Silken Flame

Vintage Barbie illustrations, built environment, clones and more

  • Welcome!

    Thanks for swinging by my vintage Barbie fan site, where you’ll find articles on Barbie’s built environment, Barbie illustrations, vintage rival and clone dolls and playsets, and miscellaneous musings/deep dives. What are you looking for?

    Color illustrations of Barbie and Midge from little Mattel fashion booklets that came with the dolls. Shown are: Sheath Sensation, Red Flare, Dinner at Eight, Sweater Girl, Career Girl, Movie Date, and Senior Prom.

    Vintage Barbie Illustrations

    Plus the illustration “sidebars,” short entries on niche topics:

    Barbie Family Deluxe House exterior bearing illustration showing a yellow brick house with two pairs of doors: arched, louvered red doors with rectangular shutters to either side, and arched glass doors. Skipper, Tutti and cat cavort on a brick path leading to the red doors. Through the glass doors walks Barbie, holding a tray of drinks, onto a fieldstone pation on which Francie sits at a white circular table with umbrella and two wrought iron chairs. Greenery surrounds them. A dog sits close to Francie in the extreme foreground.

    Barbie’s Built Environment

    3 shots of doll penthouses. L: color catalog image with caption reading "Here's Tressy's modern penthouse apartment." C: Jamie stands inside her "Party Penthouse" case. R: Photograph from the front of Tuesday Taylor's pentouse packaging shows Tuesday seated inside her structure.

    Articles relating to clones, rivals, and off-brand Barbie-style products

    Four images of Sixties Sparkles nostalgic Black Barbie wearing: her original swimsuit; reproduction of the red swimsuit worn by vintage bubble cut and swirl ponytail Barbies; white pak playsuit; and the 12 Days of Christmas (2022) Belle dress).

    Miscellaneous Musings and Deep Dives

    There’s still more to come, but before you scroll off into the distance, here’s the first image ever posted to this blog back in 2022: some of my dolls, dressed in vintage or vintage reproduction, in front of vintage Disneyland backgrounds belonging to Bill Cotter:

    Four vintage or reproduction dolls in front of 1950s-1960s photographs of Disneyland. Counterclockwise from top left, vintage Walking Jamie in Studio Tour crosses in front of Tomorrowland, with the Clock of the World, Monsanto Hall of Chemistry, and Douglas rocket visible. Next, reproduction My Favorite 1981 Black Barbie in vintage Red Flare in front of Fantasyland, with the Matterhorn, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and the Sky Buckets visible. Third, vintage bubble cut Barbie in Crisp 'n' Cool stands in front of the Monorail and Autopia sign in Tomorrowland. Finally, reproduction blonde Stacey from the Nite Lightning set, wearing the Matinee Fashion dress from the reproduction 1965 My Favorite American Girl set, along with short white gloves and gold dimpled clutch.
    , , ,
    , , , , , ,
  • Fashions that weren’t (1959-1970)
    Row of 8 figures from the illustrations decorating Barbie's early packaging. Two figures each model four looks: A dark brunette ponytail Barbie wears a red-and-white-striped, strapless bathing suit. The stripes are vertical in the back; in the front they converge toward her waist forming chevron Vs above the waist and inverted below. In one image she wears a red flower in her hair. Her feet are bare. Lighter brownette ponytail Barbie wears a sleeveless teal sheath dress with white piping and buttons. In one image the dress is covered by a hip-length, loose-fitting white jacket with elbow-length sleeves, which hangs open except right at the bottom. With its collar with pointed lapels, it looks a bit like the Winter Holiday coat but lacking a tie belt and with shorter sleeve. She wears closed-toed heels in the color of her dress. Blonde pontwail Barbie wears an orange, drop-waisted chemise with tie back at waist. She wears closed-toed heels in the color of her dress, and in one image it appears she has a matching hair tie. One blonde ponytail and one brunette with hair worn long wear a pair of ballerina outfits, strapless with tutus and toe shoes, the first in white and the second in salmon pink. The second also wears a matching headband festooned with flowers and ribbons. All have peach skin color. Along the bottom, text reads TEEN AGE FASHION MODEL Barbie (R). Toward the left, overlapping two figures, is a red circular sunburst seal shape that reads MATTEL, INC. TOYMAKERS.

    Barbie’s early clothing designs, with their period detail and high-fashion perspective, never fail to fascinate. Buried within the illustrations and other ephemera that we browse here are a smattering of alternate-reality Barbie fashions that never quite made it to production or perhaps were never slated for production at all. Almost all that we’ll review here have been featured previously in other posts on this blog; today just felt like time for a roundup.

    Two boxed dolls with nostalgic face molds and retro styling. At left, a brunette ponytail wears the red striped swimsuit with red flower in her hair and red open-toed shoes. Also contained in her box are the white-trimmed teal sheath, white jacket, white sunglasses, white envelope clutch, a compact, a handkerchief, teal open-toed shoes, a camera, a peg stand, a pink ponytail booklet, and other miscellany. At right, blonde ponytail Barbie wears the chemise in salmon with same-color open-toed shoes, a matching crescent or pillbox hat with bow, and two strands of white beads. Also in her box are white sunglasses, a Barbie hatbox in white and salmon, a peg stand, and more.
    via Apple Tree Auctions.

    We led off with a collage of sketches from the box in which some of the first Barbies were retailed. While the box art included many of the iconic, original 1959 ensembles, like Gay Parisienne, Evening Splendour, and Easter Parade, about four of the depicted sets weren’t offered. We include the Ballerina fashion in this list because that ensemble didn’t hit the streets ’til 1961, and the box art seems uncertain of the outfits’ eventual color palette and styling. Three others went unproduced until becoming convention exclusives in 2009, shown above. One, a red-striped, strapless bathing suit, I conjecture morphed into Barbie’s well-known black-and-white striped suit. The alignment of the fabric to form a chevron pattern is reminiscent, and a second such swimsuit in the earliest slate of fashions would have been beyond repetitive. Regarding the teal sheath with baggy jacket, if I’m right in thinking it’s got some nautical flavor, it may have been supplanted by Cruise Stripes/Roman Holiday, which are absent from the box art. (An aside: I think Mattel designer Robert Best tried to recreate this bizarre parka-and-pencil-skirt combo during his Project Runway season. The judges weren’t having any of it.)

    The disappearance of the peachy-colored, drop-waisted chemise, on the other hand, may have quite a different explanation: when the ’20s-style silhouette was revived and updated by the French couture in 1957 it was widely lauded, but its subsequent decline and fall was so sharp that fashion designer and fit-and-flare aficionado Anne Fogarty delivered a postmortem just two years later in Wife Dressing (1959), claiming the easy-wearing garment’s popularity was quashed by dismayed husbands who required their wives’ curves to be always on display. The following year Eve Merriam devoted a full chapter of Fig Leaf (1960) to the sack dress phenomenon, attributing its fall from favor to overhype and oversaturation. Whatever the reason, by Barbie’s 1959 debut the chemise had met its demise. (It was really just ahead of its time, as the shift dress was integral to Swinging London and the Youthquake felt ’round the world.)

    Before moving on, it would be irresponsible of me not to point out that the box illustrations show closed-toed shoes almost exclusively. (The image atop this post teases but a sampling.)

    1959’s Commuter Set is also not included on the retail box art, but it was depicted on some of the Ponytail carrying cases with (c) date of 1961, after Commuter Set had already been retired. Below left, we see the fashion booklet rendering of Commuter Set alongside a matching image from a carrying case.

    Row of four color illustrations of ponytail Barbies. At left, booklet sketch of blonde ponytail wearing the 1959 Commuter Set fashion: navy suit with cropped blue jacket and pencil skirt, white blouse, short white gloves, two longish strands of white beads, red feathered crescent hat, red hatbox held in the left hand, and black open-toed shoe. Next, an illustration from a carrying case of the same outfit on the same figure. Main differences are in the colors, with dark ponytail, green suit, yellow hat and beads, black hat box, and black closed-toed shoes. Next, a second carrying case illustration. Barbie is more in profile with head lowered and both hands holding the hatbox; the suit's skirt is full and the shoes open-toed. Barbie is blonde. Her hat is gone and she wears a green box in her ponytail. Right, booklet sketch of brown-haired Barbie in a short, frilly, yellow nightgown or negligee in the same pose as the second carrying case doll. Her hair bow is the same but in light blue. Her nightgown billows behind her similarly to the last figure's skirt. Her hands are clasped before her with no hat box. She wears light blue mules. Floating next to her are matching shorts, a diary and an apple.
    1961 carrying case graphics via eBayers Maries resale and mezquitecoins.

    Other carrying cases, as above-near-right, instead show a similar fashion but with full skirt and a pose that seems based on that used for Sweet Dreams in the booklet (above right). I imaginatively dubbed this the Carrying Case Fashion in an earlier post. Was it a planned Barbie ensemble? Unless Commuter Set infringed on someone’s copyright or something, which seems impossible, I see no other reason to have swapped its illustration out. The fact that the new fashion evidently doesn’t have its own pose, though, might argue that this offering was never planned. We may never know for certain.

    Two color photographs showing the same dressed doll, once from the side and once from 1/4 turned away. 1990s reproduction Titian ponytail Barbie faces somewhat to her left with her head turned facing toward the camera in both shots. She wears a teal suit with 3/4 length sleeves and knee-length A-line skirt; underneath is a pink top with white pola dots. She also wears pearl earrings and necklace, teal open-toed shoes, and short white gloves. In her hands she holds the strap of a light blue circular plastic hat box with the Barbie signature logo in white. Gold fabric is draped behind her.
    Officially, Barbie may not have had a full-skirted suit like the Carrying Case Fashion; a cut and sew ensemble stands in.

    Barbie’s paper doll sets were full of fashions both real and imagined. In my review of the pre-1966 paper dolls, I pointed out an interesting After Five variant, below left, in a set that otherwise showed real, produced Barbie fashions. Could this adjusted style have been conceived and considered for the real fashion? It’s worth pointing out that BillyBoy* noted the compelling similarity between the official After Five and a Dior design that has no sheer overskirt and which may have inspired After Five exactly as manufactured.

    Left, a bubblecut Barbie paper doll with light brown hair wears the fashion After Five, including its white picture hat and black open-toed shoes, except the full skirt of the original outfit is replaced by a narrow skirt with full, sheer overskirt, both black. Right, the same paper doll fashion sits loose among a number of others, including American Airlines, Cruise Stripes, Plantation Belle, Evening Splendour, Movie Date, Sheath Sentation, Let's Dance, Silken Flame, Garden Party, and the black cocktail dress mentioned in the text, a sheath silhouette with bow just below the bust and short, slightly bouffant sleeves. I don't know if I can really discern this from the hand-drawn paper doll fashion but it looks to me like it may have a velvety texture.
    Left, the questionable After Five overlaid on a paper doll of the same vintage. Right, many of the set’s fashions via Reminisce Toy Company on eBay. Most are known, but I also don’t recognize that bow-fronted black cocktail dress.

    Another paper-doll-based possible variant arose for Midge, among mostly real and accurate ensembles, when Sorority Meeting was rendered in baby blue. However, there are so many, many paper doll sets that include no actual Barbie ensembles, or a clear mixture of the real and fantastic. It’s possible that no paper doll set ever teased an unproduced Mattel design, either considered and changed or considered and discarded; these may simply be flights of fancy.

    The first advertisements for Barbie’s celebrity friend Julia, appearing in fashion booklets dated 1968, didn’t show her in her nurse’s uniform, nor in the later Mattel fashions for Julia, but instead in this unknown, sparkly pink dress.

    Color catalog scan advertising Julia. Text reads: NEW! DIAHANN CARROLL as Julia; Meet America's newest TV star and Barbie's newest entertainment friend; Enchanting personality exactly like the star of the smash-hit situation comedy show; Twist 'n turn waist! Bendable legs, real eyelashes too. Be sure to watch "JULIA," brought to you by Mattel every week on NBC-TV! Juliar wears all Barbie's clothing. #1127. A color photograph shows the Julia doll wearing a pink dress with a bit of fit-and-flare, ending just above the knee, coated in silver glitter or some silver sheen, sleeveless with a scoop neckline trimmed in silver. She wears pink closed-toed shoes.

    Unlike carrying case and paper doll fashions, this design certainly did exist as a prototype doll outfit since we have its photograph. It may share some DNA with the dress from Velvet Venture, always stunning on Julia and Christie. However, that dress is more salmon and gold than bubblegum and silver, and its high neckline has but the narrowest metallic trim.

    Color photograph. 1960s Julia doll with very oxidized and rather puffy pixie haircut wears the salmon-and-gold minidress from Velvet Venture, which has an A-line shape and a thin strip of goldtrim at the neck. Shewears acid-green hose and bright green, square-toed shoes. On a teal-colored mannequin beside her is the Velvet Venture jacket, also acid green, in a velvety material, the same length as the dress, long-sleeved with gold braid trim at the wrists and outlining the cream-colored lapels. At the waist are two gold seed beads connected by short gold chain. The background is light blue with a dark teal floor beneath them.
    Julia’s mystery dress, evolved?

    Next up is a cool new-to-the-blog fashion that wasn’t, from a mod-era carrying case dated 1968. The photo below shows Barbie doll in a fan-made version of the dress drawn for the accompanying case. Theriault’s recently auctioned off the doll and its casespiration as a lot.

    Red-haired TNT Barbie stands in front of a pink mod Barbie carrying case. On the carrying case, a character is depicted wearing a black-trimmed, blue babydoll dress with wide bell sleeves and black tights. The doll in the picture is wearing the same dress with black tights and boots. The dress has a homemade appearance.
    source: Theriault’s

    Of all the fashions herein, this is the one I’ve suspected most strongly was never planned for production. The below collage shows other carrying cases and case rooms, all from 1968, all in the same art style, all with fabricated fashions…

    Images from three mod World of Barbie and Barbie and Stacey cases, each with two figures: Stacey with low ponytail and Barbie with hair worn long with bangs and a little bow at top. The figures wear a variety of minidresses and miniskirts with wide skirts, bellowing sleeves, colorful tights, wide collars, and decorative trimmings. One Stacey, in the top right, wares a green skirt, green jacket with pink ruffle trim, pink top, tights, and hair bow.
    Case details via various eBay sellers.

    …with the glaring exception of Fancy Dancy, worn by Stacey in the top right image. That ensemble’s presence raises a big cloud of uncertainty around all the rest. The date of these cases coincides with a time when Barbie was getting a major fashion overhaul, so it may be that the illustrations do represent early design concepts.

    What about this Jamie case room from 1970, illustrated in a totally different style? Jamie’s clearly wearing her genuine attire, while Barbie is wearing… nothing I recognize. A planned fashion or the illustrator’s creative license?

    Two characters illustrated on a case in a flat, graphical style. Both have peach skin color and white-blond hair. The character at right wears Jamie's original outfit: Yellow minidress with pink, orange and red checks, orange belt and boots, pink hair scarf. Character at right has curls bound at the nape of her neck, wears a purple button-up shirt, pink flared trousers, yellow mary jane shoes, a black belt with red flowers. Text reads "BARBIE'S Best Friend Jamie Studio Apartment and Carry Case."

    About half the time when I think I’ve spotted a fashion-that-wasn’t on a carrying case, in a catalog, etc., it turns out to be a real Mattel fashion shown without a coat or other outer layer, or else just something I couldn’t place; this design in particular seems like one I could have overlooked. Any leads?

    Before we finish up, here’s one semi-fashion-that-wasn’t for Francie, from the 1966 Montgomery Ward Christmas catalog:

    Color catalog excerpt: Francie wears Swingin' Skimmy, a long-sleeved shift in red with yellow standup collar, yellow hood, red stockings, red flats, and blue trim around the neck and down the front center. This version also has the trim running down the front of each stocking and running down the sleeve. There is also a closeup on Francie in her red-and-white, polka-dot-and-checks two-piece swimsuit.
    via christmas.musetechnical.com

    Yes, Swingin’ Skimmy did and does exist, but for some reason the one photographed for this catalog–perhaps the only place to see it advertised for the US market, since it was a store exclusive–shows added trim, like that running down the front of the shift, also adorning the stockings and sleeves.

    Is this a prototype, or could someone have restyled the doll for catalog photography? (If so, why!?) In Japan Swingin’ Skimmy was not a store exclusive and is accurately represented in the ’67 Japanese fashion booklets. Furthermore, Joe Blitman, via Miller’s Magazine, has shown a production sample with differently-colored trim, but without any extra trimming. On that topic…

    Today we’ve focused on designs that were customer-facing, on packaging, advertising, and licensed products, but didn’t see the light of day as realized Barbie clothing for whatever reason. The overall subject of unproduced designs is much richer than just these few examples: collectors have unearthed many over the years. The book Barbie in Japan by Keiko Kimura Shibano includes factory samples that were retailed in that market, while Sarah Sink Eames’ guides show heaps of samples made by Mattel’s designers that subsequently underwent changes or were scrapped completely. More have popped up in magazines like Miller’s, at auction, and in various other places. Carol Spencer’s book even shows the sample costumes she made for her Mattel job interview, which apparently were never considered for production (such a shame!).

    Four books/magazines lie open on a tile floor. The top book's pages are dominated by big color photos of Barbie dolls, including bubble cut and side part American GIrls, in pink and red gowns. These include Enchanted Evening in a darker berry color, Midnight Blue in red, and some that aren't recognizable from US market fashions. Middle row is two magazine spreads. One page shows Barbie in a white ballcown with flower applique bodice and orange or red sash belt; one is a Bermuda shorts outfit with white shorts, a sleeveless blouse in half white, half orange, and a wild straw hat with silly-looknig fish ornament, as well as Midge in a fit-and-flare dress, white, with handkerchief square bottom hem and red or orange underskirt; and the second magazine displays five images of Francie or Casey, in each one the doll wears a known fashion in its known color scheme and then one or two other dolls are dressed in color variants, including Swingin' Skimmy with white trim and Silver Cage with a black "cage." Finally, a book open to show two American Girls--one a side part--in pink knee-length dresses that were never marketed in the US; the other page shows fashions lying flat, including swimsuits and shift dresses, and one Maginificence that looks like the produced gown but has a production sample tag.
    Top to bottom: A mix of sample costumes, variants, and Japan exclusives photographed for Barbie in Japan; Miller’s Magazine features on Barbie samples (L) and Francie’s, including the Swingin’ Skimmy color variation sans extra trim; and an array of sample costumes catalogued in Sarah Sink Eames’ first book.

    Where to next? This post is the most recent of our miscellaneous musings. The top post in this category is the one about shoes, also linked above. Other top posts are one on fashion booklets and some from the Many Abodes of Barbie series. Or swing by the table of contents to choose from other options.

