Obsession Revisited: Barbie
I’d actually forgotten about my obsession with Barbie until this week. Despite 
my best efforts, neither of my daughters was ever much of a “girly girl” when it came to play time. House was okay. Anything in the play kitchen was cool. But paperdolls? No way! Baby dolls? Eh. Barbie dolls? Sigh, do we have to? Seriously!! That’s the gist of our doll adventures.  To date, despite a case of Barbie dolls and a house that was somehow relegated to the ‘animal house’ (no, not the kind with Bluto and Neidermeyer), my youngest daughter has shown no interest in her Barbies.
Until yesterday. Okay, maybe it was her playdate with her best friend this weekend that sparked the interest, but I didn’t know about it until yesterday. Suddenly, she’s all about playing with Barbie. Clothes, shoes, hair styles. OMG I’m in heaven. Last night she had to tell me that we had to 
quit playing because it was bedtime.
Today, as soon as we finished school, we hit the toy store. Barbie needed a shopping trip!!! Oooooh, the clothes. The accessories. The cute, cute stuff. I’d forgotten how fun it all was. I remember being so Barbie obessesed as a kid, every week I spent my allowance on a new Barbie outfit. My favorite holiday gift of all time? The year my grandma filled one of those double sided Barbie cases with handmade clothes. Filled!!!! Holy cow, just remembering it makes me giddy.
Seriously, I credit Barbie with my being a writer today. It was all those romance I made up between her and Ken (and sometimes 
her and my brother’s Frankenstein, cuz, yanno, thats the only other male doll we had) that got me hooked on making up stories. Well, that and she has seriously awesome shoes. Which made me want to make up more stories so she could change outfits and wear more cute shoes.
So really, even as a kid, it was all about the shoes.
How about you? Were you a Barbie girl? Do you have a fab Barbie memory?
Absolutely! I played Barbies almost exclusively! I had the mansion, the cars and at least 30 Barbies, all named. I loved Barbie!!! We’re about to have our first baby – a little girl – and I’m praying she’ll love Barbies as much as I did!
What a great post!
Jerrica, I hope your daughter loves Barbies too!!! Do you still have your dolls to pass on to her?
I loved Barbie. I still have them. I have three totes full of Barbies and accessories. I even have my mom’s Barbies from when she was little. The best memory I have is playing Barbies with my brother. Yes I got him to play with me. Well I did after he stopped popping off their heads and stripping them naked lol His GI Joes came to play with Barbie as well.
ROFL Nicole. What a great brother. Well, once he stopped beheading your dolls.
That is so awesome that you still have yours. I wish I had mine, still. I remember selling them all to a neighbor girl.
I loved Barbie. She went on dates with GI Joe (brother’s doll). She would be trapped in the jungle with the natives surrounding her, then Joe would charge in, guns blazing and save the day and Barbie. I very much had the whole “damsel in distress” thing going on.
LOL Jill – you definitely rocked that early Damsel In Distress vibe. Are you using it in your writing still?
Have you seen the pictures of the Barbie flagship for Mattel in Shanghai? It’s fab: http://glammed.blogspot.com/2009/11/i-want-to-go-to-there.html
WOW!!! Talk about impressive!
Yeah I was into Barbie, I still have mine, but they are in very rough shape. They where played with a lot and are very old. I think they are dated late 50′s and early 60′s. I had Barbie, Ken, Midge, and Skipper.
Oooohy, Skipper. I miss Skipper. I wish they still had a tween doll, that was always a fun age to dress. Less, well, chestiness to contend with in dragging those clothes on.
That is so awesome that you still have your dolls, rough shape or not
My friends had Barbies but I was outgrowing dolls altogether before Barbie came on the scene. Even without the age thing, I was more the tomboy type. My dolls would all get their clothes changed once a week then put back on the top bunk until the next weekend. I would then go outside to play in the dirt. My daughter, (though being a good mommy I did try to interest her in dolls) was more of the tom boyish type as well.
I LOVED playing with Barbie! I remember one year I got a grocery bag full of clothes. LOVE! I had the camper and the airplane, and LONGED for the mansion. I had Ken, Barbie, Skipper, and someone else.