How Mattel screwed up a good brand
My husband and I spent Sunday going through our house, gathering up all the stuff we no longer need and packing it up for Goodwill. Somewhere in the back of an upstairs closet, my husband found some of my stepdaughter's old Barbie dolls.
As would be the case with almost any woman of my generation, there was a moment of temptation, a longing to comb each doll's hair and redress it in something pretty. Then reality set in and I saw Barbie for what she has become: tarted-up trailer trash in cheap synthetic clothing.
It made me sad. And mad. Mad as hell, in fact, that Mattel destroyed what was once a beloved brand.
Unless you're a boomer, you never played with Barbie when she was a stylish, sophisticated, impeccably dressed woman. Her hairdos were smart bobs, pageboys and those bubble cuts that Barbie somehow made look chic. Her clothes were tailored, the seams finished. The Barbie I grew up with wore dresses and heels. And when we stopped playing with her, it was because we were too old and not because she looked tattered, used and ready to turn a few more tricks on the seedy side of town.
When I was young, getting a new Barbie was a big deal. We may have inherited Barbies from relatives (thank you, Dora!) but most of us received only two or three brand-new Barbies in our entire childhoods. Mattel hadn't yet started making that loathesome cheap-o line of Barbies you can get for a few bucks at season's end at the drug store. As a result, today's little girls, even those with miserly parents, still end up with dozens of Barbies. And we all know what happens when a kid gets a lot of anything; the kid gets quickly bored and wants something else.
I've no doubt that recreating the quality of vintage Barbie clothes would be cost-prohibitive in today's world, but why did Mattel change Barbie's clothing style from fashion-forward glamor to toddler-iffic neon and stretch nylon? Watch a little girl dress a Barbie today. She tugs and pulls so hard on the clothing you can hear the threads ripping. And why should she bother to take care with Barbie's clothes? They're cheap. And they're plentiful. What was I just saying about children's attitude toward abundance?
Then there's the hair. The combing and styling of Barbie's hair was one of the most enjoyable ways to kill an hour when I was a child. So Mattel went and gave all Barbies the same ankle-length hair. I can understand why they thought that would make Barbie more fun. What I can't understand is why they didn't quickly realize that freakishly long doll hair is perpetually unkempt hair, making today's Barbie look a mess 24/7.
Mattel took away everything that was special and magical about the Barbie doll and turned it into just another of the ratty toys that sit discarded and forgotten at the bottom of a box in the back of a closet.
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If I've made you sad, too, allow me to make it up to you. Here are a few paintings by Judy Ragagli, an artist known for her amazing oil paintings of Barbies from 1959 - 1971. All but the first image are available for purchase at Picasso Mio. Enjoy.