    ,
    , , , , , , , ,
  • Seventies furniture and rooms
    Collage of elements from Mattel 70s rooms and furniture: A grandfather clock illustrated on a wall with blue striped wallpaper behind it; foour drawers or cabinets in plasti furniture in pink, yellow, greena dn blue; and another wall screening of a blue chest of drawers topped by a pitcher of flowers in front of yellow-striped wallpaper also holding a Tiffany lamp, framed butterfly, and hexagonal frame with maybe in illustration of flowers inside.

    The “built environment” component of this blog, one of the major drivers of its creation, is drawing to a close: this may be our last survey of Barbie’s environs, ever. At the end of the Many Abodes of Barbie series, in the entry on 1970, we announced that we’d never visit the A-Frame or Townhome; their lore is just too extensive. We did see assorted Seventies Barbie destinations in the Travelogue, including covering Barbie-sized dolls’ plumbing revolution during that decade. But before we close the book on Barbie Homes and Gardens, let’s take a moment to review some of the exciting changes that came to Barbie’s environment, that weren’t quite a house nor quite a destination.

    Rooms for Lively Living (1970)

    We touched on Barbie’s first Seventies “rooms” in the Many Abodes of Barbie finale. They are breathtakingly rare, so there’s not much more to say about them today. A Lively Livin’Room was sold on eBay a few years ago, as we shared in the earlier post.

    Living room walls and floor: the carpet is pretty psychedelic, with blue and green swirls. Other furnishings are more staid, such as a grandfather clock, a landscape painting, and a television in a heavy wooden cabinet. The space is dominated by a white brick fireplace. Outside, the house is red brick up to a couple feet, then yellow boards; a window has green shutters and blue-and-white curtains within.
    1970 Barbie Lively Livin’Room interior walls and floor (L) and exterior (R). Source: wonderwoman13 on eBay.

    As we noted at that time, the three rooms were originally offered for sale alongside the Lively Livin’ House, but they have their own design. The structures are simplicity itself: two walls and a floor, with a little variety added by making some elements dimensional: a dresser in the bedroom, the kitchen sink, and the living room fireplace pop out of the wall into the space. The physical furniture is limted: the bedroom included a lightweight plastic bed form with a coverlet, while the kitchen had a table and two chairs that were pretty typical for the era (similar pieces occurred in the Lively Livin’ home). The bedroom also offered a clothing rod and hangers that attached to the screened-on wardrobe. Other elements, like frying pans and flower vases, could be punched out of the cardboard packaging, guaranteeing hours of fun. The walls were printed on two sides, showing the room interior as well as the building exterior.

    Two paper/chipboard walls with furniture illustrated on. Left, marbled pink wallpaper, a silver reflective mirror, chest of drawers, freestanding wardeobe (but still an illustration), pendant lights and an oval piece of framed art that I think looks like a penguin but probably isn't; right, green kitchen vabinets and appliances, brick wall with tile splashguard, floral print inset on the fronts of all the cabinet doors, and a window over the sink looking out on countryside.

    Excerpted from Marl Davidson’s book on Barbie Structures and Furniture, above are the interior walls of the bedroom (L) and kitchen, both quite restrained in style compared to the Lively Livin’ House. What did their exteriors look like? (I suspect that these sets, or pieces from them, do surface from time to time but go unidentified as so little information about them is available. Maybe the above borrowed images will help as people reverse image search their finds.)

    Room-fulls (1975)

    In contrast to the Rooms for Lively Livin’, the Room-fulls spread far and wide and are not too hard to track down today. Their contents were also a bit more interesting: they had color, and style, and calico and gingham and patchwork quilting, as was the fashion at the time.

    A warm, handsome room consisting of a back wall of vari-colored brick with a graphical heart painting, an orb wall sconce, Malm-type fireplace, screened-on credenza topped by flowers, vases, and green throw pillow. In the foreground is a brickish brown couch topped by denim pillows, a stuffed orange chair with no arms, and a round circular table in the same plastic as the couch. One end of the couch is free of cushions to make a size table on which a little potted tree rests. This scene is set atop a wood-textured surface which isn't part of the Mattel set but adds to the warmth.
    So what if those are denim couch cushions? The Firelight Living Room, via motown-girl on eBay, is loaded with appeal.
    L: Bedroom set: wall with blue drawers, large widnows with stained glass panels decorating the top, wall decorations as descibed in the leading image plus a poster of a pennyfarthing bicycle, clock, and telephone; narrow bed or daybed in colorful patchwork; yellow flowered pillows; yellow stuffed chair with no armrests; freestanding cabinet with record player; calico stuffed elephant. Right: Kitchen wall with yellow cabinets and blue tile splashguard, range hood over the dishwasher backed by bricks; freestanding oven/range, mushroom-shaped stools with paisley seat covers; mushroom-shaped table with white base and blue top; placemat, white cups, blue plates, some red utensils hanging on a mountable rack that lies on the floor.
    The Studio Bedroom (via Isetta88) and Country Kitchen, shown here sans paisley table cloth via fue-4145, also have fine qualities–particularly those elaborate details on the bedroom wall.

    We talked about a fourth planned Room-full, the shower, in an earlier post. Evidence indicates that this final set was never produced.

    Dream Furniture (1979)

    Although we cover the A-Frame only in passing, its gorgeous furniture deserves a nod. There has been nothing like it, before or since. The original A-Frame was not the pink structure many know from the 80s; it was released before Barbie had fully boarded the pink train, and its furniture, sold separately, reflects the transition of Barbie’s environs from kid-appropriate realism to full toyishness in the following years. For the original Dream Furniture a spectrum of hues were used, all in gorgeous two-tone color schemes.

    Product image from Dream Furniture packaging. On a pink background, blonde Superstar Barbie sits on a blobular sofa striped in white, green, and pink diagonals. A similar chair sits of one side. An end talbe and coffee table in green plastic have mirrored tops. To one side is a desk in molded light green plastic with dark green accents, along with a molded plastic green stool with the same diagonal stripe for a seat cover. The molded plastic curves instead of having abrupt corners.
    product packaging via aeb1 on eBay.
    Product image from Dream Furniture packagibg. Blonde Superstar Barbie and matching Skipper sit at a plastic dining table with clear blue surface. The table is laden with pink-and-white dishes and cookware and yellow cloth napkins. The Eames-style chairs have a funky geometric print in blue, white, and yellow covering the molded seats. Nearby sits a dining room hutch in light blue molded plastic with white draws are translucent blue doors.
    via grandpasdrawers 😐
    Pieces of Dream Furniture sit next ot their boxes. Left is a stove and microwave combo in yellow plastic with white cooktoop and translucent orange doors; right is a light pink vanity with dark pink drawers and mirror frame, blue cosmetics containers and whatnot (non-functioning), and two-tone pink stool or what the packaging calls a hassock. The packaging features photographs of blonde Superstar Barbie using/showing off the furniture.
    Kitchen appliance and bedroom vanity via grandpasdrawers and Vintage_Toys_And_Treasures.

    Okay, so there was always a bit of pink in the mix, demonstrated by some pieces above. By ’83 this furniture would ALL be pink.

    Puff ‘n’ Play furniture

    These inflatable furniture sets were not Mattel but are often identified as such, sometimes even advertised as Dream House or Town Home furniture–probably because they were so popular and can be found along with the houses in decent condition. (Incredibly, some of these pieces still stay inflated.) If it’s a Seventies aesthetic you seek, you could certainly do worse.

    Two color catalog images featuring inflatable furniture. Left, sofa, chair, side tables/stools, and double bed in black-and-white, leopard print in the living room and graphical flowers for the bedroom pieces, all with white trim. Malibu PJ sits on the sofa. At right, colorful sofa, chair, ottoman and side table in psychedelic floral prints on yellow and pink. Live Action Barbie, PJ and Ken occupy the space.
    via Christmas.musetechnical.com, Puff ‘N’ Play sets in the ’71 JC Penney Christmas catalog (R) and ’75 Montgomery Ward.

    At the height of the festivities in 1977, JC Penney offered three “houses,” each consisting of one room full of inflatable furniture.

    Color catalog listing for three one-room "houses" with yellow walls and brown roofs. One room overflows with green-and-orange floral-y couches, chairs, and coffee table; one has a circular table with stools in white, yellow, and brown with an inflatable oven/sink combo; and one in a floral-patterned bed, chair, and stool with an inflatable chest of drawers (non-functioning). Blonde Barbie sit in chairs in two of the rooms. Some of the text reads: "Puff 'N' Play Doll House, Individual rooms can be set together, $9.67 each room, SAVE $1.50 when you buy two." "Modular Dollhouse with Collapsible Vinyl Walls And Inflatable Furniture. For dolls from 8 1/2 to 12 1/4 in. tall. Each room is 20x21x17 in. high when assembled. Walls are decorated with "windows", furniture and homey touches, Vinyl covered cardboard. Dolls shown not included."
    ’77 JC Penney catalog via WishbookWeb.

    These sets were available throughout the decade, at least from ’71-’79 and probably beyond. The patterns were ever-changing, so there’s sure to be a set to suit almost any ’70s interior.

    Color catalog entries for two more Puff 'N' Play sets in green and white with flower prints. Top is an armless loveseat, an s-shaped chair pair, an ottoman, and a checkerboard/table; below is a sofa and chair with white-topped coffee table and TV on the floor. Test identifies these as "Puff 'N' Play Den and TV Room Sets." The text IDs the armless loveseat as a "sleeper" so maybe it folds out, the S-shaped chair pair as a loveseat, the ottoman as a "floor cushion." They are each $2.97.
    ’79 Sears Wishbook, again via WishbookWeb.

    Kitchens by Martin Fuchs

    Since we covered a different Martin Fuchs room on a previous outing, let’s pause to appreciate the kitchens. Imported from West Germany, in the US they were sold as Montgomery Ward exclusives. A variety of colorways were offered and can be found in the wild today. The following images all come from Christmas.musetechnical.com, our trusted source for Montgomery Ward catalog scans.

    Color catalog entry. Talking Barbie, with Christie, PJ, and Ken stand in front of one wall of a kitchen in white with woodgrain cabinet doors. Dishes are arrayed around them on the floor. A quote, "I love being a fashion model," hovers near Barbie. "Barbie home and fashion" is printed in one corner. The kitchen is $7.88.
    From the 1971 Montgomerty Ward Christmas catalog

    We hit the ground running with this Steel Kitchen in 1971; by ’72 the kitchen was folding, and “a great place for the young set to congregate.”

    A larger kitchen that folds open from a carrying case, mostly in red; the wings opening out add area for storage and surfaces. The food is no longer on the floor. Folding-Kitchen $8.99.
    1972

    Throughout the decade, Fuchs offered kitchen makeovers for Barbie almost yearly–the suburban dream in 1960, perhaps just a bit passe by the ’70s.

    By ’74 we’re growing facial hair in a “Big new kitchen” with “Florentine design” on its walls. It no longer folds.

    Color catalog, Quick-Curl Barbie, Francie, and Kelley with Mod Hair Ken stand before another one-wall kitchen. This one has no unifying color theme, with a red back wall, light wood look cabinets with darker brown doors, and white appliances rendered on either side. Prices have gone up: "Big new Kitchen $12.66"
    1974

    In ’75, below left, “the kitchen is where teens gather,” and by ’76 it’s clear Barbie is matching her fashion to her kitchen decor.

    Two more one-wall kitchens, reduced in size from previous offerings. They are the same shape as one another with a floating cabinet and range hood, a printed backdrop, white counter with range and sink over cabines and drawers in the same color as the top cabinet. Left the color is reddish brown, right is teal woodgrain with white trim. Both are modeled by Quick Curl Barbie, at left in her rustic pink dress and at right in a floorlength teal dress with flounce and white crochet shawl.
    1975-76

    ’77’s set, while restrained, could really make the right colorful cookware pop.

    Black-and-white or black-and-cream version of the kitchen for about $12. The counter is black, the backdorp is white wood paneling, and the cabines and drawers are white with black trim. For once, Barbie is not shown; the doll looks like a Maddie Mod or similar, with dark skin, long straight dark hair, and a denim tunic and flared slacks.
    1977

    Sears Kitchens (1979)

    Finally, we’ll toss in this Tabletop Kitchen Center from 1979, advertised in the Sears Wishbook alongside some of the uglier Puff ‘n’ Play furniture.

    Color catalog image showing most of one page. Blonde Superstar Barbie sits on a tulip chair with white base and avocado green seat, at a circular table with a second chair both in matching style. In the background is one wall of a kitchen, full of white cabinets, two ovens in a dark color, and a dishwasher and two-door refrigerator whose doors match the avocado color. There is a checked splashguard in a neutral tone and yellow dishes stacked next to a double sink. A child's hand reaches into frame to open the dishwasher. In inset panes are one Puff n Play set of vlue-and-white checked couch, chairs, and coffee table, and a yellow-and-borwn inflatable bed (it looks like a pool float) and vanity and stool. There is considerable text: "Your Fashion Dolls will love to invite friends in for morning coffee or evening snacks and entertain in this complete Kitchen Center." "(13) Tabletop Kitchen Center. For 11 to 12 1/2-in dolls. Cabinets open and close, knobs turn. Faucet swivels. Double-basin sink. 33 play utensils and dishes. 20 play food packages. Dinette table is 7 1/2-in diam., 6 in. high. 2 chairs, each 7 in. high... $18.99" "( 14 and 15) Puff 'N Play Bedroom, Living Room sets. (14) sofa, 2 sport chairs, coffee table. (15) char, play waterbed, pillow, vanity. Vinyl. Inflatable (except pillow). For dolls up to 12 in. tall." They are listed at $2.97 apiece.
    1979 Sears Wishbook via WishbookWeb

    This set may have been manufactured by Wolverine–it’s at least highly similar to one with an orange/brown/cream color scheme sold under Wolverine’s Sunny Suzy label. In the advertised avocado shade shown here, these appliances and the tulip table and chairs make a worthy addition to your midcentury Barbie home.

    But be wary of this more-common, less-stylish Sears kitchen which is also dated 1979, with its lawn-appropriate chairs and diminished fridge.

    Packaging for Action Kitchen Center as described in the text. The kitchen wall component is smaller, with the dishwasher beneath the sink and a half-sized fridge adjacent; all the appliances and counters are the same sandy pink, while the splash guard and table surface are bolder pink-and-white checks. The chairs are white molded plastic with four legs and armrests like you find outdoors. There is totally unacceptable pink-and-white tiger-striped flooring. Malibu Barbie sits at the table. Text says "Ages 4 to 10, Sears, Action Kitchen Center, Unassembled - No tools required," plus some mostly undiscernable small text including "play vegetables."
    Product packaging via crown_point_toys on eBay.

    This particular example was marked $7.99 retail, compared to the advertised price of $18.99 for the avocado green set; a satisfactory explanation for the relative commonness of this wallet-friendly offering.

    Where to next? This is our most recent post on Barbie’s built environment, possibly forever! Important 70s-room addenda are found in the entries on the Karousel Kitchen, bathrooms, and carrying cases. Way back in the ’60s, rooms and furniture also included the Deluxe Reading Dream Kitchen, Go-Together sets and Susy Goose furniture. You can always head up to the Table of Contents to check out other options.

