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March 11, 2009

Barbie and Karen Walker

Barbie turns fifty this year, and New Zealand fashion designer, Karen Walker was asked to design some outfits for Barbie’s special celebration. To date around seventy designers have designed special outfits for Barbie’s exotic shape. Karen Walker downsized some of her designs for next season especially for Barbie. Here’s a link to an interview with Karen Walker about the designs. I thought it was interesting that Karen’s very first design was a circular skirt for Barbie and this started Karen on her designer career. (some of you might enjoy the Kiwi accents in the video interview)

Hubby and I watched the news headlines about Barbie. I said to hubby that I’d never owned a Barbie. My doll was called Suzie and my sister cut her hair. Suzie looked bald in the front by the time my sister had finished. You can probably imagine the resulting war in our house that day! Hubby asked if I’d like him to buy me a Barbie. I told him a Barbie might come in handy but I’d need a Ken as well. Maybe two Kens since I’m writing some kinky stuff these days. Some erotic romance writers use their Barbies or children’s Barbie dolls to work out their love scenes. Hubby was aghast. Surely not? It was really funny, and we had a long, very interesting discussion about Barbie and Ken. It’s probably best if I end my blog post right there…

Did you own a Barbie doll? Do your children? And for all the erotic romance writers out there–have you used Barbies or Action figures for help in working out love scenes?

17 Comments

  1. Jenyfer Matthews

    By the time I inherited my sister’s Barbies, many of them were missing limbs :)

    My own daughter had a small collection for a while until it was apparent that they were just collecting dust. We gave them to a friend of hers that did like them – along with a convertible Mustang.

    I think that the yoga Barbie would be pretty appropriate for your purposes – she’s very flexible :)

  2. Jory Strong

    I owned a few of them, not because I wanted them but because people gave them to me thinking all little girls were into dolls (I was into animals, stuffed and real). Looking back on it, it was great foreshadowing that one day I’d grow up to write erotic romances. Barbie was always getting naked with GI Joe (not Ken!!!)

  3. Voronda

    I love Barbie although my daughter is a bratzs girl. My sister is a Officer in the Navy and on year I sent her a Barbie that sat on her desk until she retired dressed in a Naval uniform. Barbie is not the reason I went to college but she did peak my interest at one poin in being a doctor. Although I am not a MD when I got my PHd friends send me a barbie.

  4. Roberta Harwell

    I have 2 boys, so, no they don’t play with Barbies. I was an only child and to be honest I didn’t like Barbie. I would rather have a book, and that is still what I prefer to this day. Have a great day.

  5. Jennifer Shirk

    I owned Barbies–plural.
    “Superstar”, “Malibu”, “Beauty Secrets”, “Skipper”, “Ken”, etc.. Barbie’s waistline was unrealistic but her hip size was sure accurate. It was such a pain to pull her pants up over them. LOL!

    My daughter has a few Barbies but plays with the Disney Princess “Barbies” more.

  6. Shelley Munro

    Jenyfer – Yoga Barbie. I didn’t know they had one of those.

    Jory – I was more into books and animals although I had the one doll. We used to fight over our construction set and build all sorts of things.
    Hubby and I discussed Action figures as well. :grin:

  7. Shelley Munro

    Voronda – Barbie has some pretty awesome outfits. I bet she looked great in uniform.

    Roberta – we always had a lot of books. My brother, sister and I are all huge readers still. I remember we could all recite the nursery rhyme book. I don’t think I could do it now.

  8. Shelley Munro

    Jennifer – The designer did make a comment about Barbie’s measurements and how they’d had to make special alterations to fit the clothes.

  9. Amy W.

    Okay yes. I played with Barbies. My sister and I had a ton of them that we dressed and did their hair. I actually taught myself to french braid hair on my Malibu Sipper doll. I have all the barbie Fairytopia dolls in their boxes on a shelf along with the DC comic book heroine ones, in boxes as well.

    Barbie was always getting it on with my brother’s old GI Joes and Ken. The little hussy was all about the PDA.

    Emma has a few Barbies now, one she takes to the pool named Ester, but/ nthey’re mostly naked as she undresses them and then can’t figure out how to dress them again. Her Barbie box lo

    I just got the new catalog in the mail and was considering the re-release of the Barbie and the Rockers for the 50th anniversary, my sister had one and I was so jealous, Emma stole the book from me.
    :sad:

  10. Amy W.

    Sorry I had Emma attack the key board there. It was supposed to say:
    Her Barbie box looked like an all girl orgy. LOL!

  11. Lucinda

    I did own a Barbie. I got one for Christmas back in 1966. She came with packets of hair dye so I could dye her hair red and then back to blonde. One of my little cousins poured my hair dye down the sink, and I was stuck with a redheaded Barbie doll. I wished I had kept her, because I saw one just like her on sale with the original box and accessories for $500.

  12. Pat Cochran

    I’m a 72 y/o grandmother of 10 and yes, I
    do own a Barbie doll. My Barbie is not
    dressed as a Barbie usually is – she is
    clothed in a Houston Rockets outfit! She is
    part of my Rockets fan display!

    Both my daughters and all four of my sweet
    granddaughters have all owned or do own
    Barbies. The youngest granddaughters (aka the “baby girls”) have a storage box full of clothed, semi-clothed, and totally
    unclothed Barbies. Besides lacking clothes,
    some of these dolls also lack various body
    parts! LOL

    Pat Cochran

  13. Fedora

    LOL, Shelley! I had only one Barbie–it was a hand-me-down, and was shorn of any long locks. I spent a lot of time making little kerchiefs and hats and other hair coverings for her. My daughter is starting to be interested in Barbie now, but I haven’t broken down and gotten her one yet–we’ll see! ;p And huh about using Ken and Barbie dolls to work things out–but they don’t have actual uh… equipment, right? Or am I missing something? :blush:

  14. Shelley Munro

    Amy W – Barbie is going so strong that I think a 50th anniversary doll would be a great investment. I’ve noticed a lot of kids have naked Barbies. I’d wondered about that. I didn’t realize the clothes were difficult to take off and put back on.

    Lucinda – your cousins sound like my brother and sister. They used to do terrible things to my doll and her clothes while I was at school.

    Pat – I take it the Rockets are a sports team of some sort??? I’ve often thought of buying a doll so I have a physical muse – maybe one in a pretty fairy costume, but my muse tends to be a male so that makes things more difficult in that area!

    Fedora – LOL. It’s not so much the equipment. It’s more the limbs and positions. Sometimes I write things and when I go back I realize a body can’t do what I have it doing. If you have two or more dolls it’s a bit easier to think a love scene through. :mrgreen:

  15. Shelley Munro

    Thinking about dolls and things has made me remember how my mother used to sew and knit dolls clothes. I had this tiny set of drawers stuffed full of clothes for my doll. She was larger and easier to dress. When I learned to knit the first thing I made, after a scarf, was dolls clothes. I think I still have some knitting patterns somewhere.

  16. Shelley Munro

    Fedora – you know the more I think about it the more I think someone is missing a marketing opportunity. They could market a line of bendy dolls especially for authors who write erotic romance. I’d definitely purchase some bendy dolls. I must check out the Yoga Barbie that Jenyfer suggested.

  17. Christina Phillips

    Have you seen the Barbie at 50 YouTube?! :eek: