Iconic Barbie Fashion

I am working on another outfit that is not ready to be written up. I have to finish knitting a sweater and am working on it. This post is about this month's Sewing With Cinnamon. The topic is about the Iconic Styles of Barbie.

I never had a Barbie but our daughter had two. She still has them. I sewed outfits for them and my mother knit and crocheted outfits for them. Our daughter still has one of the dolls and the outfits my mother made for her. The sewn ones were so well used they ended up being disposed of. 

When this month's topic was announced, I cringed as I don't like Barbie's outfits on 18" dolls. You are mixing 2 different age groups. I also thought of pink, pink, pink. Yes, I had a negative outlook to this topic. I was surprised when Cinnamon showed pictures of outfits from the 1960's. She talked about the influence and inspiration of the outfits. I was lukewarm when looking at the video as fabrics and patterns shown were for adults not children. 

This week the topic moved towards details and designs. My interest was caught as Cinnamon showed how she looked for patterns that were more age appropriate for child like bodies the 18" dolls have. This is what really caught my interest on the blog post. 

I had pulled a pattern out that looked similar to this idea.

McCalls 7583 which is out of print but available in pdf on the website. 

I like what I saw in a couple of other outfits that would be easy to make using patterns from Pixie Faire. There were some of the glamorous outfits that Barbie wore that didn't interest me but others would love them. 

My thoughts were buzzing and I thought of Skipper, Barbie's little sister. I did a search and found this web page. I clicked on the link to read about Skipper's outfits. I decided to look at the Flower Girl Outfit. It is a yellow sleeveless cotton dress with a lace overlay. There is a flower headband, white flower bouquet, socks, gloves and shoes. 

This would be a very easy dress to make and one could use the dress from McCalls 7583. 

Add lace over the skirt and bows on the shoulders. The accessories would be easy to make. 

Barbie has her own version of this dress. 

I like Skipper's dress for the 18" dolls though Barbie's could be made. 

I would love to make the blouse and capris outfit for sure and may make the bridesmaid's dress if I have lace on hand. 

A picture of the outfits on dolls. 

I am enjoying the Skipper outfits more than Barbie's but it is neat to see how they took Barbie's outfit and made it age appropriate for Skipper and, in the end, for 18" dolls. 

I am sure now that I have dug into this topic further, I may end up making a few outfits for the dolls to wear. 

Happy Doll Sewing.......................................................................