    ,
    , , , , , , , , ,
  • Visions of Midge
    Color illustration of three Midge characters with flip hairstyles standing in a row; L-R they are brunette, blonde, and ginger, and wear Enchanted Evening, a slim, strapless evening gown in frosty pink with train, white fur-like stole, and opera-length white gloves; red flare, a tent-shaped, knee-length red coat with puff sleeves, short standaway collar with bow trim, matching red pillbox hat, and elbow-length white gloves; and Senior Prom, a strapless, full-skirted gown in green with blue trim and sheer blue overskirt plus short white gloves.
    Midges adorning a 1963 Whitman paper doll set
    Glossy color prohotgraph of characters occupying the Fashion Shop play set. Dark-haired Ken, at left, wears a black tuxedo. Brunette bubble cut Barbie, center, wears Sophisticated Lady, a pink ballgown with tiara and red evening coat. Midge, beside her, wears Senior Prom again. In the background, on the play set's stage, blonde bubble cut Barbie models Dinner at Eight.
    At the Fashion Shop’s grand opening in a 1963 Montgomery Ward catalog (via christmas.musetechnical.com).
    Two panels showing color illustrations from the little booklets that came with Barbie dolls. Left, on an orange background, is a very simplistic rendering on brunette Midge in a two-piece swimsuit colored pink and orange, holding on hand to her chin and raising one in the air with a flourish. Text says New! Midge, Barbie's Best Friend, #860, along with smaller, blue text that can't be read at this resolution over the bold orange scribbled background. Behind Midge is a line drawing of a boy in swim trunks sitting under a beach umbrella, and in an inset is a drawing of blonde Midge's floating head. At right, on a white background is a more detailed drawing of ginger Midge and blonde bubble cut Barbie, thier heads leaning close, hands touching, and bodies angled away from each other, wearing pak knit separates. Midge wears the yellow knit top with rainbow striped skirt and sash belt, and holds the white glasses with blue lenses in one hand, while Barbie wears the rainbow dress with fringe collar and holds a gold enevelope clutch. Text says "Baribe and Midge mix 'm match fashion paks; color coordinated separates for Barbie and Midge! Designed for you to create versatile style combinations for any occasion. Each Fashion Pak includes individual hanger for costumes."
    Midge introduced in the 1962-dated Barbie, Ken and Midge booklets
    Magazine page showing black and white drawing collaged onto green background. A caption reads "Hi! I'm Midge and I'm so happy to meet you!" In the drawing, Midge with chin-length flip wears Cotton Casual, an hourglass-shaped knee-length striped dress with bow details on the front, and stand waving next to a room divider screen. Stuck all over the screen are simple little sketches of Barbie (longer blond hair) and Midge, usually dressed in matching ensembles, doing various activities: wearing striped tops and slim slacks in front of a bicycle; posing in formal gowns; wearing jackets and waving a penant; etc. A pajame top and slakcs also hang on two hangers on the screen. Down the side of the screen, additional text reads, "What fun getting to know Barbie's friends! I've jusr arrived in town, but I feel as if I've know Barbie all my life. As you can see by the snapshots on these pages, we're already fast friends. Sometimes we like to look like twins, so we'll dress alike (although you can always temm me by the freckles on my nose). Other times, we show up in completely different costumes -- after all, you don't want to be a carbon-copy all the time, even of your best friend. You'll be seeing me with Barbie all the time from now on, and I'm looking forward to being your friend, too!
    Precious little inset “photos” in Midge’s 1963 Barbie Magazine debut, via jcschneider06 on ebay
    Color photograph of a vintage paper doll photo for Barbie, Ken and Midge Paper Dolls ("Clothes Ready to Punch Out - No Scissors Necerssary"; "52 Costumes and Accessories"). Illustrated on the folder are the three characters (blonde ponytail Barbie, blond Ken and your usual ginger Midge) in their swimwear and holding garments before them--but the garments, though same-size as the lifelike characters, are the paper versions with tabs sticking out. An aside, I absolutely love the surreal conceit of this illustration, although its execution here is kinda milquetoast. Anyway, lying atop the folder is the actual Midge paper doll "dressed" in one of the fashions: A black sheath with sheer, loose top and large pink flower on the shoulder. It's not based on an actual Mattel ensemble--the fashions in this set weren't, though those in the illustrations on the folder are all real. The paper doll's pose is with body angled slightly toward the viewer's right, with head turned to our left looking over she shoulder. She has her spray of frecklers and a mild half smile. I digitally darkened the background folder to let the paper doll stand out in this photograph, hence "stealing the spotlight" in the caption.
    Stealing the spotlight in ’63
    Interior of a different paper doll folder that was just for Midge. The two Midge paper dolls have not been cut out, so the whole forms a nice illustration. Blonde and ginger Midge stand to either side of a dresser, each with one hand on hip, leaning inward. At left, blonde Midge wears a two piece swimsuit in two shared of blue and blue closed-toe shoes. At right, the second Midge has been digitally "dressed" in one of the set's fashions, which is Sorority Meeting but in a church-y powder blue. The ensemble consists of a sheath with knit vest trimmed in white, plus matching brimless hat. The figure's shoes are red as those coordinate with the bathing suit beneath. Between them, the dresser is white with gold trim; a colorful rug runner sits before it; along the dresser top are a vase of flowers, some little perfume and cosmetics bottles; and a b/w photo of (probably) Allan. Also overlaid is a little accssory from the set: a pair of white gloves and powder blue envelope clutch. Rounding out the scene are a pendant light, a gold-framed mirror, some hearts affixed to a ribbon, and two framed pictures of what looks like flowers along the wall. The background is shaded in pink and red.
    from a solo Whitman paper doll outing, also 1963.
    Two coloring book pages. Left is a line drawing of Midge sitting cross-legged on a bed, wearing slippers and a full-skirted day dress with a little bow at the neckline. A long curtain hangs in back. Midge's head is tilted to sone side, a slightly dreamy look on her face. Bottom caption reads "I'm Glad You're Here, Barbie." At right, a second line drawing labeled "Midge Chooses This One" showing the same curtain at back and Midge in a fit-and flare dress, sleeveless, with sweetheart neckline and wide band waist. With one had she holds the skirt out to demonstrate its fullness. An unknown artist has colored the dress purple, the curtain red, and Midge's hair brown.
    Whitman coloring book of the same year
    Pair of color illustrations from fashion booklets, these both show Midge in Orange Blossom: strapless yellow knee-length sheath with lace fit-and-flare overdress, plus hat or hair ornament of bow with short veil. At left, from the first Barbie, Ken and Midge booklets, a very simple kinda pointy rendering. Midge has dark hair, alabaster skin, short white gloves, on an orange background. Right, on an acid green background, a more detqailed illustration from a later "Exclusive Fashions" booklet, Midge hs red hair and gloves over the elbow. Both have one foot extended forward with toe pointed to emphasize the slimness of the sheath. Both carry a bouquet and each has her body pointed slightly outward, away from one another, while the ginger Midge's head is turned to look in profile toward her earlier iteration. Ginger Midge wears the veil over her eyes.
    Elegant in Orange Blossom in booklets dated ’62 and ’63
    Three panels. Left, ginger Midge paper doll from a Little Theater themes set. She wears strapless shapewear in teal that laces up the hips. Center, line drawing froma coloring book shows Midge wearing a short slip dress with tattered hemline, waving her arms. Caption says "Sadie Hawkins Day." Right is color (maybe colorized or airbrushed) catalog entry showing Midge with tightly curled flip, wearing a two-piece swimsuit with bright green top and red bottom (a combo that was not offered, but maybe the yellow didn't come out), standing before a beach scene.
    Boudoir to beach, ’64, ’64 and ’63.
    Color photograph. Vintage Midge wirth red flip hair on a doll stand, wears Movie Date fit-and-flare, blue-and-white striped dress with sheet overskirt, pearl necklace, short white gloves, and white open-toed shoes. In the backgorund is a black vinyl doll carrying case with an illustration of Midge wearing exactly the same thing sans necklace. A larger Midge head floats at her shoulder and a trail of sparkles dashes across the background.
    ’64 case with doll to match via kase-5974 on ebay.
    Color photo from a catalog shows Midge (ginger) and Barbie (dark bubble cut) standing in a snowy scene with bare trees, evergreens, and a bit of house in the distance. Midge wears a gently flared brown coat with fur collar and matching hat, while Barbie wears Red Flare and carries a matching red velvet envelope clutch. Both wear open-toed shoes: Midge's in white and Barbie's in red, while standing on a snow-look surface. Besides the second-hand pain I feel for their toes, the whole is a surprisingly tranquil scene.
    ’64 Sears catalog via Wishbook Web. Look at those open-toed shoes in the snow!
    Two panels from one booklet debuting the "posable" bend-leg dolls. At left, on a white background, brunette Midge models #1637 Outdoor Life: a blue-and-white checked jacket, white slacks, and white flat-heeled shoes, alond with a white knit cap. Truthfully, the main thing that distinguishes Midge from American Gril (bobbed-hair) Barbie in this catalog is Midge's ubiquitous headband which is covered here, but I did some close comparisons with definite Midges of her sweet face and sideswept bangs to declare this a Midge. Second panel, on acid green backdrop, ginger Midge in two piece pink and red bathing suit and red open-toed heels stands beside new posable Midge, who is seated in her one-piece rainbow-striped, belted swimsuit, with white open-toed heels, white headband, rather bouffant blonde short-cropped hair. The image is labeled Barbie's Best Friend (TM) Midge (R). Note: To dress dolls, slip clothes up over feet and hips.
    The booklets’ style evolved over time; see more Midge-y examples here.
    Two copies of a Midge paper doll who is a dead ringer for the Little Theater Midge paper doll, only facing the opposite direction. One is "dressed" a white sheath with black trim, wide black belt, black polka dots--one of the Sew-Free fashions--and carrying a black hatbox. The other is "dressed" in a white fit-and-flare dress with colorful butterfly print, pink trim, pink buttons down the bodice; she's surrounded by a light green suitcase that very matchy with her prink, and a brown suitcase covered in travel stickers. (Note: I added these accessories from the paper doll set to the scene, so match-y or non-matchy is my doing.) While these fashions are up-to-date, Midge herself is not. To the right, a second panel shows the cover of this set: in pastels is drawn a rainbow-striped hot air balloon festooned with ribbons and flowers and, ranged around the basket, little drawings of dresses each in a different solid, candy color. Text reads: Barbie and Midge paper dolls Travel Wardrobe, no scissors necessary, clothes just punch out, 58 outfits and accessories.
    The ’65 paper doll sets maintained Midge’s classic appearance–example via Arlene’s Vintage Paper Dolls
    Color photograph in which bend-leg Barbie (dark hair in sleek bob) and Midge (reddish hair puffed up around a wide headband are seated, Barbie on a slightly higher block, Midge on a lower cylinder or bucket (?), legs bent and crossed, wearing their striped swimsuits and open-toed teal shoes. Barbie faces inward toward Midge who has her hand raised.
    ’66 Penney catalog
    Color catalog image of three dolls. Text says "Barbie and her Friends; Hidden-joint legs bend in 3 positions." All wear swim attire. Sandy-haired Midge sits on the ground, legs extended, one knee bent. One arm behind her, one extend up and out toward the others, who stand and bend toward her, their own arms extended (Barbie in blonde bob, Ken with medium brown hair painted-on). There is no real background to the photo, but a beach scene is suggested by a wash of sandy color behind the figures.
    and here’s Sears… did she fall over!?
    Box illustration of the then-new PJ character, who has Midge's face with two long, vlonde ponytails, wide round glasses, and no freckles. The P.J. Swingin' in Silver gift set exterior. About half the space is a lush illustration of a European street at night, with stone walls and rain-drenched cobblestones reflecting red lights from the cinema visible at the back; this may have been intended to evoke Carnaby Street or some other fashionable London locale. In the foreground, the illustrated P.J. stands gazing into a shop window, inside which photographs of a silver jacket with white fur sleeves, a minidress with a pink top and silver skirt, and white-fur-trimmed, knee-length silver boots are arrayed on a solid blue background next to a photograph of the P.J. doll herself, wearing a bright pink micro-minidress, two ponytails, and her signature big round glasses. Labels hover above the photographed elements with descriptions like 'SMASHING SILVER "FUR" TRIMMED COAT!' "NEW 'N GROOVY P.J. DOLL/TINY PINK DRESS!" The illustrated P.J. is shown wearing the silver outfit, but she also appears tempted as she gazes at the garments in the window.
    PJ, from 1970, is sort of Midge. She’s like when Maddy moved to Twin Peaks, right down to the big ol glasses. Her face was subsequently swapped, and that new face that we all call Steffie would eventually be used for Midge’s circa-1990 revival, about half the time.
    A 1970 "New 'n' Groovy" P.J. paper doll folder and paper doll are shown. On the doll and an illustration on the folder, P.J., with long blonde ponytails, is seen wearing oversized glasses and a bored expression. The doll is digitally dressed in a skintight black unitard (or tank and legginds) with a bell-sleeved reddish crochet overdress, low-slung belt, and mary janes.
    There were at least five solo PJ paper doll sets between 1970 and 1972. That’s not counting World of Barbie and others with multiple characters.
    Two panels showing product photos of modern, ginger Midge dolls. At right, the silkstone, looks true to the vintage original. Her curls are tight (as 1963 Midge's came) and hair looks glossier than the 60s version. She has her two-piece yellow and orange swimsuit and pink wrist tag. At left, a new interpretation with a modern heart-shaped face sculpt done in 60s-appropriate makeup, a wide orange headband, and a longer, bigger flip hairstyle reminiscent of Francie's. The doll has a new clothes conception that calls back to the two-piece suit, with a yellow cropped bustier-type top, cropped yellow jacket (these both look leather with orange topstitching), gold belt, and long orange skirt which hugs the body to the knee (as far as this image goes) then flares out. She carries a gold envelope clutch and wears two gold bracelets, big gold earrings, and necklace. On the accessories front she could have taken Chanel's advice and removed one thing, in this author's opinion, but I guess for charity they don't hold back.
    Re: Midge revivals, here are two Mattel promo photos for releases occasioned by her 60th anniversary in 2023: a one-of-a-kind doll designed by Bill Greening for a charity auction; and a nostalgic silkstone release for the rest of us.

    Signing off,

    A little portrait-type illustration of Midge. This is a detail from the back of the Barbie, Ken and Midge folder used earlier, where the full illustration is protraits of its three characters; here we just see redheaded Midge with pearl necklace and white Peter Pan collar, surrounded by some scribbles in muted orange/tan, and signed Midge in the bright orange of her hair. She had freckles and is smiling politely. This head illustration is exactly the one used for the Little Theater and Travel Wardrobe paper dolls, though the doll in the set this came with had a different look.

    Where to next? This is our only entry focused solely on Midge, but you can spot other Midge renderings in picture books, in comic books, and on the packaging of dolls and fashions. Past Visions were of the ensembles After Five and Solo in the Spotlight. Or head to the Table of Contents for more options.

    , , , , , , ,
  • Barbie-sized Mannequins & Dressforms (1963-73)
    Three Barbie-sized plastic dress forms stand in a row, one pink, one white, and one blue, in front of a paper doll folder that stands propped up, illustrated with scenery from a fashion designer's studio.

    Ever feel like displaying your vintage and nostalgic doll fashions on something besides the dolls themselves? If so, the vintage Barbie era had a range of interesting options to do so. In fact, the boxed doll fashions were lovely displays all by themselves, and many collectors recreate this aesthetic with their own frame boxes; but today we’re thinking of something more figural, freestanding.

    A cardboard silhouette of a ponytailed female figure standes before a darkened window of cellophane crisscrossed by off-white chipboard to form panes.

    The first Mattel offering in this category must have been the mannequin sold with the Fashion Shop starting in 1963, with its clean, deceptively simple design. The figure is cut from chipboard in two pieces: the main body, plus a removable pair of arms instrumental for maneuvering long-sleeved tops onto this otherwise inflexible figure. As we’ll see, the Fashion Shop mannequin is unique in this category for its ability to wear pants. Tabs on the figure’s feet slot into spaces in the floor of the shop window–two such positions for the single included mannequin, but luckily it’s not too hard to make or purchase extra pieces–and stability is cleverly provided by a crease in the lower leg that lends dimension and sturdiness to the figure base.

    Two of the ponytailed cardboard sillhouettes stand before the window, now drenched with sunlight. They are dressed in Barbie's Dinner at Eight and Golden Evening fashions. One view shows the shop from outside, and the fashions from the front; a second shows them from the back, from within the shop, from which angle the sunlight washes out the fashions' colors.

    Mattel could have given the mannequin, like other chipboard pieces in the play set, detail through screening; perhaps rendering a face, hair color, skin tone… but bare chipboard is very effective at differentiating this lifeless piece of scenery from the doll characters populating the world around it.

    Barbie went shopping next in 1971 at the Unique Boutique, with a fresh riff on the store mannequin: a narrow stand topped by the bust of a cartoonish character, similar in style to a paper doll. This version lacks qualities that so disarmed us in the Fashion Shop: the face and hair are stylized but lively and fairly detailed, unlike the featureless slate of the Fashion Shop mannequins; and while you maybe could swing a pair of pants from this frame, hanger-style, it doesn’t don them. Still, the Barbie-like illustration is charming, very 1970.

    Two panels. Left is the Unique Boutique box which shows the shop opened out, with Francie seated next to a counter with a hatstand and register, and across from ther the mannequin, a flat carboard piece illustrated with the face and head of a woman with curly yellow hair attached to a coatrack-like base, swearing a long dress with a metallic green bodie and a multicolor skirt with stained glass mosaic print. At right is a closeup on the mannequin sans clothing, showing Venus de Milo arm stumps and the coatrack base. The dolls face is detailed in pink ink in this shot.
    Via Pinterest, the Unique Boutique store mannequin displays Rainbow Wraps on the product packaging at left. At right, via Worthpoint, a closeup of the mannequin declothed.

    Screened onto the Unique Boutique walls are other, headless interpretations of the store mannequin, bringing us closer to the orbit of the dress form.

    Details of the Unique Boutique playset's vinyl walls. First panel, an exterior of yellow wall with a window in which two dresses: one sleevelss and pink, one long-sleeved, orange with pink trim, are on headless yellow mannequins; the second, an interior shot of striped blue walls, a long mirror that actually reflects the adjacent shelving illustration, and (still illustrated) a black dress stand with a know atop the next instead of a head, and displaying a belted animal-print coat over a white or off-white skirt.

    Close kin of the store mannequins, Barbie’s dress forms were sold with crafting kits, used for constructing and/or decorating garments off the doll. The first Mattel dress forms arrived in ’66 with the Color Magic Fashion Designer set. One variant was blue trimmed in pink, the other pink trimmed in blue. Both appear in contemporary advertising materials and can be found in the wild today (find examples at the top of this post).

    Two color images from catalogs. Both show a Color Magic Fashion Designer Dress--yellow sundress with blue and green checks--being swaabbed with chemicals to change its colors to red and blue. In the righthand images, the Sew Free Color Magic garments are assembled and lying around: a hot pink ballgown with stole and two yellow shift dresses with orange and green trim. There are also closed-toed heels in yellow and green and various stickers and things for decorating the garments. The lefthand image includes text: New! Barbie and Francie Color Magic Designer Set $4.99; Drop Color Magic crystals in water. As soon as they dissolve, dab harmless solution to specially-treated farbir. Watch color change instantly! Get three sew-free costumes and one ready-to-wear costume, molded dress form, bowl, 2 sponge dabbers. Also flocking, glitter and floral pattern silhouettes for decorating dresses. Make new solution with vinegar or baking soda.
    The Color Magic dress form was pink with a blue base in the Sears Wishbook at left and blue with pink base in the JC Penney one, both from 1966.

    The mold was reused for an all-white form bundled with the Sew Magic kit in the 70s (and also pictured at the top of this page). Of all the dressforms and mannequins discussed herein, these are probably the most common today.

    1973 Sew Magic packaging via Pink Paris Flamingo on ebay

    Offbrand Barbie-sized mannequins and dressforms are fair game for this blog, but I found none in the period 1959-1975. A word of caution to other seekers: don’t fall for the Little Charmer Dress Designing Kit, which advertised a 12″ tall dressform without mentioning what size doll corresponded. This dressform is enormous compared to Barbie, and even compared to her larger rival Tammy.

    Left is a color catalog image showing a doll-sized, yellow dress form wrapped with a blue floral fabric at skirt height. Around it are small rolls of fabric (pink, blue, and red-and-white striped), thread, scissors, paper patterns, and a needle threader. A smiling child fingers one of the fabric rolls at the back. Text says: "Little Charmer Dress Designing Set. Create original designs on a small scale. Includes everything you need to start you on the fashion road--12 in. high doll form, 3 swatches of fabric, tape measure, thimble, pin cushion, 4 spools of thread, pins, scissors, needles, needle threader, and patterns by McCall's. Not recommended for children under 3 years of age (contains small parts that can be swallowed). Mailing weight 1.50 lbs.... 4.99" Right is a photograph in front of the same paper doll folder as the top image in the post, this time showing a nostalgic fair-skinned, brunette ponytail Barbie doll in a red skirt-suit with red-and-white striped blouse standing next to a green dressform that is about her height but only modeling a figure from about knee to neck--in other words, the full scale figure the form represents would be about half again as tall as Barbie. Its bust, hips, and waist all seem about twice as wide as hers. The form is encircled by little fabric rolls on cardboard tubes: one red-and-white striped, one pink with white polka dots, and one bare cardboard tube.
    Expectation vs. reality: the Little Charmer doll form in a ’72 JC Penney catalog (L) and looming large beside the Busy Gal Barbie reproduction. The form came in at least three colors.

    While our focus is vintage collecting, mannequins and dressforms themselves haven’t evolved too much over time, and newer pieces may also suit our vintage displays. Duly noted, we won’t dwell on these.

