ABSTRACT

Barbie is the most popular doll in United States (US) toy history. Her extensive wardrobe rendered Mattel the number one clothing manufacturer in number of outfits made. Her appeal seemed to rest largely on the fact that she enabled young girls to vicariously live out their fantasies of the adult world. Barbie, 11 1/2 inches tall and shapely in proportion, was most decidedly not a childish-looking doll. In addition, the seemingly endless array of clothes available as wardrobe items encouraged the collecting impulse of Barbie owners. And keeping Barbie in fashion was not cheap. Although the doll itself retailed for only three dollars in the mid-1960s, the clothes ranged in price from one dollar to five dollars. In 1963, her complete wardrobe cost $136; this figure did not include companion dolls such as boy friend Ken and friends Midge and Allan and cars and other material goods.