Tag: vintage barbie
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Seventies furniture and rooms
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;…
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Visions of Midge
Signing off, 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…
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Barbie-sized Mannequins & Dressforms (1963-73)
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…
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Sew Free? Sew Magic? Sew Simple? Cut and Sew??
Today we tackle the great mysteries of vintage Barbie collecting, to wit: Is the below a Vintage Barbie “Sew Free” Outfit? What about these, are they Vintage Mattel Sew Free Sew Magic Barbie Doll Clothes 1960s Very Rare? No, and also no. So what are they? How can one tell? And what do all these…
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Barbie’s ’70s Travelogue, Part IV: …And I Must Go.
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…
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Sidebar: Barbie’s Baggage
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. …and some not-Barbies:
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Barbie’s ’70s Travelogue, the Appendix: What to Pack
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…
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Sidebar: Window Shopping
A recurring theme in fashion doll illustration… …plus a bonus: when the shopping gets real. Happy holidays from Silken Flame!
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Barbie’s ’70s Travelogue, Part III: Arrive in Style
In the first two posts in this series, we covered new and exciting destinations that opened their doors to Barbie during the Seventies. Whether it was a ski holiday, a fishing trip, or a beach vacation, while Sixties Barbie could dress for the occasion, only Seventies Barbie ever arrived. But did she arrive… in style?…
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Sidebar: Miss Lively Livin’ game (1970)
Because of its gorgeous design, we’ll briefly pause to appreciate one last Barbie board game of the vintage and mod eras, even though its art uses photographs in lieu of hand-illustrated characters. The whole package is such a sumptuous rainbow that it’s irresistible. Look closely at corner squares on the board to see shots of…
