Memories of Barbie

Here are the only images I could dig up of my early experiences with Barbies. This was in the 1970's and I only had one doll, but I was so thrilled to get a ten-speed bike for her and a horse one Christmas.

I've recently seen the original yellow ten-speed on eBay and I would have loved to have bought it....you know....for nostalgic purposes. Unfortunately, the Barbie I had didn't have bendable legs, so it was hard for her to sit on the horse. My sister was the one who had the Malibu Barbie who's legs were bendable.

BUT after searching the internet, I discovered that THIS was the doll I had. She's classified as a "Foreign" Barbie because she wasn't available in the States. She's officially a Malibu "Steffie". Wow, this one is selling for $195....I should have hung on to mine. Oh well.



I really loved that horse though.
Just look at that roomy corral that came with him! I think I ended up using the fence parts for hurdles for him to jump over.

The Barbie Runway Show

What kind of a Barbie enthusiast am I? I'd been virtually unaware of the Barbie Runway Show until today! It happened 2 weeks ago! Luckily, some nice people posted it on YouTube so I got to see it anyway. These were my favorites:

This dress was designed by a newer designer called "Three As Four":


I unfortunately couldn't find the name of this designer, but I thought it was cute and babydoll-ish and I LOVE the hat!


This pink corset-dress apparently weighed 25 lbs on its own! It was designed by "The Blonds".

This zebra striped outfit, inspired of course by the original Barbie doll's famous bathing suit, was made by "Patricia Field":

I love this sweater dress! I want to make a little one for one of my dolls. Its designer is "Twinkle":

These last two are gorgeous....and I believe "Tommy Hilfiger" was responsible for this 20's flapper meets Blade Runner creation. The clear cape is great!

Now, I shouldn't have been surprised, but this glittering extravaganza is the work of none other than "Bob Mackie". I should have known. I want to see Barbies available in all these outfits!

Before And After

Here is a neglected Barbie doll that I got at a thrift shop. She was dirty and had messed up hair. But she had beautiful green eyes....so I "rescued" her.

I used the hair detangling method linked in my sidebar, (Barbie Hair Rescue) using a high quality hair conditioner. I coaxed the tangles out of her hair and ended up with only this small amount pulled out. An inexpensive comb like this works fine.... just use the larger teeth.

I washed her body with liquid dish soap...which made her legs feel a bit sticky until they'd fully dried. Then I stood her up in a glass so her hair would dry while hanging straight. I gently patted her dry with a towel first to get rid of the excess water. I let her dry overnight.

Now she has a lovely one-of-a-kind crocheted dress and matching beaded handbag.
Her gold shoes were a very lucky find at a toy store. YES! You can still get packages of Barbie accessories that include a few pairs of shoes if you just look around. The pack I bought cost about $4.


I felt simplicity was best, so I kept her hair straight. It turned out to be very silky. The sparkles in the dress added enough glam.