    3 panels showing later mannequins. Left is a black plastic molded form that is flat, 2D like a gingerbread person, but with its head and arm angled out for a 2.5-D effect. It has two legs inserted into a round base. It wears a purple sundress with wide ruffle bottom and stands next to a store counter that is mostly out of the frame. Center is a bright pink dressform with trapezoidal base, wearing a splashy, bright abstract-patterned dress in neons and standing before an illustrated clothing rack on a purple background. Right is a purple dressform with a psychedelic swirl pattern texture and the Barbie signature across the chest.
    L-R: Mannequins from 1983 Sears Fashion shop and 1991 Barbie Fashion Mall; unidentified Y2K-look Barbie mannequin. From sellers on ebay, Etsy, ebay.

    Where to next? This post is about Barbie’s early environs, and specifically early furniture. The next-most recent furniture post on this site is about the Japan-exclusive furniture of 1967; the most popular is about Mattel Modern and Susy Goose, while the most popular overall post is about vintage Barbie shoes. Find backdrops for your vintage and nostalgic Barbie dioramas in the Go-Together furniture sets, the built environments of vintage Barbie paper dolls, and the Lively Livin’ House. Or head up the table of contents to see more options.

    , , , , ,
  • Sew Free? Sew Magic? Sew Simple? Cut and Sew??
    Collage of images from instructions and advertising of the craft sets described herein. Sew-Free are detailed black-and-white drawings of stylishly-attired women. Sew Magic are simpler line drawings, two female figures and one dressed dressform, with flat pink patterned testures filling the garment pieces. The Cut 'n' Sew figures are black-and-white line drawings with colored-in clothing in mid-Sixties styles like a shift, a cocktail dress with cape, and a sheath dress with matching long jacket. The Sew Simple images are from catalogs and are photos of Barbies dressed in the fashions: a polka-dot top with A-line skirt on American Girl, and a pink jacket and pants with matching hat and boots on Marlo Flip.

    Today we tackle the great mysteries of vintage Barbie collecting, to wit:

    Is the below a Vintage Barbie “Sew Free” Outfit?

    Ebay listing. Outfit consisting of blue-and-white color blocked dress with full skirt and matching jacket in blue with white polka-dot trim is laid out in a box that looks like early Barbie ensemble packaging, with a plastic window surrounded by striped cardboard. Like Barbie's genuine fashios included bagged shoes and a fashion booklet, this also includes bagged shoes and a small paper add for the actual Sew Free Fashion Fun Kits (it looks like the paper is a page from a Mattel Barbie book). However, this outfit is not Sew-Free and not Mattel at all. Beside the photograph is text from the eBay listing that reads: Vintage Barbie "Sew Free" Outfit; Pre-Owned; $52.00 or Best Offer; +$10.45 deliver; Located in the United States; 16 watchers.

    What about these, are they Vintage Mattel Sew Free Sew Magic Barbie Doll Clothes 1960s Very Rare?

    Mercari listing. Photo shows red pants with yellow stripe near the cuffs; Long taupe-colored dress with colorful paisley pattern in red, pink and yellow spreading up from the hemline; and pink wrap skirt covered in red floarl pattern. Text includes: "Vintage Mattel Sew Free Sew Magic Barbie Doll Clothes 1960s Very Rare; $111.54" (original price of $25.00 is struck through).

    No, and also no. So what are they? How can one tell? And what do all these terms mean? If you’re not sure but curious, read on!

    Sew-Free: Sew-Free Fashion Fun Kits were a kids’ craft sold by Mattel around 1965-1966. Garment pieces were printed on a variety of fabrics, to be cut out and assembled by children using included adhesive strips. It’s Sew-Free because no sewing is required. While printing was an important aspect of the Sew-Free style, both to define the garment shapes and for decorative elements (and possibly to prevent fraying, as well), the kits also contained many other details including zippers, buttons, trims, and stickers to enhance the fashions; shoes, belts, and purses–sometimes matching fabric purses to assemble–completed the looks.

    Brunette repro ponytail doll wearing Busy gal, and brunette repro side part American Girl wearing Junior Designer, stand at either edge of the frame, "holding" between them a length of light brown fabric on which the shapes of the pieces of a long jacket are printed in darker brown. This is part of the Barbie Sew-Free Day in Town ensemble before construction. Toward the front stands a blue and pink dressform on which the pieces of a teal sheath dress hang, tightly wrapped with a brown belt. On the bloor are a light blue plastic envelope clutch, brown open-toed heels, and a 2 or 3 inch long zipper. Busy Gal also holds adhesive strips on their red-and-white backing, although it's probably not clear to the viewer what that is. The scebe stands on a light blue base, and in the background is an open 60s paper doll folder that is decorated with a fashion designer's studio, including a drafting table, rolls of fabric, a cabinet, and the walls covered in sketches of Barbie fashions. Most of this is obscured by the scene, but a bit of Sorority Meeting and Dinnter at Eight sketches may be distinguished.

    It’s pretty easy to know when you’re looking at a Sew-Free ensemble, even if some of those extra details have been lost over time: only fifteen outfits or sets exist, so if you have one of these, you have a Sew-Free Fashion.

    Color image from a Barbie fashion booklet showing photographs of bubble cut and swirl ponytail dolls wearing Sew Free Fashions. In this spread are From Nine to Five, Sorority Tea, Day 'N Night, Hootenanny, Golden Ball, and Debutante Party.
    Continuation of the previous image. In this spread are Day in Town, Pretty Traveler, Moonlight 'n Roses, Stardust, Sightseeing and Patio Party.
    Color illustration from the Color Magic Fashion Designer Set instructions or packaging. AMerican Girl and Swirl Ponytail figures stand in pairs showing the two colorations of the color-changing Sew Free Color Magic Styles. Left is a narrow knee-length sheath with wide collar, yellow bodice, densely patterned skirt, and matching purse. Center is a ballgown in pink with kaleidoscopic embellishments and matching wrap adn envelope clutch. Right is another narrow dress, in checkered pattern that changes from yellow to red with pears printed around the hem and matching checked scarf.

    The last row are from the Color Magic Fashion Designer set. “Sew Free Color Magic” sounds almost like the word salad “Sew Free Sew Magic” listing title that kicked off this post, but it’s legit.

    Around this time, a few play sets–Skipper’s Go-Together Bedroom and Dream Room; Barbie’s Dream Kitchen–included “Sew-Free” curtains, linens and the like. The Dream Kitchen’s apron, below via Red Stick Retro, counts as one last Sew-Free wearable piece.

    Photograph of doll apron cut form a single piece of fabric printed with an orange outline, pink flowers with green leaf-like underlining, and a pocket-shaped pink bit emblazoned with Barbie's script B.

    If your fashion is none of the above, it’s not Sew-Free. Simple as that!

    Sew Magic: Mattel revisited the Sew-Free concept in 1973 with modifications. This time around, there was no bespoke textile printing; just ordinary fabric swatches and paper pattern pieces. And there were no adhesive strips: instead, the Sew Magic “sewing” machine, a sort of standing glue gun, deposited adhesive onto fabric pieces guided by the user, who then pressed the fabric pieces together along the glue lines.

    Another photo of the Busy Gal and Junior Designer in their studio. This time more of the background is visible with After Five, Part Date, Friday Nite Date, and a couple Ken fashions visible among the illustrations on the paper doll folder. In the foreground, the dolls hold clothing pattern pieces made of stiff paper and labeled "Barbie Dress" and "Barbie Bloude (cap sleeves). On a white dressform a pink jersey top is inside out, with dark marks over its hems; a narrow floor-length felt skirt in pink flowers on white accompanies it, along with a belt made from ribbon with a plastic "buckle." Junior Designer holds additional pieces of felt with flowery and psychedelic prints on white. On the floor are two further peices of felt material, one a solid yellow and one of pink and orange flowers, with patterns outlined on them in dark ink, drawn by tracing pieces like those the dolls hold. (I felt fortunate to find this used, vintage Sew Magic set with pieces in every stage of preparation and assembly, to get this shot without having to do any of the crafting.)

    Without the uniquely printed designs of Sew-Free, Sew Magic fashions are less obvious to identify. What’s more, the Sew Magic instructions specifically say to use your own fabric as well as the provided swatches, so the finished product can look any kind of way. The signature feature of the Sew Magic garment, therefore, is that it’s glued together–for an example, see the glued seams on the inside-out shirt that the fashion-designing Barbies have on display above.

    On the selling platforms, clothing pieces listed as Sew Magic are very seldom genuine Sew Magic–with the exception of those constructed pieces that come bundled in with the larger Sew Magic machines and kits. If you see clothing lots or individual pieces labeled as Sew Magic being sold without a craft kit, in my experience, they are rarely glued together, are nearly always sewn with thread, and they are nearly always Cut ‘n’ Sew. Which brings us to…

    Cut & Sew: Neither licensed nor official Mattel products, Cut and Sew panels were sold at fabric stores, cut from bolts, with Barbie’s usually labeled as being for 11″-12″ fashion dolls. (Skipper-sized and Ken-sized dolls had their own Cut & Sew panels.) They are undated and absent from department store and doll catalogs, but I reckon them to about 1966: their aesthetics resemble the Sew-Free line, and the 11″-12″ range may imply the coexistence of Francie and Tammy.

    Photo taken in the interior of the vintage Barbie's Fashion Shop, as many of the remaining images in this post will be. Brunette Casey stands on the stage wearing a floorlength yellow coat that spreads around her feet, along with a long taupe dress with paisley print (this item was also shown in a Mercari listing earlier). Note, the stage's curtains are normally white vinyl, like a shower curtain. I needed replacements and made them from an antique gold satiny lining fabric which I find a little too reflective in these images, so they're not as nice as they could be. Anyway, in the foreground is the later-model Tammy, smaller than original Tammy and with bobbed brown hair and rubber arms. She wears the same outfit, only her jacket is rose pink and her dress a pale pink with the paisley pattern in blue, green, and rose pink. The Fashion Shop's three-way mirror is behind her and reflects her back, blurrily.
    Candidly, Casey is swimming in this; but it cuts an elegant silhouette for the photograph!

    Cut and sew panels were made of craft cotton with outfit pieces, instructions, and fun little fashion illustrations printed on. They didn’t come with any embellishments or accessories, so elements like closures and thread color (matching, contrasting or somewhere in between) were at the crafter’s discretion. Whereas Sew-Free Fashions incorporated velvety and satiny materials alongside their cottons, Cut and Sew was limited to a single texture. And because garments of multiple hues were printed onto a single panel, the fabric itself had to be white; the outfits’ colors were entirely screened on–in contrast to Sew-Free and Sew Magic made from dyed textiles.

    Back in the fashion design studio diorama, the fashion designer "dolls" hold up a sheet of white woven fabrin on which are printed the pieces of a shift dress with vertical stripes in yellow, green and red, and lables like "DRESS B FRONT"; "HEM". A character about 3" high or so is also printed on the fabric, shown wearing the dress. The illustration's dress is in color like the garment pieces but she's otherwise a black line drawing. In the background of the figure, the white dressform stands with a constructed example of the shift dress displayed on it.

    Many of the Cut & Sew designs are quite cute. However, the finished products inhabit a gray area between doll fashion and simple crafting project. They long for buttons and trim, for linings, and to not be made of basic cotton. The evening attire worn by Tammy and Casey above, in particular, could read as casual Seventies maxi dresses and house coats if you didn’t know better. Some others resemble a toile made from bedsheets.

    Over in the Fashion Shop, the Miss America Kelley doll with mussed hair stands wearing a floorlength, sleeveless dress with somewhat full skirt, with an allover pattern of blue and green flowers.
    (Kelley’s mussed hair isn’t helping the situation)

    Panels were offered for many categories of attire: Daywear, Eveningwear, Sportswear, Streetwear, Beachwear, Nightwear, and a couple catch-all “Wardrobe” panels. All designs came in multiple colorways. Let’s meander through outfits and color combos drawn from my collection, as well as some foraged from a recent search of sales.

    We saw quite a bit of Eveningwear already, modeled by Tammy, Casey, and Kelley above. One Eveningwear panel included two looks in three possible colorways, the first look being the long dress with coat and the second a sort of baffling hostess pyjama or patio ensemble.

    Composite of one dressed doll and illustrations of fashions from the cut 'n' sew fabric panel. The photographed doll is an American Girl repro. She wears a sleeveless crop top in red with a wide yellow stripe around the bottom, red slacks with a yellow stripe near the botrom, and a wrap overskirt in pink with red flowers. The overskirt and pants were also in the Mercari listing screenshotted near the top of the post. There is nothing elegant about the color combination. Next to the photo is the fashion illustration of the taupe paisley dress with yellow coat that Casey wore earlier. Two versions of the figure are drawn, one with and one without the coat, facing each other and each with an elbow jutting out. Two more color combos of this set of fashions are also illustrated, shown smaller. Along with the pink dress and coat the Tammy wore before is a hostess outfit in teal with purple stripe and green skirt (again, the colors are kinda mystifying, bold and inharmonious). The third set is the dress and coat in yeal, with pyjama set in purple.

    A second eveningwear panel type consisted of three looks in two colorways, including the “toile” we already saw and an interesting cocktail dress with cape. The third look is just mystifying, apparently a sundress and bonnet for evening.

    In the Fashion Shop, a repro short flip blonde Stacey stands on stage wearing a cocktail dress in sky blue with purple trim, along with a matching cape. Before the stage stand Cool Collecting Barbie (kind of side part American Girl style) wearing the strapless cocktail dress only. A feature I like about these gamernts is that between the blue and purple is a wiggly line of white with black splotches that, in photographs, really looks like glitter. It's actually just printing on woven cotton. In the illustrations is another of the dress with cape in watermelon pink and green; the long dress Kelley wore but in pink with blue flowers; and another kneelength dress, sleeveless, with mottled pink-and-white print and matching brimmed bonnet looking hat. This outfit looks like you could wear it to a music festival in 2026. I don't understand it as 60s eveningwear.

    The Daywear collections contain some of the best Cut ‘n’ Sew designs. There was one set of three looks in three colorways, and a second with two looks in (as far as I know) two colorways.

    Figures in the fashion shop and illustrated on fabric. On stage, the repro Stacey wears a cute A-line shift dress with elbow-length sleeves, a yellow top, brown band at high waist, and flower-printed skirt in brown, yellow and green. She holds on a hanger another of her dress, but primarily in green. In a second image, on stage, vintage Julia wearing a black flip wig from repro Hair Fair wears a cute skirt suit: matching collarless jacket and A-line skirt in teal, plus a pink polka-dotted shell top. One note about the construction stands out here: the thread used to stitch the suit is in a contrasting white. Maybe a style choice or maybe just what was in the bobbin! Next to the stage, Tressy stands wearing the sleeveless, yellow striped shift that was displayed on a dressform in the designer studio setting above. She holds on a hanger a second one of her shift but in pink with blue and green stripes. Behind her the clothing rack of the Fashion Shop is slightly visible with other Cut n Sew fashions hanging, including the hostess wrap skirt of the previous image. Between the two images are sketches of other color combos associated with this set. At top is a pink version of Stacey's dress with a purple and green version of Julia's suit; below that, a green version of Tressy's shift; at bottom, The dress Stacey holds along with a red and yellow version of the suit.
    The suit worn by Julia and the shifts worn by Stacey and held by Tressy formed one trio. The shifts worn by Tressy and held by Stacey, along with the illustrated red suit, form another; the third trio is shown above, top center, as illustrations.
    Two ensembles in two color schemes are photographed on dolls and illustrated on fabrics. Both outfits consist of a kneelength dress with slim silhouette covered by a boxy coat or jacket. In the Fashion Shop, repro Midge stands to one side of the stage wearing a brown dress with hip-length, 3/4 sleeved, oatmeal-colored speckled with brown, brown-trimmed jacket. Composited onto the stage next to her is the illustrated version, which looks the same but the sleeve lengthis more like a short-sleeved T-shirt. American Girl repro with ash blonde hair stands to the opposite side of the stage. Her dress has a solid brown skirt part, matching jacket with hem also to the knee or just below, and the bodie part of the dress is yellow, orange and brown striped. Composited onto the stage next to her is the illustrated character in the same look but with teal jacket and skirt, yellow pink and teal bodice. The image is split down the center with smaller versions of the illustrations between: the illustration of the American Girl's look in the colors she wears, and the illustration of Midge's look but in light blue. My opinion is that all of these designs are chic.
    This second offering for day had more consistent colorways: the brown-forward outfits worn by Barbie and Midge are one set, the two teal outfits a second.

    Sportswear was similarly offered in three colorways for one panel, and (evidently) two colorways for the second.

    Multi-paneled iamge. In the main panel a character with bouffant hair stands, one toe extended, wearing a sleeveless sailor type top and pants, all in green with a yellow striped section inside the white collared V-neck of the top (the panel, collar, and a white bow are all screened onto the fabric of this look, not dimensional). Next to her a pair of figures with short styled hair stand facing each other, elbows jutting to either side. One wears a flowered sleeveless green shift with bow details at the slits on either side near the hem, the other a yellow wrap A-line skirt and sleeveless top with yellow stripes on white and a row of yellow flowers running down the front. In smaller panels, Midge wears the sailor look but in blue; another illustrate character wears it in red; illustrated characters wear the flowal shift in more of a yellow and the skirt and top in red; and Cool Collecting and Julia wear the flowered shift in a mustard shade and the skirt and top in blue.

    Skirts were a bigger part of sports back then, as were capes, it appears:

    In the main panel, the Fashion Shop scene. Cool Collecting wears a yellow two-piece swimsuit and hold, on a hanger, a trapeze-shaped yellow coverup with flowered border. Behind her stands the ash American Girl wearing a knee-length skirt in orange with small brown pattern, with a rick-rack-look border a little above the hem, and matching sleeveless top with printed-on brown bow. Next to the stage stands midge in brown slacks with white trim near the bottom and a brown,black,and white plaid cape with oversized white buttons printed on. In a smaller panel, a blue version of the coverup and red version of the cape look are laid out, and a third panel shwos the illustrated characters--all facing forward, with their weight on their right leg, right hip slightly out, slight bends in the arms--basically these three are all copies of each other with different hairstyles--wearing the brown cale and two versions of the orange look, one with A-line skirt as Barbie wears and one that looks like kind of a poufed skirt but that I reveal in the text is bloomers.
    Barbie’s swimsuit top came with straps, but they’re really tiny and proved challenging for the original owner of my set (and others!) to sew. The second figure illustrated in the orange-y set models bloomers. Top right image via eBay. That panel version’s bloomers combo was in green.

    Up to this point, one panel version in each clothing category has been available in three colorings. If you’ve paid attention to the little illustrations, you’ve probably noticed the same three figures appear on all of these panels: the character with bouffant hair facing the viewer’s right, and the two characters with chin-length hairstyles standing grouped together, each with one arm bent to the outside. To my knowledge, there are just two colorways of the below Nightwear panel design, but based on the trend so far it’s likely there’s a third color combo I just haven’t encountered.

