Wall Street Journal explains Barbiecore wear

The Wall Street Journal published an article about what is being called "Barbiecore," bright color-blocked clothing inspired by the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.  It was written by Katharine K. Zarrella and was published in the Aug. 20, 2022, issue.

I have a hard copy of the article (thanks, Barb!) and photographed it in sections.  You can look it up in The Wall Street Journal archives, but since there is a paywall (you have to have a subscription), I decided the easiest way for the public to read it online would be to photograph it in sections.  Look carefully at the photos--they are numbered.  If you click on a photo, it will be enlarged.

1.  The green outfits remind me
of a Clueless Mattel outfit from 1997.

2.  I've darkened the text so I hope you can read it!

3.  The clothing photos are supposed to look
like Barbie clothing in a box.

4.  This is nothing new.
Ken's outfits have always been LOUD!

West Coast Wave Barbie truck visits Kenwood

The 1971, 1979, 1982 and 1984 Malibu Barbies
that I brought with me to the Pop-Up Truck.

The decals with the 1980s logo were free.

Last year's T-shirt was black
and this year's is white. 

The colors on the Pop-Up Truck are beautiful!

Lots of people were taking pictures
of themselves with the Pop-Up Truck.

No, Barbie merchandise isn't cheap!

Notice the Mercedes steering wheel logo
on the front of the van.

The 2022 Barbie Pop-Up Tour Truck came to Kenwood Towne Centre in Cincinnati on Saturday, Aug. 13, parked in front of Arhaus Furniture.  It was a completely different truck from what was driven in 2021.

It was advertised as the Malibu Barbie Pop-Up Truck Tour, but the van itself had "West Coast Wave" on it.  I looked up the vehicle itself; it is a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, and the license plate says, "BARBIER."  I explained to a mother and little daughter attending that Barbie's full name was Barbara Millicent Roberts, hence the "R."

Last year's truck visit was widely publicized and I had to stand in line to get to the van.  This year had almost no advertising and the only reason I knew about it was because my friend Meg in Southern California sent me an article about it!

I took four of my Malibu Barbies with me to show the sellers in the van, and the one guy was thrilled that I brought them.  I brought with me the 1971 SunSet, 1979 Sun Lovin', 1982 SunSational and 1984 Sun Gold, all redressed in outfits from the same year that they were sold.  The logo on the side of the truck was the the curlicue one that was used between 1976 and 1992.

There weren't any items designed for Barbie dolls for sale.  You can see what was sold in the photo I took of the sign.  I bought the T-shirt, which has the 1970s stretchy trim on the sleeves and collar.  I also got two decals.

Here is a link to the tour:  https://shop.mattel.com/pages/barbie-truck-tour

You can ignore these photos

I am placing these two photos here because I am creating links to them for two unrelated topics.  The actual websites don't allow submitted photos, only text.

Picture at Thrifty Treasures
in Frankenmuth, MI.

TV schedule
from The Journal-Gazette
of Fort Wayne, IN, Aug. 10, 2022

Many versions of first Happy Birthday Barbie

The Barbie on the left was my first new doll purchase
as an adult collector in 1983.
The doll on the right, with lighter skin and hair,
probably dates from 1981.

The hair color and styling between the 1983 Happy Birthday Barbie (left)
and the 1981 version (right) varies quite a bit.

The first of the numerous Happy Birthday Barbie was sold in 1981 (box date 1980), and she was also sold in 1982 and 1983.  Her hair, skin color and gift box all varied greatly, but surprisingly, her dress stayed pretty much the same.  However, the skirt's butterfly decals come off easily.

Happy Birthday Barbie, the 1983 version (1982 box date), was the first doll I bought new at the store when I started collecting.  I had been buying loose older ones for at least a year before I broke down and bought myself a new doll.  This later version has tan skin and slightly darker blonde hair.

I recently found a loose Happy Birthday Barbie at an antique mall which I suspect was an earlier version.  She has pink skin, lighter blonde hair and looser curly bangs.  Both dolls were made in the Philippines.  This doll has a rubber band that looks original around part of her ponytail, making a bun.

Her curly bangs are representative of the curly bangs the first Barbie doll had in 1959.

Talking PJ in baby dolls. hence her name

It took me 50-something years to figure this out!  And I'm surprised no one else ever has!

