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.

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.

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.

Fashions that weren’t (1959-1970)

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