    Three panels. First, illustrations on fabric: The figure with bouffant wears a floorlength robe or nightgown in pale blue with green trim and the waist and elbow-length sleeve, and white flowers scattered over the skirt; beside her are the pair of figures. One wears a babydoll nightie in green with allover flowers, plus green short shorts. The second wears long yellow pants and a yellow-and-white striped top. Second image is a photo of the Fashion Shop stage, on which Julia wears the pants outfit in green, while Stacey wears the long gown in pink. Right is another fabric piece with the babydoll nightie shown in blue.

    Here’s the Streetwear set sketched in one colorway and constructed in a second. Again, there’s likely to be a third combination out there somewhere, based on these sketched figures being the same ones from all the panels that have had three variations.

    First are the three fabric illustrations. The usual figures wear knee-length, sleeveless dresses. The bouffant figure wears a high-waited red-striped dress, with horizontal stripes over the bust and verical for the skirt. A triangular floral panel interrupts the vertical stripes at front middle. The next figure wears a drop-waisted dress with a leafy blue print on white. The third wears a shift consisting of a wide zig-zagged stripe down one side of the front, with little tuliped printed over the white; to one side of the zig-zag the dress is solid green, and to the other solid red. Next to these are constructed versions of the three dresses, laid flat, in a second colorway: the striped dress in blue, drop-waisted dress in green, and zig-zag dress with polka-dotted blue panel, white tulip-y stripe bordered by black and green lines, and then a red panel. Unlike the illustration it looks like this zigzag runs straight down the middle of the front.
    “Streetwear” appears to mean “sleeveless shift” in this context. To my eye, these styles suggest the second half of the ’60s.

    I’m also aware of one panel design for Beachwear in two colorways, but yet again, a third colorway may exist.

    Figures illustrated on fabric. The bouffant woman wears a loudly-abstract-printed white shirt with elbow length sleeves and coordinated sold-colored shorts: one in green tones, one in pink. A second figure wears a polka-dotted two piece swimsuit with a ruffle around the hem of the top: one in red, one in yellow. Her mate wears a ruffled coverup with vertical black stripes and a polka-dotted ruffle and head kerchie in the color of her companion's attire.

    Finally, the Wardrobe panel for 11 1/2″ dolls came in at least two color schemes and consisted of an evening gown, a day dress, a bikini and coverup.

    Printed figures on fabric. One wears a floor-length gown with oversized, vivid roses seemingly painted on, either in pink or blue. Another wears a flared skirt, color blocked with half in white and half in blue or red with polka dots. She is shown facing front and back; from the back, her top has the same blocks but on opposite sides, for an overall big checkerboard effect. Facint front she wears a matching jacket in the solid color of her dress with white/polka dot trip and carries a hand bag. We saw the blue version of this in a mislabeled eBay listing toward the top of the post. The final figure wears a two-piece, strapless green swimsuit with blue trim and holds a wide-brimmed green hat with blue brim. A second view shows her coverup, green with blue trim and oversized white flowers centered on her right hip, emerging up down and across.

    We saw the blue version of the wardrobe’s colorblocked daywear suit mislabeled as “Sew Free” at the very top of the post. Here’s the evening gown on Mercari, attributed to Premier Togs:

    Left is a photograph of brunette Hair Fair Barbie wearing a strapless evening dress in white cotton, printed with detailed pink roses and with a wide pink border at the bottom. It also has a little of that bedsheet aesthetic. She's positioned on top of a mod Barbie and Stacey Sleep 'n' Keep case. Right, we can see the listing is labeled Vintage 1960's Barbie Clone Premier Togs Pink & Red Roses Dress + Shoes for $50.00.

    Both this pink gown version and the green beach coverup are common (far rarer is the two-piece swimsuit that the coverup covered), and both can frequently be found mislabeled as one of the Mattel craft kits.

    A rarer version of the Wardrobe panel variety has silhouettes suggesting the early ’60s and characters resembling ponytails and bubble cuts. It came in at least two colorways. Here are sketches from an uncut panel and constructed pieces via three ebay users:

    Multi-paneled image. At left, a doll's body is used to model a dress made from craft cotton with a black or grey lacy pattern printed on. The dress is strapless and mermaid-shape, similar to Solo in the Spotlight. At lower right, photo of a fit-and-flare dress laid out flat. The dress is primarily green with blue flowers, full skirt and puff sleeves, with a wide white band around the skirt bottom printed with green-and-blue butterflies. The top right portion of the image is filled with three line drawings: a bubblecut look figure in the mermaid dress; a second bubble in the butterfly dress, except in yellow; and a ponytail in a short-sleeve shirt and shorts.

    That’s the Cut and Sew line as I know it. As noted, there could be more designs and colorations than I’ve observed; there just can’t be less. For right now, let’s take a gander at one last category of vintage doll fashion/craft.

    Sew Simple sets by Coats and Clark were advertised in department store catalogs for at least 10 years, starting in 1964. Whereas Mattel’s crafts freed the user from the burden of sewing but did require some pieces to be cut out, the Sew Simple innovation was pre-cut pieces that required sewing. Unlike Cut & Sew, some finishing touches were included with the sets.

    From 1964 through 1967, a single Barbie-sized (and allegedly Francie-sized) set of six fashions was offered:

    Black-and-white catalog listing. In a photograph, four doll dresses, a top and skirt, and a couple other separates are laid out flat along with hangers, shoes, and other accessories. All are of a simple A-line, mostly sleeveless construction. Text reads: "Save 10% on Sew Simple Wardrobes when you buy any toy sewing machine on facing page. WARDROBE TO MIX AND MATCH fits Francie, Barbie, Casey, and all the 11 1/2-inch-high fashion friends. 72 pre-cut pieces to make: jumper, blouse, suit dress, town dress, navy skirt, blouse, nighty with panties, white panty, 3 pairs of doll shoes, 2 belts, purse, hangers, thread, needle, Sew Simple instructions. $2.29." Yeah, blouse is listed twice and one piece is a panty, singular.
    1967 JC Penney listing of the Barbie-sized Sew Simple Wardrobe

    The set would continue to be sold for a few years with some fabric variations. in 1968 it was joined by the Bride’s Trousseau and London Look sets, and in 1969 the sporty Sun Valley set was introduced.

    Color catalog image. Text reads: "SEW a wardrobe for Barbie; It's "SEW SIMPLE"... because pieces are precut and ready to sew... easy step-by-step instructions are included; Learning to sew is such fun with these fashionable SEW SIMPLE outfits... designed to fit Barbie, Stacey, Julia or any other 11 1/2-inch fashion doll. Plastic accessories. Dolls not included with ensembles. "Bride's Trousseu Set. Sew bridal gown, veil, bridesmaid's gown, stole, formal and jacket. Hangers, gloves and shoes incl... $2.99 "Mix 'n Match Set. Make a dress, 2 blouses, jumper, skirt, suit-dress and nightie. Belt, purse, hangers, shoes, accessories incl... $2.69 "London Look Set. Sew 3 dresses, pants-suit, jacket, slacks set, coat, kerchief, pajamas and hat. Hangers, purse, boots included... $3.99. "Sun Valley Set. Sew outfits for tennis, swimming, skiing, cheerleading, skating and ballet. Sports equipment included... $3.99" In a U-shape surrounding the text the 4 sets are displayed in color, each including one mod Barbie dressed in one of the outfits.
    Four sets in the ’69 Sears Wishbook

    In the 1971 Wishbook, Sears highlighted their exclusive Barbie friend, Walking Jamie. While Barbie still modeled the trousseau (now named Wedding Bells), Jamie modeled new Merrily Mod and Snappy Separates offerings,

    Partial color catalog listing. Red-haired Jamie is dressed in an ankle-length dress with a sort of insane quilt pattern of color-contrasting hexagons bordered by rickrack and lace; in an inset are shown various solid-colored separates, including a poncho, a shiny green tunic and slacks, and other pieces along with shoes and hangers. Text says "Merrily Mod $3.99 each set." To the right, Jamie wears a puff-sleeved and full-skirted knee length dress in a red patterned material with a white Peter Pan collar. A couple tops, a skirt, two dresses and a nightie with undies are displayed alongside her, labeled Snappy Separates $2.79/set.

    and she also modeled a Skipper-sized set which appeared to include Jamie’s own clothing:

    Color catalog image, Jamie wears a pink bow-fronted dress that is much too small for her. Next to her are some dresses, a skirt and top, a babydoll nightie with matching shorts, one pair of white undies, shoes, hangers, and Jamie's belted yellow minidress with pink and orange pattern around the waist, along with its yellow shorts, the orange boots, and the pink scarf from her hair. Down the side I mspainted some white question marks. Text reads, "For Skipper, Fluff and their 9-inch friends, Pre-teen Scene $2.79/set. Even junior misses want to be fashionable--let them join the trendy pre-teen scene. Sew 4 dresses, skirt, blouse, pajamas, panties, 3 pairs of shoes, 6 hangers included..."

    Counting the dress and shoes modeled by Jamie in the image, we can get to the listed number of garments without those that look like Jamie’s own, which seem to have been included in the spread by mistake!

    But I digress. The following year, the sets Simply Super and Jet Set Trousseau (with rick-rack aplenty for Barbie’s chic high-flying lifestyle) were new.

    Another color catalog image. This time, all outfits are shown on dolls. Text reads, "Create your own doll fashions with these Sew Simple Wardrobe Sets; Ready-to-make, pre-cut pieces and step-by-step instructions included "Barbie-size "Simply Super" Set $2.94 (dolls, shoes not incl.); Outfits for dress-up, play or sleeping. Sew 3 dresses, 2 blouses, 1 skirt, pajamas and panties. Six hangers included. For any 11 1/2-inch fashion doll. Buy it the easy way... order by phone... "Ken-size "Campus Hero" Outfits $2.94 (dolls, shoes not incl.) For any lucky 12-inch fella. Sew him 2 shirts, jacket, slacks and pajamas... and for formal wear: tuxedo jacket, trousers, cummerbund, bow tie. Hangers... "Barbie-size "Jet Set Trousseau" $4.99 (dolls, shoes not incl.) It's wedding bells for Barbie or any of her 11 1/2-inch friends. Sew her an enchanting bridal gown and veil plus an elegant hostess culottes outfit, a sporty pants suit, 2 dresses, 2 skirts, 2 blouses, cape coat, shawl and panties. 6 hangers included." The kind of country living aesthetic that was on the rise in Barbie's world is abundant in these sets, especially in the Jet Set trousseau where a red maxi dress has white rickrack running to the floor; a green flower-print dress with full sleeves and rickrach trip; a long vest with slacks in black or navy is trimmed in white rickrack; and red gingham maxi skirt with dark rickrack trim is worn with a dark poncho trimmed in white. A white blouse has a very high collar, and one more dress sort of resembles an apron. The cape coat in red is maybe the only elegant piece from my point of view. The wedding dress is also fine, lacy with very wide sleeves, wide waistband, wide collar, but overall typical.

    The Trousseau and Ken’s set hung on for at least one more year.

    That exhausts my Sew Simple knowledge. A couple unassembled sets are floating around the selling platforms. However, I suspect other, assembled pieces are hiding in plain sight in listings labeled Premier Togs, Shillman, Sew Magic, or even Cut ‘n’ Sew. Let me know if you’ve spotted any of these!

    Meanwhile, who can tell me whether this is a Vintage Barbie Doll Sew Free Sailor Top SUPER RARE Blue for the collector?

    Incredible Ebay listing: image shows just the Cut 'n' Sew sailor top in blue; text says "Vintage Barbie Doll Sew Free Sailor Top SUPER RARE Blue for the collector; Pre-Owned; $150.00; or Best Offer; +$4.76 delivery; Located in United States; theadobepad 99.2% positive (1.2K)"
    ,
  • Sidebar: for the Boudoir
    Two color illustrations of Barbie on vintage trading cards, At left, brunette ponytail character wearing a floral petticoat and brassiere sits on a stool, looking into a mirror she holds in one hand, while her other arm, extended, holds a brush. On the floor before her are two open-toed shoes. On a rack behind her is a red pak polka dot sheath (1962-63). She can't be planning to wear the sheath over the petticoat since the petticoat is very full. At right, blonde ponytail Barbie in a white and blue-trimmed version od Sweet Dreams (1959-63) holds the bottom of her ponytail as she brushes her hair. She, too, sits on a stool. This one has a red cushion and is gold toned. Her shoes are light blue, open-toed with pomons.
    Dynamic Toys Jumbo Trading Cards via quintesscaboo on eBay

    In the ’60s, Mattel licensed charming illustrations to makers of beauty routine implements for children. Like Barbie, kids could preen in their handmirror, comb their silken locks, apply powders and perfumes–all with Barbie-branded tools.

    Here’s the case from a Barbie Beauty Kit, (c) 1961.

    Vinyl case in a pinkish shade with a color illustration of Barbie in her ensemble Nighty Negligee (1959-1964) in new colors. THe nightgown is yellow (her ponytail is the same shade) and the peignoir is blue with purple or navy stripes, with two patch pockets and a ribbon tied and neckline in the same shade. She holds the stuffed dog included in the set. Beside her is the familiar Barbie logo above the words "Beauty Kit" in all caps, somewhat unaligned in the vertical so each letter rises or falls slightly relative to its neighbors. Behind the Barbie signature are three outlines or silhouettes of glass bottles with lids in light blue with a stripe of tellow up the right sidfe of each, like an abstaction of light hitting glass.
    source: vintageodds2ends on eBay

    What did it contain? Most examples I’ve seen were found empty; this one was full of rollers and hair pins, but those may not have been the original contents–the cosmetics bottles outlined behind the Barbie logo imply they were not.

    It’s possible the cases were filled with Roclar bath and beauty products, which also have the 1961 (c) but employ a different art style, comparable to Barbie Sings!— also from ’61.

    Powder Mitt package, partially open to show the pink-and-white striped mitt. On the pink box is a drawing of blonde pontyail Barbie in profile, wearing the mitt on one hand and applying it to her other arm. She appears to be wrapped in a towel--mostly only her head and shoulders are in view--and wears large pearl earrings. Little sparkles of white dance around her arm and mitt. The words POWDER MITT, like the words BEAUTY KIT in the previous image, are made up of letters with slight vertical shifts relative to one another.
    Roclar Barbie Powder Mitt via stinkbomba on eBay

    (Yes… bath products from stinkbomba.)

    Bubble bath box shows blonde ponytail Barbie in profile, her head, neck, hands and knee visible above the edge of a bathtub. She is surrounded by floating bubbles. As on the Beauty Kit, the letters spelling BUBBLE BATH are all a little off-kilter. At right, a bottle labeled Barbie Cologne--and "COLOGNE" appears to be precisely aligned--has a little profile of blonde ponytail Barbie in a white pearl necklace.
    Roclar Barbie bubble bath and cologne via yocumii23 on eBay

    Products were also offered for haircare. In ’62, the Christmas catalogs advertised 3-piece comb, mirror and hairbrush vanity sets adorned with Barbie illustrations.

    Left: Black-and-white department store catalog listing for "Barbie's 3-piece Dresser set." Image shows a comb, brush, and handmirror. The mirror's back faces up and features an illustration of brunette bubble cut Barbie in a long gown, apparently Enchanted Evening. To her right is a half-height Ken in a tuxedo or suit (maybe meant to be in the distance). To her right a small potted tree or shrub. Text reads, "For little girls who want their hair as pretty as Barbie's. Attractive pink plastic set has Barbie pictures on back of 9-in. mirror. Comb; nylon-bristled brush... 97 cents." R: Color catalog entry for "Barbie and Me" vanity set. Translucent blue plastic comb, brush, and mirror. The mirror and brush have similar wide, rectangular heads, and the mirror lies on its face so the back is visible with its illustration of red ponytailed Barbie in her Orange Blossom fashion of a yellow sheath with sheer or lace overdress. Also included are a doll-sized hand mirror, brush, comb, plus yet another mirror on a stand to sit on a vanity top, all in dark red or brown; in addition to a couple light blue compacts. Basically Ward combined a child-sized set, a doll-sized set, and maybe a couple other items. Text description reads, "Matching boudoir accessories for you and your Barbie doll. 7-Pc. vanity set for Barbie has comb, brush, hand mirror, combination stand-up mirror and vanity tray; plastic lipstick and rouge cases, compact. Girl's 3-Pc. dresser set has nylon-bristle brush and hand mirror with Barbie pictures on back; comb. All pieces colorful translucent plastic.... $1.79."
    All catalog excerpts herein via christmas.musetechnical.com

    These appear to be the “Pretty Up TIme” boxed sets manufactured by Pyroxoloid, which bore a couple different copyright dates from at least ’62-’64. The Sears catalog, above left, likely shows an older version: the mirror is round with smooth edges; the brush lacks ornamentation. In addition to the Enchanted Evening (1960-63) version in the catalog, Silken Flame (1960-61) and Golden Girl (1959-62) versions also existed.

    Two images of circular handmirrors with handles lying facedown. One is the color of turquoise and features an illustration of blonde bubble cut Barbie in the Golden Girl sheath. Behind her, the matching fur-trimmed coat is flung over a straight backed chair. She holds a gold clutch. Surrounging the immage is a billowy green curtain with gold rope and trip. Right brunette bubble cut Barbie wears the Silken Flame dress without its wide gold belt. She appears to hold a tea cup. In the background is a table.
    via Facebook and Theriault’s.

    The updated set with illustrations on both mirror and brush, like Ward’s version above right featuring Barbie in Orange Blossom (which has also been spotted in the wild), appears to be more common. In addition to Orange Blossom (1961-64) we’ve peeped sets for Bride’s Dream (1963-65), Friday Nite Date (1960-64), Ballerina (1961-65), and Let’s Dance (1960-62).

    Four images of Barbie Pretty Up Time Vanity sets or pieces therefrom, all color photographs. Two are in boxes, showing oval-shaped brushes and mirrors with long handles, facing into the package so their backs are exposed showing Barbie illustrations. The mirror and brush in one set both have an illustration of blonde Barbie in Bride's Dream, while the second mirror and brush are illustrated with brunette Barbie in Let's Dance. The Bride's dream set looks to be made from opaque pink plastic, while Let's Dance plastic is clear or maybe pinkish-clear. Each set also has a matching comb. The remaining two subfigures show the backs of individual pieces: A mirror illustrated with blonde ponytail Barbie in Friday Nite Date (it is written "Friday Night Date" on the mirror) and a brunette in Ballerina. The Let's Dance illustration appears to have no background at all; Bride's Dream has a wash of pink; Friday Nite Date has a streak of light blue with some sparkles; Ballerina stands on a pink oval surrounded by footlights with a wash of yellow beyond. Each has the little Barbie signature at lower right and the name of the fashion handwritten below or below and left.
    Pretty Up Time vanity sets via invaluable.com, eBay, Worthpoint, and Theriault’s.

