in the new Threads app, which gives users the ability to block certain words so they won’t see posts containing them. Someone announced that they blocked the word Barbie! That made me laugh out loud! There has been A LOT of Barbie hype lately because of the new Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie.
Are you going to see the Barbie movie? I don’t know if I’ll get a chance, as it’s difficult for me to get to a movie theater. I’m sure I’ll see it when it reruns on TV in a few years!
Hi Michelle, Me again… I forgot to add that I loved seeing the rocks you climbed on! Looks like New Hampshire to me! I have always love a good rocky landscape! 🙂
Hi Betsy! The rocks were a perfect playground! My friends and I had so much fun climbing all over them in my neighborhood.
Hi Michelle! I love your Barbie dresses! I remember that style of dress! My sister and I each had a Barbie, I got the blonde ponytail with the zebra swimsuit, she got the black beehive with the scarlet opera coat…. I still have some accessories (the sunglasses!) and pieces of the coat we cut up to make our trolls some clothes! My brother was fond of beheading the Barbies… much to our annoyance (the whole point, of course!). I’m not sure if I’ll get to the movie either…! I love that your dolls were just as fun when “imperfect”. Kids are so imaginative! 🙂
Thank you, Betsy! You made me laugh at the thought of your brother beheading your Barbies! I don’t have a brother, so I missed out on that! It’s so fun that you still have the sunglasses!
Wow. The things I have forgotten. I remember the creative hair cuts the various dolls received. This was a very good blog. You were redesigning Barbie long before the current redesign.
Thanks, Dad! Those were fun times!
Quickly surfacing from moving chaos! I love both dresses but I think I like the gingham dress the best. You sound like you would have been super fun to play Barbies with as a kid! SUNTAN KEN. LOLOLOLOL. That is such a 70s thing. I remember people using baby oil to tan with. Ah, youth.
Thank you, Nicole! I appreciate you stopping by even in the middle of unpacking! I know…I shudder to think of the baby oil fad in the 1970s!
I thoroughly enjoyed this post. You and I had the same Barbie dolls, I think. I remember the smell when my friends and I opened the Barbie case where we kept our Barbie clothes and shoes. This post triggered an enduring memory for me.❤️
My daughters are going to see the Barbie movie on Sunday, and I’m excited to hear their reactions.
I love the Barbie dresses you made! So adorable!!
Thank you, Kari! Isn’t it funny how a smell can trigger a memory? I’m glad it was a good memory for you! Now that you mention it, I think I had a pink Barbie case too, although I don’t remember any particular smell from it.
Hello Michelle! I remember loving Barbies when I was a girl. It seems it was their hair that took the biggest beating from my play. I love that you enjoyed your dolls even after they had suffered some “bumps and bruises.”
Hi Christie! Thank you for stopping by! Oh yes, Barbie hair could really get matted, couldn’t it? In fact, the new $5 Barbie I got has strangely textured hair. Of course, a Bargain Barbie might not be the best quality.
The dresses are awesome! She seems more like a “Maryanne” than a “Ginger” to me, too! And my Barbie back in the day loved GI Joe, his fuzzy beard, his Kung Fu Grip and especially his accessories! They were much more realistic. As for seeing the movie… I’m open but passive.
Thank you so much, Jodi! GI Joe sounds much better than Ken, or Suntan Eric for that matter! I mean….accessories count for a lot, don’t they?! 🤣
We’re barbie mad in my house at the moment with the movie about to be released so this post has epic timing Michelle! Suntan Eric is a new one on me, who knew? If they made him now he’d have to come with a bottle of factor 50 sun lotion. Loving the homemade barbie dresses!
Thank you so much, Rae! You’re right about the sun lotion! 🤣The 1970s were a time of serious suntanning, and thankfully that’s not the case anymore. I hope your family has fun with all the Barbie festivities!