One of the deepest wells of vintage Barbie fashion sketches must be Whitman paper dolls–if you agree that they have a place alongside all the art that came straight from Mattel. Whitman had paper dolls on many subjects, from Kim Novak to Marlo Thomas to Twiggy and far beyond, and it’s perfectly possible that the Barbie sets share more DNA with those non-Mattel Whitman items than they do with non-Whitman, Mattel Barbie sketches. Whatever the case may be, I like the sets and think their aesthetic fits nicely alongside other Barbie illustrations.

Fortunately for us, a wealth of the vintage paper dolls are still floating around sites like eBay, and a few enterprising individuals are even selling homemade reproductions of the 1960s originals. For this exploration I am focusing on the product of a single reproduction seller. I don’t know her and am not affiliated with her, but her extensive collection and high-quality images form a very convenient resource.

You could probably write a whole chapter on the art in the Whitman paper doll sets without even mentioning the dolls or the fashions they wore: alongside the dolls and fashions are a wealth of other interesting illustrations of the life, times and surroundings of Barbie and her friends, as you see illustrated above and below.

But maybe we’re here to talk fashions. Above, an illustration accompanying a paper doll set shows Barbie trying on Garden Party. Around her room we also see a dress that may be Dancing Doll, some possible pak belts, and a number of closed-toe shoes–improbable for Barbie in 1962, but that’s a topic for another post.

In the paper doll sets I browsed I found dozens of recognizable Barbie fashions. Here’s a sampling:

A funny thing happened to the After Five fashion in 1962, when it was reimagined to have a trim, sheath skirt with full sheer overskirt–reminiscent of the Orange Blossom silhouette.

I think it’s an improvement!

A Barbie and Skipper set from 1964 was full of their real-life matched ensembles. Do you know what Skipper look corresponds to Barbie’s Solo in the Spotlight? I didn’t.

(The answer, above, is Ballet Class.)

Just as often, the paper doll fashions appear to be originals–maybe designed by someone at Whitman? We know so little about the sources of these illustrations. But often, the new fashions are great–some worthy of OOAK projects, in my opinion. One 1963 set is packed with stylish, elsewhere-nonexistent fashions for Barbie and Midge. I didn’t recognize a single one of the styles in this set as one that was sold for the real Barbie and Midge:

…and yet, oddly enough, the very same set includes an illustration of a drafting table surrounded by fashion sketches, all depicting legitimate, Mattel Barbie fashions.

I’m no Ken aficionado, but I did see one Mattel Ken fashion I recognized replicated in this set–although I sort of wish I hadn’t seen it.

Why is he brandishing that around Barbie and Midge?? Different times. Wash your eyes with some svelte styles from Barbie’s 1964 travel wardrobe:

A “Wedding Dress ‘n’ Fashion Clothes” set from the same year featured mostly new creations for Barbie with a similar aesthetic. These samples also offer a glimpse of the many small touches adorning some of the Whitman pages, that I didn’t have space to detail here.

The fun didn’t stop in 1965; the next sets take Barbie and friends into their mod years and beyond.