    The following year Ward’s listed a much more involved “Glamour Cosmetics” set consisting of an assortment of makeup and cleansers.

    Black-and-white catalog image shows about a 21-piece set of cosmetics and creams plus a mirror on a stand. Bubble cut Barbie's floating head is illustrated in the midst but not attached to any of the pieces. The perfume bottles referenced are toward the top and their stoppers look like inverted Star Trek boomerang logos. Text: "Barbie's Glamour Cosmetics. Play "beauty care" items for little girls with a flair for fashion. There's a stand-up vanity mirror (8x4 1/2 in. wide), perfume flacons with fancy stoppers, compact, creme rouge, 3 shades of lipstick and nail polish. Also apothecary jars of cotton and bath crystals, jars of beauty creams, canisters of bath powder and dusting powder, even a box of facial tissues--more than 20 items in all... $2.99."

    This could be the mysterious Beauty Kit from ’61, or more Roclar products, or perhaps another manufacturer got involved–the pictured packaging isn’t recognizable. If the catalog listing is accurate, these were cute (love the swooshy perfume bottle stoppers!) but not illustrated.

    Pyroxoloid had at least one more foray in ’74, now using photography. While youthful grooming and toiletry sets were a Christmas catalog mainstay over the intervening years, our story of Barbie-themed boudoir products ends here.

    Four panels showing backs of brushes and mirrors from Pyroxoloid. Left is Orange Blossom as shown in a catalog earlier. This one is the linked auction of a used and well-worn version. In this view we can see Barbie holds her bouquet close to her face in one white-gloved hand. There is a pale blue swoosh beihnf her and a scattering of yellow stars or blossoms. Next is a closeup of the same "Friday Night Date" image included above. It's easier to see in this view that she holds a tray with two drinks. She also has a very pale swoosh behind her with black asterisk sparkles scattered all around. The last two are from 1974 sets. Both are opaque, hot pink plastic. One shows blonde Living Barbie and the other brunette Marlo flip, both photographed from about the chest up, with the Barbie signature in black at lower right and no other writing. The Marlo wears her original swimsuit. Not sure about LIving Barbie but it's something red and sleeveless with a v-neck, maybe another swimsuit.
    , ,
  • Barbie’s ’70s Travelogue, Part IV: …And I Must Go.
    3 panels of photos showing blonde fashion dolls immersed in blue or green bathtubs full of suds.

    The previous installment being an appendix, you could be forgiven for thinking that the Travelogue had ended–but Barbie’s still got one last frontier to traverse before the decade wraps. (Your appendix is in the middle of your body, too.) Before we tackle the subject at hand, let’s review how Barbie, from her earliest days, attended to her business.

    Barbie could always powder her nose. Of ten 1960s domiciles we reviewed in the Many Abodes of Barbie series, eight boasted a vanity with mirror and stool–starting from the very first Dream House in ’62. Standalone vanities were even available, from the Susy Goose furniture set in 1964, proceeding to a Barbie and Skipper vanity/carrying case in ’65.

    Two panels, first the exterior of a carrying case labeled "Barbie and Skipper Vanity Trunk" with an illustration of blonde Barbie and Skipper fixing their hair at two mirrors; Skipper's is lower on the wall than Barbie's. They wear pink robs and Skipper's leg in a pajama pant and red slipper is visible. In front of them are two narrow tables or shelves covered with cosmetics. Right panel is the case interior, inside which the two mirrors are attached to the wall over two slim shelves, each on two legs that are molded onto the wall. In front are two ruffled yellow chairs with heart-shaped backs, molded from plastic.
    Vanity Trunk exterior and interior via kthlnjane on eBay.

    Subsequent standalone vanities included a ’68 dressing room case as well as the Action Beauty Scene and Quick Curl Boutique–both detailed in our post on beauty parlors–in ’71 and ’73. Yes, Barbie’s world furnished ample opportunities to powder one’s nose.

    Barbie could also wash her hands, if she didn’t mind using the kitchen sink, starting in 1964 with her New Dream House‘s kitchenette, or even earlier, in ’63, in Deluxe Reading’s Dream Kitchen assuming third party offerings qualify (as they will in this post).

    But where could Barbie go to freshen up?

    From West Germany came an entirely new type of room in 1974. The play set, consisting of a shower/tub combo, washstand, and linens, all on a pedestal affixed to two walls, was produced by Martin Fuchs company; in the US it was a Montgomery Ward exclusive. Such was Barbie’s need for personal hygiene, this set stayed in circulation right up to the decade’s end.

    As described, two steps up to a plantform to which two walls are attached. On the londer of the two walls are a tub and washstand, backed by blue and white tile. Over the sink on a narrow ledge sits a cup with toothbrushes. A red towel hangs next to the sink and a red floormat sits beneath. Next to this is blue bathtub with a shower head extending up and a shower curtain drawn back. BLonde Quick Curl Barbie sits in the tub, covered in bubbles (this is one of the images from the top of the post).
    ’75 Montgomery Ward Christmas catalog image via Wishbook Web.

    Where was Mattel during all this? Well, they did include a nod to bathing in the wall details alongside the vanity of their 1974 Town House:

    Wall details that look like a paper collage. Atop an olive green vanity with long mirror sits a yellow envelope clutch, a pair of white cats-eye sunglasses with blue frames, and a pot of dailies. Wall art continues the flower motif. A racquet leans on the vanity, accompanied by a little pyramid of three white balls. To the left, there's an appearance of a recessed area with a shag area rug, a white tub, white shower curtain, yellow striped wallpaper, and a plant hanging on the striped wall.
    Townhouse wall via jrsgirl on eBay.

    But the decorater didn’t seem confident of the room’s function, tossing in storage for sporting equipment, plus a houseplant mounted on the shower wall. Lathering and rinsing activities are merely implied by a curtain and hint of tub–really anything could be back there. we don’t count this one.

    Mattel then attempted a tangible, palpable shower, one with real spraying water, in the Room-Fulls Vanity and Shower set the following year.

    Color catalog image. In a photo, there is a small playset shaped like a shoebox up on end. A pink-walled chamber is formed with a clear curtain covering the open side. The fourth wall is swung open and has a green-and-yellow striped wallpaper look with a hanging yellow-and-pink "framed mirror" beneath which sits a semicircular table and round stool, both covered in pink polka-dotted material. A yellow tower or bathmat sits nearby on the floor, partially covered by a printed number 16. To the side, text reads: "15. Studio Bedroom. Incl. plastic couch with fabric cover, 2 bolster pillows, one chair, stuffed elephant. Chipboard backdrop setting. 49C31099 - Wt. 1 lb - $.3.97; 16. Vanity and shower. Opens to reveal print fabric covered table, stool, plastic mirror, 11 1/2-in. high shower sprays when you add water. Also, plastic shower curtain, terry towel, bath mat, hand mirror, comb, brush, soap, sponge. Vinyl frame. 49C31091 - Wt. 1 lb 8 oz. - $7.95."

    We know this because of the ’75 Sears Wishbook, apart from which there’s no evidence of any such play set, despite the other Room-Fulls being readily available. Though advertised, the Vanity and Shower set appears not to have been manufactured.

    In ’76, at last, the official Barbie Beauty Bath debuted. With frothing tub ringed by windows, plus the requisite vanity with mirror and stool all in a “garden-like setting” (but no washstand), it represented meaningful progress in Barbie’s canonical hygiene journey.

    Packaging for "Barbie Beauty Bath; Bubbles bubble like magic!" shows an aqua-colored plastic structure consisting of two tiled steps up to a bath, with walls on two sides including large arched windows with greenery and flowers screened onto clear platic. On the outside at one end is a pink semicircular shelf attached to the side of the structure with a pink low-backed swivel stool and an oblong mirror attached to the wall. The mirror is surrounded with studs that suggest lightbulbs although they are of the same aqua plastic as the structure. A yellow towel hangs at the far end of the bath. A Barbie with mod face but no rooted lashes--like the Sweet 16 doll, maybe--and her hair in a bun sits in the bath holding a couple pink plasti cbrushes, covered in foam. This part of the image appeared in the image at the top of the post.
    via littlebitt01 on eBay

    This set returned in the early ’80s as Barbie’s Bubble Bath. By then it was awash in pink.

    Mattel followed up in ’77 with the surprising array of mobile plumbing available inside the Star Traveler. In addition to the expected kitchenette sink, the bus housed a shower stall and, in the bedroom, what we believe to be Barbie’s first official hand sink. A compact vanity rounded out the space, creating “a cozy corner for prettying up” (per the box).

    Two panels from Star Traveler bus packaging. Left is a photograph of Superstar Barbie sitting next to an L-shaped counter. To one side is a sink with white basin and silver fixtures; to the other a mirror opens up from the counter by raising a lid. Space for cosmetics is illustrated beneath. The second is a line drawing of the bus with part of the exterior cut away. We can see the same corner with sink and mirror in the back of the bus, along with a drawer that opens out beneath the vanity and two bunk beds completing the horseshow shape of the back room. Next to this room, off a narrow hallway, is a tight tile-look stall with shower head. Opposite the shower stall, across the hall, looks like a coat closet. The van continues beyond the edge of the frame.
    Box graphics show the “cozy corner” plus a cutaway view of the back half of the vehicle, including the shower stall, via wingmyth on eBay.

    In ’77 Empire brought new depth to these scenes with its Powder Room, a fully realized space with detailed screening containing a vanity with mirror and seat, a washstand, a tub, and a bench, all of chipboard, in an ornate setting beneath a “glass”-paned ceiling. Like other Empire destinations the Lake House and Hawaiian Villa, the set collapsed into its own roof for storage and portability.

    Chipboard room photograph. The walls are golden yellow with green columns that spread like palm trees at the top. To one side hang red curtains (illustrated on the wall) drawn back to revewl shelves of bottles, flowers, and cloths. There are some potted plants hanging on another section of wall and illustated standing along the base of the wall, and mirror illustrated on one side. The trapezoidal top of the structure is printed with skylight panels, "glass' indicated by white streaks on pale blue, in ornate green frames. In the room are pieces of chipboard furniture listed in the text. The "tub" is actually just a chipboard corner to attach to the corner of the room to form the shape. It's composed of a higher wall in marble look outlined by a lower wall in green and yellow tile look.
    via Past Joys Toys on eBay

    Truth be told, the existence of an Empire Powder Room in addition to their other sets is how this little excursion became part of the Travelogue.

    As the decade drew to a close, in 1978 Marx Toys debuted a Complete Bathroom Scene–Complete!–consisting of bathtub, washstand, and linens. The set was designed for Sindy but still sized appropriately for Barbie to share. In ’79 the tub was supplanted by a shower stall.

    Several picture from box packaging of (as text on the images indicates) "Sindy's Complete Bathroom Scene." The pieces are all a medium blue color with some white accents, and consist of a washstand (sink with wall-mounted mirror on a bit of white wall), bathrub, and shower stall with two clear plastic doors, both embossed with an "S" that come to about chest height. Also shown are yellow washcloths, ruggs, and towels hanging from assorted towel bars.
    Sindy’s 1978 and 1979 Complete Bathroom Scenes via ATX Drew the Flipper and NOT WALMART on eBay.

    Across the pond, the original Sindy by Pedigree had been enjoying mustard-hued versions of these amenities–and others–for a handful of years already.

    Complete Bathroom Scenes notwithstanding, in 1979 the final piece of the puzzle fell into place at last with Barbie’s Dream Furniture–specifically, her Dream Commode with accompanying Bath Chest.

    Color photograph from package for 1979 Dream Furniture bath chest and commode, showing the commode and a spa bathbut in pale pink plastic, a set of shelves/drawers in pale pink with hot pink accents, a towel rack, and blonde Superstar Barbie in a baby blue negligee perched on the tub edge.
    via Mountaineer Pickers on eBay.

    And there we have it: all that’s needed for Barbie and pals to freshen up, and not a single piece of essential plumbing missing. What a relief!

    Color catalog image of bend-leg Barbie and Midge in their original swimsuits. Midge sits on a low bucket-looking white shape white her ankles crossed. Barbie sits close by on a higher, white-painted wood block. To me, at a glance it looks like Barbie is perched on a counter next to Midge on a commode, although on closer inspection the objects they're sitting on aren't really supposed to represent anything, they're just showing off the then-new bend-leg capability. Text next to them indicates they're each $2.79.

    This concludes our ’70s Travelogue. If you missed them, earlier entries covered Mattel’s travel destinations, off-brand destinations, conveyances, and luggage. Or head up to the table of contents to see other subjects we’ve tackled.

    ,
    , ,
  • Sidebar: Barbie’s Baggage
    Cover of vintage Barbie and Ken comic book with photograph of dolls: blonde bubble cut barbie in Sweater Girl and dark-haired Ken is a shport jacket. They appear to be walking. Barbie carries her hed hat box and Ken the American Airlines flight bag. Behind them are colorful posters or signs for Spain, Italy, France and England. Caption reads, "Travel along with Barbie and Ken!!! And share their adventures on a tour of Europe..."
    They pack light. As seen in Dell comics.

    Following are vintage illustrations of Barbie and other characters sporting baggage. For a rundown of vintage and nostalgic luggage suitable for Barbie dolls, check out the previous post.

    Color drawings in Barbie fashion catalogs of the early 60s. Left, Barbie in Winter Holiday, a white jacket over a striped hooded sweatshirt, black leggings, anda plaid overnight bag. Right, Barbie in Commuter Set, a navy jersey suit with white top, long beaded necklaces, feathery red crescent hat, white gloves, large red hat box.
    Mattel fashion booklet images, about 1960-1962
    Two vinyl doll carrying cases, one in white and one in light blue. On each, Barbie characters stand in front of colored rectangles that are a bit askew. Three characters are bascailly the same between them: Winter Holiday with no bag; a fit-and flar red-and-white-striped sleeveless sundress with wide-brimmed white hat (though the skirt stripes run horizontal on one case and vertical on the other) carrying a woven straw bag; and a green overcoar with matching hat with feather. On the left case, the last character appears to wear commuter set but in green, carrying a black hat box. On the right, the suit is changed to include a full, flared skirt.
    1961 Ponytail carrying cases featuring Barbie in Commuter Set (L) and in the carrying case fashion (R)–as well as in Winter Holiday sans overnight bag. via Red Stick Retro and lhb149 on eBay.
    Three black line drawings of bubblecut Barbie in different scenes. First, folding clothes into a suitcase, saying "How Will It All Fit In?" An open window behind her shows a leafy tree. She wears short sleeves and a full, flared skirt. Second, walking through a door, looking back over her shoulder at Ken who has a suitcase in either hand and a smaller one under his arm. Caption reads, "Ken Helps." Third, descending stairs outside an airplane, holding a train case, she wears a knee-length skirt, 3/4 sleeves, short gloves, a blouse with a large bow at the neck, and a smaller bow hairband in her hair. A man in a fedora and suit exist the plane behind her, holding a suitcase and his outwears slung over his arm. Text reads, "Barbe Is the First One Off."
    Triptych of 1962 Whitman Barbie coloring book pages
    Black vinyl zippered case with Barbie logo in white and figures in 4 colors (white, yellow, pink and teal). Two blonde ponytails in simple scenes: one in a full pink skirt and long-sleeved teal top stands in front a of a window that says TICKETS, a hat box at her feet; one in teal cape and striped pencil skirt stands at an INFORMATION counter, pink suitcase on the floor next to her; and two more figures, blonde bubblecut and redheadeed flip (maybe Midge), wearing a teal suit and a yellow top with flared pink-and-white striped skirt respectively, stand next in line at information or ense just stand around, with another pink suitcawse at their feet and smaller bags on their arms. One closeup profile of blonde ponytail barbie wears what looks like a nightgown based on the close, ruffled neck with box closure.
    ’62 Ponytail train case via lovedagainantiques on eBay
    Two b/w images of light-colored ponytail Barbie deplaning in two different chapter books. In both, she wears a full skirt with pleating and a jacket with 3/4 length sleeves and wide collar. In the first she wears a dark-colored pillbox hat and dark closed-toe shoes, swinging a dark hat box as she walks away from a distant plane. In the second she stands facing away, in white closed-toe shoes, holding a white hat box, while a smiling, clean-cut young man stoops to pick up her suitcase.
    Illustrations from the 1962 Random House chapter books Barbie’s New York Summer and Barbie’s Fashion Success, in which Barbie could be wearing the carrying case fashion again.
    Three color illustrations from Mattel Barbie fashion booklets, each showing the American Airlines Stewardess ensemble. In the center image, alabaster-skinned, blonde-ponytailed Barbie faces left, a large black purse slung over one shoulder and her American Airlines flight bag in the other hand. At left, alabaster Barbie with reddish flip hairstyle faces right. The image at right is a copy of that at left except that Barbie's skin is peach-toned and her face is detailed with more precision.
    Gaggle of air hostesses from ’62-’63 booklets
    Two vinyl carrying cases with sparkle trials, floating heads of bubblecut Barbie, and clothed characters. Left is a white case upon which Barbie in a yellow version of Red Flare stands, blue suitcases stcked behind her. Right it a black case with Barbie in Winter Holiday and Baribe or Midge in their yellow rain coat ensemble, everything colored as in the real fashions. Winter Holiday Barbie has the plaid overnight bag slung over her wrist.
    Carrying cases from 1963 and ’64, including Winter Holiday with its overnight bag, via Red Stick Retro and Domerdisc.
    Brunette bubblecut Barbie paper doll in a swimsuit consisting of a solid blue bottom colorblock, slim white belt, and red-and-white vertically striped top portion; and a layout of paper doll fashions including a white overcoat with red clutch, red Chanel-type suit, green-on-white Hawaiian shirt and green shorts, and dingy white suitcase covered in travel stickers. Little airplane, Eiffel tower and tropical flowers adorn the space between the fashions.
    ’64 paper doll with part of her Travel Wardrobe
    In a colorful drawing ringed with loosely-rendered foliage, blonde TnT Barbie with pink hair bow wears a green sweater, green-and-pink striped slacks, and green ankle boots, kneeling before a matching purple suitcase and traincase with white trim. Pink travel stickers decorate the suitcase.
    ’67 World of Fashion board game box detail
    Barbie's Travel in Style Set shows a mod Barbie in a dark-colored top and matching blue and green patterned miniskirt and jacket, carrying a round piece of luggage in coordinating white, green and blue bands with stickers reading "London," "Paris" and "Rome." A blue hairbow complements the look. In the background palm trees blow in the wind and a jet airplane stands;; the ground and sky around her are all flaming orange, gold and brown in rough brush or marker strokes.
    1968 gift set box via Sarah Sink Eames’ book