The 1969 Talking PJ came in an orange and pink micro-mini top and pink shorts.  The shorts have a lace hem. It occurred to me the other day that that outfit is not a minidress with shorts underneath.  It's a baby doll top!  And the shorts are pettipants!  This outfit is for bedtime!  This is why her name is "PJ," and of course, "PJs" mean "pajamas."

The talking dolls' legs tend to fall off,
which is why their outfits included
short tight pants to hold them in place.

Items on etsy, July 12, 2022

These are the items I added to or revised on my etsy list in the past few weeks.

1950s clothing for 14 inch doll

This is a revision of an earlier listing.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1077727813/1950s-clothing-accessories-for-14-inch?click_key=dd4b68384d68382756d54e8d18a23b3ef0c9b21b%3A1077727813&click_sum=721b3409&ref=shop_home_active_110

1950s 1960s 3 16-inch doll clothing patterns

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1252971356/3-patterns-16-inch-dolls-1950s-1960s?click_key=7967af3aae694d1d8cb557e21523a48b02a99466%3A1252971356&click_sum=6e8ce641&ref=shop_home_active_2

1964 1965 3 Skipper clothing patterns

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1267124691/3-1960s-9-inch-doll-patterns-skipper?click_key=953d6cf997724e153b4c899a6287ae319e2475ab%3A1267124691&click_sum=d7319211&ref=shop_home_active_1

1969 Skipper Ice Cream N Cake pieces

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1261497045/1969-skipper-1970-ice-cream-n-cake?click_key=203daab3aa79dc899118d1ae9bbe4900791f8f84%3A1261497045&click_sum=8ca77e47&ref=shop_home_active_6

1970 Skipper Sears Very Best Velvet coat

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1247587530/1970-skipper-sears-very-best-velvet?click_key=563a18a28e33e684af1857122329ba69a2ade2f4%3A1247587530&click_sum=83312d35&ref=shop_home_active_5

1970s 2 Cher jumpsuits

This is a revision of an earlier listing

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1261219167/2-jumpsuits-mego-cher-doll-1970s?click_key=d49bc67789535d7a98b37279ea80cde368ce52a5%3A1261219167&click_sum=0e0d6513&ref=shop_home_active_7

1974 Barbie Ken Best Buy pieces

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1247593426/3-1974-barbie-ken-best-buy-pieces?click_key=471e51eb2c2e966e79f93b7b842efc82de53bc6e%3A1247593426&click_sum=ba8840d9&ref=shop_home_active_4

1975 Growing Up Skipper and clothing

This is a revision of an earlier listing

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1004244914/1975-growing-up-skipper-plus-clothing?click_key=43138a73641fca29b2f8623541c25819bfba79ed%3A1004244914&click_sum=d643bb7c&ref=shop_home_active_28

1979 SuperTeen Skipper plus late 70s clothing

This is a revision of an earlier listing

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1248512162/1979-superteen-skipper-plus-1975-1979?click_key=5e965f920daab679984aaa19e6b525aad65c2273%3A1248512162&click_sum=62bb2a38&ref=shop_home_active_3

1981 Happy Birthday Barbie and other pieces

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1240720787/1981-happy-birthday-barbie-2-dresses?click_key=fc5df21c9e6bcb76a1def40688306adab4299735%3A1240720787&click_sum=c5386793&ref=shop_home_active_34

1980s British Barbie magazine different from US version

Barbie Magazine was published in England in the 1980s.
Note that the cover says "fortnight" instead of "bi weekly."

I have purchased one of the 1980s Barbie Magazines that were sold in England and Ireland. It is very different from its counterpart, Barbie The Magazine for Girls, that was sold in the United States at the same time.

The American magazine was printed on enamel paper and consisted of different news articles about celebrities, a comic strip story about Barbie and a short story.  It was published quarterly.

The British magazine was printed on newsprint, has just a few color pages, and is a series of drawn comic strips, one about Barbie and the others just generic stories.  It was published every other week by IPC Magazines Ltd. In London.  The center section was celebrity color photos plus some trivia about them.  For instance, the issue I have features Mel & Kim (Melanie and Kim Appleton).  Cost was 40 pence.

This is a page from the "Forever Faithful" comic strip
Note that Barbie is driving on the right side of the car.