    …and some not-Barbies:

    Two color illustrations of Tammy from an early fashion booklet, wearing Model Miss (L) and Travel Along. In both, Tammy has short blonde hair. Model Miss is a blue swing coat with white trim and red closed-toed shoes worn before a city skyline. Surrounding her are accessories: a packet of nylong stockings, a black date book, a red shoulder bag, and a white hat box with red twim and a little red swoosh. Travel Along is a blue-and-white checked dress with a gold chair belt with heart charms, red buttons including on the patch pockets, a red scarf, red-framed glasses, white closed-toe shoes, and black-and-red version of the hatbox looped over her wrist. Assessories are again the stockings, a shoulder bag in red or leather-look, and a newspaper. The background is a bit of greeneray and a long sedan car.
    Tammy fashion booklet illustrations
    Three vinyl cases or case details with yellow-haired Tammy in Model Miss. In the first, on a black background, Tammy waves before a city skyline. Her outfit is in the standard colors but with yellow shoes, and the white hat box has a large yellow T on the front instead of the usual. The case at right is the same scene but the coat is black (still with white trim) on a light blue background. In the center, on a pink or red background, the coat is blue with no or same-color trim and a T emblazoned on the breast; the shoes are blue, the hat box is yellow with the words Model Miss enscribed, and she walks a small dog.
    Trio of Tammys on carrying cases and hat boxes, via hotcnetwork, pfmink, and busygaldollhunters on eBay.
    On a red background is a color illustration of blonde bobbed Tammy wearing a pink checked suit with yellow shirt and yellow camera case, holding a camera. Just behind one of her feet are a rectangular suitcase and round hat box, both with a couple travel skickers; an umbrella leans against the case. In the further distance are a statue of a figure on horseback, a bobby, Big Ben, and other bits of London scenery, drawn in scribble black with occasional bits of color.
    Tammy in London on another carrying case, via Holly’s Dolls and Treasures.
    Light brown vinyl case with the Littlechaps family of four illustrated in white, black, yellow and green. Father wears a green suit and fedora, yellow coat over his arm, with green suitcase at his feet. Monther wears a yellow Chanel-type suit with black shell and carries a large green handbag. Little sister wears a green jacket and flaired plaid skirt, green kneesocks, holding a brown suitcase. Older sister wears a full green skirt, short yellow jacket with wide sleeves and large bow front blouse and holds a yellow suitcase. A white airline with yellow stripe flies overhead. Small in the background is a modern building, swoosh-shaped with glass front, which looks quite a bit like Dulles airport in DC.
    Littlechaps’ case via Thrifty Doodads (eBay)
    White vinyl case reading Teen Fashion Doll Case with a Weldseal copyright in small text. Like a Barbie case, characters stand before colored rectangles. On a yellow rectangle one brunette ponytailed character wears, basically, Barbie's Winter Holiday with no bag. To her right, on a black rectangle, a blonde ponytailed cahracter wears an A-like yellow coat with red scarf, red crescent hat, white gloves and red open-toe shoes. Down in front a second blonde in a red fit-and-flare dress and wide-brimmed red hat holds a black hat box.
    Teen Fashion Doll case from Weldseal Co.
    (via homegrowndeals on eBay)
    Tammy in the same two outfits shown before--Model Miss and Travel Along, now in brighter, cartoonier drawings with solid pink background--no cities or etc.
    more Tammy fashion booklet illustrations
    3 panels with characters drawn on white backgrounds. L: Sindy with short brown flip hair and red hairband wears long gray coat over red turtleneck. Over one shoulder is a camera on long strap and in her hand is a brown case. Shoes are closed-toed red with bows. Center: blonde Tressy with bouffant updo in double-brewasted, fur-lined houndstooth coat. In one hand is a plane ticket, and over that wrist hands a black purse. In the other hand is a brown hat box and next to her feed is a blue suitcase. Caption reads Winter Journey. Right: brown pigtailed Gaby with heavy eye makeup wears a white blouse, red skirth, and long red-and-white checked sweater vest to the hemline with hite gloves, white open-toe shoes and maybe a white hairband (could be hair texture). On one wrist hands a blue hat box with a name written indistinctly on the front. Text says 29-1400-37 Grosse Flugreise.
    Sindy, Palitoy Tressy, and Gaby fashion booklet art
    Four "Fashion Doll Wardrobe Case" vinyl covers that are identical except for coloring. All show a blonde woman in a checked suit with 3/4 length sleeves, betet, short gloves, and black shoes sitting on a suitcase covered in travel stickers, with a larger trunk behind her and a yellow hat box to the fore. One case is light blue with white checked suit and main suitcase and red trunk; one is black with the same colors; one is black with pink checked suit and main suitcase and white trunk; and one is white with pink suit and suitcase and blue trunk. In each a yellow airplane scoots through the clouds in the sky at back. The clouds are outlined in the color of the trunk.
    Miner Ltd. fashion doll carrying case in assorted colorways via eBay users This Is Barbie World, TnT ReSellers, Sassy Duck Finds, Catina1845.
    According to the labels on the illustrated suitcases, they’ve passed through: New York, New York City, Los Angeles, Iowa and Ohio!
    The logo in the botton center of the game board is a bright yellow rectangle with text reading, "The BARBIE (R) World of Fashion Gabe by Mattel. (c) 1967 Mattel, Inc., Hawthorne, California, Made & Printed in U.S.A." Atop the rectangle is a cluster of buildings from around the world: skyscrapers, onion domes, clock towers, greek columns, etc. To either side stand blonde and brunette Francie, in booklet poses, wearing The Combo and Floating In. Scattered around their feet are hat boxes and suitcases in pink, blue, purple, and red, some with white stripes and white lids, others with little sickers indicating their world travel.
    ’67 World of Fashion board game board detail
    Three color illustrations from doll suitcase packaging. One is a fashionable-looking woman with short blonde hair, a blue suit, and goldish colored suitcase in hand before a line drawing of a plane. Text reads Miss Teen Luggage that sets the pace for luxury! Luggage opens and closes. One is a cartoon drawing of a flight attendant, or maybe a kid playing flight attendant, with blonde hair and bangs, hot pink suit with matching shoes, and yellow bag in hand with what looks like a big flying on the front. She stands before an open airplane door and looks at her watch. Third is a woman in a yellow suit with brown wavy hair, yellow sunglasses on top of her head, and a three-piece set of lavender-colored luggage. In the backgorund part of a plane is rendered in a mass of cloud, but on the ground (can they take off in that?).
    Luggage packaging from: ’63 Payton Samsonite Silhouette (Chloe’s Closet of Collectables on eBay); ’68 Chemtoy Little Stewardess flight bag (Global Pop on eBay); ’78 Shillman Mini-Mod Fashion Doll Luggage Set (Pinterest)
    , , , , , , ,
  • Barbie’s ’70s Travelogue, the Appendix: What to Pack
    Katherin Johnson Barbie, redressed in the vintage Apple Print Sheath but wearing her own black heels with ankle straps and pearl earrings, sits on a stack of white plastic luggage. In the background is a phone booth (Pos'n Tammy's phone booth if you're familiar). Peeking around the corner of the phone booth is a grey-and-white toy tuxedo cat with orange eyes. This is a Barbie cat from, I think, the 80s, and will be referred to as Kiki for succinctness through the rest of this post's alt texts. The floor of the scene is gold-and-white zigzag pattern, while red curtains fill the background. This is my interpretation of the Black Lodge fron Twin Peaks but for Barbie, which isn't really relevant to this post's topic, I just like it and had to use something. All pics in this post are set in the Black Lodge unless otherwise specified.

    In this series so far we’ve detailed how, during the Seventies, an array of vacation spots popped up for Barbie’s enjoyment. We’ve also seen how she gets from place to place, by land, air, or water. At this point she’s got all she needs, except… Barbie, you’re not packed!

    But what to pack?

    This latest entry in our Seventies Travelogue is an appendix and not a chapter proper because Barbie could pack her bags right from the beginning, with Winter Holiday’s overnight bag and Commuter Set’s hat box, both 1959, quickly followed by her American Airlines flight bag in 1961.

    Commuter Set reproduction Barbie with blonde ponytail, bead necklace, red feathery crescent hat, white satin blouse, white gloves, and navy jersey Chanel-style suit stands holding a red cardboard hat box with the Barbie signature in white on the front. Next to her is a small wood table (Mattel Modern) holding the plaid overnight bag with black trim from Winter Holiday. On the floor before them sits the American Airlines flight bad, unzipped. Kiki's head and tail emerge from the AA bag.

    Either bag is serviceable for a quick getaway, but for lengthy journeys she’ll need more capacity than this; and a stylish traveler like Barbie would never be caught toting around a hodgepodge assortment of bags as seen above.

    What she really needed was a matching luggage set, such as the one sold for Penny Brite in 1965. The 8″ Penny was supposed to be 6 years old or something, but that didn’t stop her from having a car which came complete with an adorable line of baggage. The much-taller Barbie probably couldn’t operate Penny’s vehicle very easily, but the luggage actually fits pretty well; even the purse strap is close to the right length.

    Midge wears Sorority Meeting: a brown sheath, matching knit brown vest with off-white trim, white open-toed heels, and brown felt hat with off-white trim. Over her shoulder hangs a hard plastic off-white purse adorned with a molded sunburst. In front of her is the wood table holding an off-white hard plastic suitcase, also with a sunburst emblazoned on the front. Beside the table is the blue chair from Barbie's Dream House. A hard plastic off-white hat box with sunburst sits upright on the chair. Kiki stretches atop the chair back.

    Penny’s play sets had a more Populuxe feel than Barbie’s, all boomerangs, amoeboids, and candy colors. Some of her sets were recolored and put back in production for Dawn in the Seventies, and possibly on another occasion as well, but I believe this is the lone instance of the luggage with its atomic sunbursts.

    I just adore Penny’s set. It may be my favorite Barbie-compatible luggage set. However, other Barbie rivals also offered worthy baggage alternatives in this timeframe. Another fave is Tammy’s hat box, which came in white or black with different ensembles, always trimmed in red.

    Color illustration of Tammy's Travel Along (left) and Model Miss (right). Tammy, with blonde flip haircut, models the two fashions. Travel along is a grey checked belted dress with patch pockets, white closed-toed shoes with bows, a pair of red-framed glasses Tammy holds in her hand, a red scarf tied over her head, a pair of heart charms hanging from her belt, plus a black hatbox on a strap with a red band around the outside. Model Miss is a bright blue swing coat with white stripe down the front housing a row of blue buttons, white trim at the wrists, a matching hat that's basically a hairband from ear to ear with white puffs at the two ends, a red shoulder bag, red closed-toed shoes, and the hat box but in white with red trim.

    What you don’t see illustrated above is the smart little red swoosh on one side of the cases, as aerodynamic as it is midcentury-slick.

    Blonde Casey wears a red minidress/jacket with white trim and a double row of white buttons with a matching red hat plus a pair of white closed-toed heels. She sits in the blue chair, holding Tammy's hat box. A red V-shaped swoosh or boomerang decorates the front of the hat box. The wooden table, behind her, holds the black version of the hat box sitting upright, showing the same red swoosh. Kiki sits behind the second hatbox and looks back over her shoulder toward Casey.

    Tressy, too, had a hat box. From the outside it’s not much to look at, but the lined interior and mirror help it attain new heights of hat box sophistication.

    Two shots of Tressy's hat box taken from an eBay listing. At left, the box lies open in two pieces. The interior is lined with red-and-black plaid and one side holds a small circular bit of mirror. In the second image the hat box is closed. On the outside, it is blue with two blue straps, and the word Tressy in black script on the front.

    You might argue this piece is not a good fit for Barbie since it’s so prominently labeled “Tressy” on the front, but it’s canon that Tressy’s friends borrow her personalized hat box and even her passport.

    The Grand Dame of mid-Sixties off-brand Barbie luggage is the Samsonite Sillhouette line from Payton, marketed for “teenage” dolls in general.

    Photograph from Theriault's catalog of two miniature Samsonite Silhouette luggage sets. Left is one for "popular teenage boy & girl dolls." It contains eight total pieces, four in teal, four in white.In each color are a large suitcase, two smaller suitcases, and a train case. The white set appeared in the first image in the post. Characters that somewhat resemble Barbie and Ken are illustrated on the packaging. Right is packaging for a set of four pieces, now in red. The illustration shows a blonde flip-haired character in a striped suit, surrounded by teal luggage pieces, next to a sign that says BUS STOP. Some of the text reads, "Miss Teen; luggage that sets the pace for luxury! Luggage opens and closes."

    This image is from Theriault’s, who give the date for both as 1963. These four-piece sets were the first to give Barbie ample packing space for weeklong trips or longer. (Even I can admit that the Penny Brite suitcase is a little slim, and that plus a hat box and purse still doesn’t amount to much carrying capacity.) The train case, a classic shape but a fresh innovation in Barbie’s sphere, even has a removable tray like the real ones did.

    Reproduction brunette side-part American girl, with her blue headband, wears the yellow, green and blue -checked dress from the Color Magic Fashion Designer set and turquoise open-toed heels. She sits on the plaid sofa from Barbie's first Dream House, and next to her sits a teal plastic train case, its lid ajar, and the removable shallow tray partially slid out to the side toward Barbie's hand. Sitting catty-corner is the blue chair with an open teal plastic suit case in which Kiki reclines. Between sofa and chair sits the wood table, not really visible, stacked with two other teal plastic suitcases, one larger than the other.

    One other, earlier Samsonite offering also deserves notice. This one, found in My Merry sets dated 1958, actually predates Barbie. The My Merry Guest Closet, an accessory set possibly geared for Alexander-style dolls, included a classic tan suitcase stamped Samsonite and adorned with a little travel sticker. The My Merry Overnight Closet had the same case but with two stickers. No shade to the Silhouettes, but this earlier, well-worn case is my favorite for Ken or anyone who’s feeling hard-boiled.

    Back at the phone booth. A nineties Ken with brown hair wears Rally day: a red cap and tan jacket, plus a pair of black slacks and black shoes. He stands in the open doorway of the phone booth, turned halfway toward the insde. In his near hand is a boxy tan suitcase with two little stickers, one at the top left corner and one at the bottom right, that are a little colorful but inscrutable. Faintly, the word "Samsonite" is stamped into the center of the case. Atop the booth sits Kiki, posed as if ready to pounce or at least swat Ken's head as he passes beneath.

    (Apologies for this Nineties fellow–you can see I’m no Ken collector.)

    Anyway, back in the mid-Sixties, one other major category of fashion-doll-appropriate baggage appeared by 1965.

    Christie with oxidized hair wears the white jacket, gold belt and white pilgim shoes of White 'n' With It. She sits at one end of the plaid sofa and is surrounded by soft-walled vinyl bags with two handles, zippers, white piped trim, and airline logos, most printed in white. They are for: Air France, in a frosty pink; B.O.A.C., in glossy red; Pan Am, in sky blue; AZlitalia, in dark green; SAS (Scandinavian Air) with blue test on a sheen-y white; Airr Iberia on lavender; and TWA on the same green as Alitalia. An additional red bag we can't read sits sideways off the end of the couch, and one more unreadable red bag lies open on its side, unzipped. Kiki is halfway out of this bag, arms stretched to the right but head turned gazing to our left. She looks spirited. Just between us, One of the red bags is a second BOAC and the oher was one of the less-glamorous domestic airlines, so I didn't try to make them clear in the shot.

    I believe these airline-branded bags are actually a little larger than Barbie-scale; her own American Airlines bag can tuck neatly inside most of them, and they could be a lot for her to lug in one hand. However, Barbie’s posh international lifestyle demands at least one or two. At midcentury, when air travel was still the province of the privileged few, a branded airline bag–especially one from an international carrier–was a status symbol. I made sure my doll had at least BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation) and Pan Am bags, those being the first airlines to routinely serve the jet-setting New York-Paris and New York-London routes.

    The manufacture dates of these bags can be tricky to pin down–one forum user remembers them as freebies given to child travelers, so some may never have been advertised or labeled to sell. However, many have been found packaged for retail, and those I’ve seen carried (c) dates between 1965 and 1972, with ’65 and ’68 being common. These usually contained sets of jacks–plenty of the vintage ones you find for sale now still have their jacks–and were produced in Hong Kong for the companies Chemtoy of Illinois and Wells Manufacturing of Ohio.

    Two mini airline bags packaged on colorful cardboard backs. Left is a yellow bag with white trim and green bold text reading ALLEGHENY AIRLINES. Right is a while bag with a red art deco logo for CONTINENTAL AIRLINES with a little insignia of an aircraft in an oval. Both packages contain jacks and balls. Left, the package is predominantly lime green and yellow with an image of two children playing jacks. Large text reads "59 cents, twin set Jax 'n Ball with Airline Jack Bag." Smaller text not readable in the image includes the (c) 1967, Hong Kong manufacture, and Chemtoy Co., Chemincal Sundries Co., Chicago, ILL. 60650. Right is a white bag decorated with many colorful illustrations of flight bags for other airlines. A character dresses as a flight attendant, I suppose, with blue suit jacket and beret, holds between her fingers another of the bags, this one with a CHEMTOY logo. Text reads "Little Stewardess Jax 'N Ball "Airline Bag" Purse." Smaller text lists the contents ("1 AIRLINE BAG; 1 BALL; 8 JAX'S") and similar copyright and manufacture info to the first. The card bears a price sticker for 69 cents and a store logo that may say "Grant's."
    Domestic carriers? Surely, but I’d still add the 1967 Allegheny Airlines and ’68 Continental Airlines miniature bags to my collection. Both via Worthpoint.

    While we may know only approximate manufacture dates, the stickler for era-appropriateness can check that their doll’s bag has the right look by reading up on the airlines and their logos. For example, BOAC merged into British Airways in 1972; and per Logopedia the Pan Am logo on my Barbie’s flight bag was used from 1958-1971. One can also consult this remarkable early-Sixties Boeing ad:

    A poster illustrating 25 different flight bags that existed in real life, for humans. Whereas the bags in the previous picture were all one shape, these are all different shapes, some square, some tall rectangles, most slightly wider than they are tall, one that looks like a bowling bag. Airlines represented incluse Air France, Air India, BOAC, Braniff, El Al, Lufthansa, Pan Am, Qantas, TWA, United, and more. Text at the bottom says "To zip smmoothly and comfortable anywhere in the world," along with some smaller text, a picture of a jet aircraft, and a logo BOEING Jetlines.

    As shown above, human-sized travelers had access to a much greater diversity of flight bag shapes than did Barbie-sized travelers. However, the doll-sized bag proportions were at least accommodatingly ample. Below, Stacey demonstrates how her United shoulder bag can hold an entire second outfit (the remaining pieces from her United Airlines flight attendant ensemble):

    With the Barbie's Friend Ship Plane as a backdrop and black "tarmac" beneath, blonde short flip Stacey reproduction stands next to the Friend Ship's service cart, wearing the United Airlines flight attendant uniform's blue slacks and red shirt with long striped sleeves. Over her shoulder is a largish square bag with a clear fron on which the United logo can only faintly be read because of the colorful contents within: navy skirt, white shirt with "wonder bread" polka dots, and red vest. On the service cart, top shelf is the second red BOAC bag. While the one isn the previous image just said BOAC in large letters with a swoosh logo, this one says "fly BOAC" with the swoosh, then spells out British Overseas Airline Company below. Middle shelf holds the Barbie American Airlines bag, which is canvas and not vinyl like the other bags. On the ground in front of the cart is a lavender bag for Japan Air Lines and the sky blue Pan Am bag.

    Clear-fronted bags like Stacey’s square shoulder one, along with other clear-fronted ones having the more common oblong shape and handles, originally held Liddle Kiddles knockoffs, roughly dating them to 1967-68, give or take.

    Payton, makers of the Samsonite Silhouettes, also released mod-appropriate “miniature Go Go luggage” in yellow and green. Except for the color refresh they were identical to the Silhouettes but lacked Samsonite branding. The images below, from Joe’s List, are undated; but 1968-ish is a pretty safe bet.

    Two sets each of four pieces of plastic luggage, one all-yellow and one all-green, mint on card. Text says "Payton miniature Go Go Luggage; Designed for all the popular size dolls; Each piece opens and closes; 4 matching pieces." A character is illustrated with long blonde flip hair with bangs and a little pink hair bow--VERY much like TnT Barbie--wearing a psychedelic printed yellow, green and pink jacket, striped shirt, yellow miniskirt with black belt, green patterned or fishnet tights, and black shoes, holding a pink train case with two more pink cases beside her. Yes, it really does say "popular size dolls" whatever that means. The three suitcases are labeled "vanity case", "pullman," "overnighter," and "wardrobe." In the earlier photo of Payton Samsonite in the package, the labels aren't really visible but the red set that was not marketed for boy dolls had slightly different labels: "Ladies' Overnight," "Pullman Case," "Ladies' Wardrobe," and "Beauty Case."

    Over in Mattel world, 1968 brought Barbie a brand new hat box with the fabulous, Sears-exclusive Travel In Style gift set, which is rare. Luckily the box was also sold as part of the Tour-Ins accessory pak, which is common.

    Oxidized Julia wears the Junior Designer turquoise sheath with turquoise open-toed heels. She stands next to the blue chair. In her hand and supported by the back of the chair is a green plastic hat box with white, green and blue stripes and sticker-like details that say "Rome," "London," and "Paris." Kiki stands on the chair, her front paws against the back of the chair, like she's reaching toward the hat box. Both Kiki and Julia have their heads turned back toward the camera as if they've been interrupted.

    Francie, too, had hat boxes. The one from the Clear Out ensemble, shown below left via That Toy Girl on eBay, is the most common and is doll-agnostic. The hatboxes for Tweed-Somes (shown below right via bartalk on eBay) and Partners in Print are Francie-branded and are rare, along with their outfits.

    Images from eBay. Left is a red plastic hat box with white, red and blue stripes and sticker-look details that say "Rome," "London," and "Paris." Right is a green plastic hat box with white, green and pink stripes and the word "Francie" scrawled along the top right.

    During the Seventies, Mattel again provided Barbie with a mismatched hodgepodge of small luggage pieces. The gold-colored case that came with the Friend Ship, shown below left, may be just about large enough to tote a paperback novel and pack of cigarettes–and what else do Ken and Barbie really need in their carry-on? The brown Busy Barbie case, below right, is covered with stickers suggesting international travel, like the My Merry Samsonite suitcase Ken toted before. However, the Busy case is exactly the same size as an earlier Skipper/Tutti piece regarded by many as a lunchbox. The aluminum-look Star ‘Vette suitcase, below center, appears to have more generous proportions but is practically two-dimensional.

    Vintage blonde Stacey wears Mainly for Rain, a red, green and blue houndstooth long coat with blue trim and buttons, matching hat, and high blue boots. She is seated--on what, we can't see--behind a 1970s plastic coffee table of pink with a white oval top. Before her are three "suitcases." The silver-look plastic suitcase stands upright, partly balanced by her hand. It has a pink, yellow and orange stripe down the middle somewhat reminiscent of a luggage strap, but wider. This looks like a fine suitcase or at least briefcase size for Stacey, from this angle. On its side lies the gold- or mustard-colored case from the Friend Ship, which, in Stacey scale, is about the size of a dictionary. Standing next to it is a brown case, about the size of a lunch box, with stickers for four locations including Tokyo and Spain. Unlike the foregoing hat boxes, these are actual stickers with color illustrations. Kiki stands on the table and rubs her cheek against the corner of the brown case.

    Once again, competitors had enough space for all Barbie’s stuff in matching luggage sets. Miner Industries offered a four-piece Samsonite-style set, similar to the Samsonite Silhouettes but with a hat box, metal-look latches and hardware, and mirrors embedded in the hat box and train case lids.

    One Modern Circle Melody, with mod Barbie's face mold, teal short flip hair, and a purple mini dress and green scarf from Scooby Doo's Daphne, looks like she's walking through the frame. Teal plastic luggage sits nearby, some open, some standing upright. These pieces are a brighter hue than the earlier Samsonite Silhouettes, and they have the appearance of metal closures and handle attachments. On the floor, a train case sits slightly open with jewelry visible in a compartmented top tray. A hat box sits wide open, a circular mirror visible in its lid, full of open-toed shoes of carious hues (I panicked and couldn't think of any good hats for this scene). A large suitcase sits upright, closed. On the small brown suitcase a slightly smaller suitcase sits open, a bit of magenta material within, and Kiki also within, kneading the material.

    Miner’s set was advertised from 1975-77. In 1978 Shillman’s Mini-Mod line introduced its own Samsonite-inspired set of three pieces, this time in pink, with more metal-look hardware and tiny airline logo stickers. Compared to official Payton Samsonite, both of these sets are rare today.

    On a stark white vinyl backdrop, Proudly Pink Silkstone Barbie, wearing a blue-and-white Seventies Glamour Group minidress with wide blue belt and Seventies calf-length pak boots, sprawls on the floor next to a hard plastic green sofa that is 90s Barbie but actually kinda child-sized relative to Barbie. Behind her is a large Samsonite-style suitcase in bright pink with metallic painted accents along the top edge where the case closes and locks and where the handle attaches. On the front of the suitcase, centered near the top, is a sticker with a blue Pan Am logo. On the small couch sits a slightly smaller suitcase of the very same design, but with a United logo sticker in red and blue. Next to that a pink plastic hat box lies open, with the same metal appearancce and the site of the hinged handle and molded locks. The lid of the hat box is open at a 90 degree angle and Kiki sits inside, fitting nicely. It looks like a good size for her to curl up comfortable inside, though now she sits erect. She looks back over her shoulder at Barbie, who reaches out to pet her.

    Upon the retirement of their pink suitcases, Shillman/Mini-Mod debuted a long-overdue set of soft-sided luggage in 1980.

    Two boxed sets of MS Shillman "Mini-Mod" luggage. Left is the set of three pink pieces (hat box, small suitcase, large suitcase) with metal-look details. Although I believe all originally had stickers, only one faces out from the package: A small Pan Am logo on the top center of the largest case. The cardboard backing features a color illustration of a woman with three pieces of metal-detailed purple luggage. She wears a yellow skirt-suit and has yellow sunglasses perched atop wavy brunette hair. Text reads "De-luxe Mini-Mod Fashion Doll Luggage Set" (plus more that is too small to distinguish). Right is a set of soft-walled (cloth) luggage in white with brown straps, the white fabric printed with little clubs and rosettes and the initials "MS" intertwining. There is one cylindrical duffel bag, one open-topped rectangular shoulder bag, and one larger suitcase-shaped bag. In addition to brown leather-look straps they have metal accents like a button closure on the duffel and some silvery circles on the strap of the suitcase bag that suggest adjustable strap length. The box shows a photograph of a Mini-Mod doll with straight blonde hair, wearing a blue coat, with the shoulder bag on her shoulder and the other two at her feet. Test says "Mini-mod Designer luggage set, 3 pieces, matching soft-side signature luggage for all dolls. High fashion styled. Tote bag - overnighter - barrel bag."

    Though strictly speaking an Eighties product, this marked and monogrammed Vuitton-style set is ideal for late-Seventies Barbie’s chic Superstar life.

    On a stark white vinyl backdrop, 1980 Black Barbie in a late-Seventies Best Buy orange jumpsuit with gold accents stands next to the diminutive hard plastic couch. Over her arm is a sizeable cloth suitcase in white festooned with little logos and monograms and with leather straps and piping. On the couch, nearly dwarfing the couch, is a cylindrical duffel. On the floor before the couch a rectangular tote lies on its side. Kiki's hind legs and tail are visible sticking out from the tote as if she is playing.

    Stretching even further into the post-Seventies future, the ’90s Barbie Millicent Roberts line for adult collectors was chock full of callbacks to memorable early Barbie offerings. The Jet Set baggage particularly evokes the Winter Holiday overnight bag, although its brown leather-look trim is a mismatch for the black-trimmed original, held in Barbie’s right hand below.

    Brunette ponytail Barbie reproduction wears Winter Holiday: striped hoodie with half-length sleeves, black footed leggings, and platform shoes with white uppers. She sits in the blue chair with her feet on the matching ottoman (how else? this doll's legs don't bend). In one hand she holds her Winter Holiday overnight bag, about the size of a bowling bag in red plaid with black accents. At her side is a large soft-sided red plaid bag, not quite the same plaid, with brown leather-look straps and pouches and gold-toned buttons and whatnot. The brown leather, if I'm perfectly frank, is not that appealing. The bag has both short handles and long shoulder strap. The small brown table is toward the back and holds a smaller red plaid bag with brown leather, this one about the size and design of the one Barbie holds, plus a red hat box with rope handle and plaid printed on the front. Where is Kiki? She skipped this scene.

    Though it doesn’t complete the Winter Holiday suite, the Jet Set baggage can serve on its own as a stylish and capacious alternative for vintage Barbie’s mountain getaways.

    Another nostalgic ’90s release for adult collectors was the Spiegel-exclusive Summer Sophisticate doll. To me she’s less “sophisticated” and more “Doris Day plays a wedding planner,” but she did have a nice retro hat box. Here are some of her sudsy-looking accessories, via A Little of Everything for You on eBay:

    Photo from eBay listing shows the bottom part of a doll's sheath dress, pink with yellow and white stripes in a high-sheen fabric. Next to the dress is a pale greenish blue hard plastic hat box with the Barbie logo in white and a white cord handle. Other pieces are white cat eye sunglasses with blue lenses looking a little melty--less sharp than the vintage ones--along with pearlescent pinkish open-toed shoes and a pearlescent white purse with pink trim. A high-sheen pink jacket sits just on the edge of the frame and may have a flower corsage on the lapel. If not wedding planner I guess this style could be Mother of the Bride.

    And here’s just the hat box in the Commuter Set context:

    On a stark white cinyl backdrop, blonde ponytail Barbie reproduction wears her own repro Commuter Set suit, now with the blue-and-white checked collared shirt and no necklace. In one hand she holds a hard plastic teal/aqua hat box by its white cord. Kiki stands beside her, stretched with front paws up on her leg, gazing toward the hat box curiously or longingly.

    Like so many early Mattel releases for adult collectors, Summer Sophisticate and Jet Set are both easy to find in like-new condition.

    Finally, the Hallmark miniature Barbie train case and hat box ornaments are circa Y2K in manufacture, but they’re also detailed copies of real children’s luggage from the Sixties, perfect for the younger travelers in Barbie’s orbit.

    On white vinyl backdrop, Black Francie reproduction stands wearing Shoppin' Spree. In one hand she holds a rectangular zippered black vinyl train case covered with screened-on images of vintage Barbie modeling her fashions before colorful rectangles. In the other she holds a sizeable hat box with a closeup of Barbie's profile and a handful of small images of Barbie in assorted fashions, also on black vinyl and closed with a zipper. At the back of the scene Kiki, wandering by, looks over curiously.

    Or do they err in the less-common direction: are they a little large?

    The two Hallmark cases sit unzipped on the wood-look coffee table from Barbie's first Dream house. On the right the hat box lies on its side, partway open, Kiki peeking out. To the left the train case lid is open and a white cat with green eyes and pink bow looks out (a 90s Barbie cat). The two cats have locked eyes from their separate cases. It doesn't necessarily appear friendly.

    At this point, Barbie’s vacation is just about booked. So until we meet again and as Casey’s flight bag says: Bon Voyage!

    The Friend Ship sits open as a backdrop with a white high-sheen floor before it. In front of the Friend ship, to the left, are a large number of suitcases lined up with their slimmer sides facing the camera. They include white Samsonite Silhouette, teal Samsonite Silhouette, tan My Merry Samsonite, the larger Penny Brite suitcase, the slim aluminum-look Star Vette case, the pink Shillman luggage and the team Miner luggage. The Japan Airlines flight bag sits before them, and stacked behind them in a part of the Friend Ship actually made to hold luggage are the soft-walled sets from Shillman and Barbie Millicent Roberts. To the other side, within the ship at the booth-style seating various hat boxes are stacked. Partially visible are the Summer Sophisticare, Tammy, Penny Brite, and Tour-Ins hat boxes. At front right on the floor are four train cases: two Miner and two Samsonite Silhouette. Front and center stands Casey in her red outfit with white trim (a Shillman ensemble that looks very similar to a real 60s flight attendant uniform). She holds out another flight bag. Although it's not evident to the viewer, this is the Air France bag turned around backwards. the back is a glossy white with the words "Bon Voyage!" printed in red scripts and illustrations of four other flight bags for different airlines at the four corners: a blue KLM bag, a red BOAC one including its little swoosh, teal SAS, and red Qantas. My one regret is there's almost no way the viewer can distinguish all that detail because I crammed so much into the scene. Anyway, near Casey's feet sits a hot pink pet carrier, its metal-look cage door front slightly ajar. Kiki is stepping out with both front paws, looking around curiously. Should be a fun flight.

    (Find the Seventies Travelogue’s next and final installment here.)

    , ,
  • Sidebar: Window Shopping

    A recurring theme in fashion doll illustration…

    ’62 Barbie coloring book page “colored” by me
    Black-and-white line drawing of bubble cut barbie in a short-sleeved top. short gloves, and pearls, facing away into a shop wondow. Midge in pillbox hat stands beside her. In the window is a stacked hat like the one belonging to Career Girl Barbie, along with a button-up jacket and scarf. Caption at bottom reads, "Ooo, Let's Shop!"
    and another for you to color.
    Color illustration of three characters looking into a shop window containing three more of themselves. Outside the window, Mary (blonde bobbed hair) wears a red suit with wide collar and black envelope purse; Tressy (brunette flip) wears a green swing coar with 3/4 sleeves, white gloves, brown handbag with strap, and conical hat matching her coat; Cricket (a youth with brown hair in loose curls) wears a checked coat with white scarf and carries a black purse. Inside the window, Mary wears a pink-and-white checked suit; Tressy, a black-and-white checked suit with collarless jacket and mock turtleneck shirt beneath, carrying a red-and-black checkerboard. Mary and Tressy in the window both wear thick black-famed glasses. Window Cricket wears a fit-and-flair green checked pinafore dress with white apron and long-sleeved white undershirt. A cookbook titled "Kitchen Ideas" hangs near her head and a cake sits near her feet. Her hair in the window is quite bouffant. Text reads, "It's window shopping time! Mary's wearing Tressy's WINDOW SHOPPING outfit. It comes with a black pocketbook with lovely clasp, black vinyl high heels. Tressy's FIFTH AVENUE outfit comes with matching hat, red and gold scarf, hi-styled pocket book, long white gloves, vinyl high heels, and white initialed handkerchief. Cricket's WINDY WEATHER outfit includes a pale blue scarf, pocket book with "pearl" button, and black vinyl shoes. In the window, EXECUTIVE SWEET includes stenographer's notebook and pencil, dictionary, and eye glasses. CHECK MATES comes with eye glasses, checker board and checkers. KITCHEN CUTIE comes with dainty lace trimmed apron, cake and plate, knife fork, spoon and cook book."
    Tressy, Mary and Cricket fashion booklet ca. 1965
    On a red background, color illustration of a woman with brunette flip hair style walking in a blue swing coat covered in red diamonds, with tall collar and two large buttons at the neckline. She wears a tall gold hat, white button pearl earrings, black heels. On one arm she carries a black handbag and in the other hand carries a striped shopping bag. Behind her is a brick wall (black brick outlines on the red background), set into which are a glass door (indicated by rectangle of white and blue scribbles) and a window displaying a blouse and scarf drawn in yellow and blue.
    mid-Sixties Miner Industries doll carrying case
    Color box art from gift set mixes illustration with photographed elements, so that an illustrated character appears to browse a shop window displaying mostly the same pieces she is wearing, except inside the window they are photographs and not hand illustrated. Blonde Jamie wearing a red coat with pink trim and wide pink belt, plus puffy red hat and red boots to mid-calf, walks a grey poodle outside a shop window. White trees are illustrated across the street in the background amidst hazy green. Inside the shop window are photographed components overlaid onto the illustration: the blonde Jamie doll in her yellow/pink/red minidress wears pink pilgrim shoes. A toy bog stands beside her to one side, her boots lie next to her on the other. Suspended in the air are her coat and hat as worn by the illustrated character in the scene. Text reads "new 'n wonderful Walking Jamie Furry Friends Set; I really walk! My arms swing, My head turns! I wear Barbie clothes, too!"
    1970 Jamie gift set (via Theriault’s)

    …plus a bonus: when the shopping gets real.

    Color illustration of Barbie and Ken, arms overloaded with wrapped packaged, standing next to a sign reading "Bus Stop." Ken wears his Rally Day fashion, a red cap and brown coat; plus black slacks and shoes. Barbie, with a blonde ponytail, wears a red crescent hat, red open-toed shoes, red sweater, and gray skirt (mostly as in Sweater Girl with some Commuter Set accessorizing).
    ’62 Barbie and Ken jumbo trading card

    Happy holidays from Silken Flame!

    , , , , , ,