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Dressed: The History of Fashion
Barbie: The Fashion History of an Icon, Part I (Dressed Classic)
00:46:21
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- [00:01]
Wix
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- [00:30]
April Callahan
What's up?
- [00:31]
Cassidy Zachary
I just bought and financed a car.
- [00:32]
April Callahan
Through Carvana in minutes. You, the person who agonized four weeks over whether to paint your walls eggshell or off white, bought and financed a car in minutes.
- [00:40]
Cassidy Zachary
They made it easy, transparent terms, customizable, down and monthly. Didn't even have to do any paperwork.
- [00:46]
April Callahan
Wow.
- [00:47]
Cassidy Zachary
Mm. Hey, have you checked out that spreadsheet I sent you for our dinner options? Finance your car with Carvana and experience total control financing Subject to credit approval.
- [00:59]
April Callahan
Dressed listeners, please enjoy this episode from the Dressed Archive of over 500 plus shows. You have been very patient with us and we assure you Dressed will be back with all new content in the form of Season eight very soon. We have so many wonderful things up our sleeves that we cannot wait to share with you, but until then, please consider heading to dressedhistory.com where you will find information regarding our upcoming fashion history tours of Paris and New York, which are both open for registration and selling fast. And while you are there, also consider signing up for our upcoming online course offerings which include what Women Wore to the Revolution coming your way in May. More from Dressed coming your way very soon. The History of Fashion is a production of dressed media. With over 8 billion people in the world, we all have one thing in common. Every day, we all get dressed.
- [02:08]
Cassidy Zachary
Welcome to Dressed the History of Fashion, a podcast that explores the who, what, when of why we wear. We are fashion historians and your hosts.
- [02:16]
April Callahan
April Callahan and Cassidy Zachary. April, I have to know, have you caught it?
- [02:26]
Cassidy Zachary
I mean, I have gotten Covid in the past. I haven't caught it recently, although three of my friends in New York have it right now.
- [02:35]
April Callahan
Oh yeah, Covid is definitely making the rounds, but that is actually not what I am talking about. I am talking about Barbie Fever that, as I'm sure you and our listeners know, has taken the world by storm dorm.
- [02:49]
Cassidy Zachary
Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you've looked at your phone anytime in the last like two months, you already know this.
- [02:54]
April Callahan
Yeah, and I mean, Barbie's the face, as their Greek myth goes, that launched a thousand ships, or rather thousands of types of trademarked Barbie pink merchandise from Hamburgers to Krispy Kreme donuts, cars to home interiors, high heels to underwear to any number of clothing from fast high fashion. And I mean, that's not to mention the thousands of articles, millions of social media posts as you just spoke to a Barbie selfie generator and of course an entire new line of Barbies. The list goes on.
- [03:24]
Cassidy Zachary
So it goes without saying that Mattel has obviously put in place this really elaborate global marketing plan that has resulted in what feels like hundreds of licensing collaborations for the very first live action Barbie film directed by Gerda Gerwig, starring Margot Robbie as the title character, which just debuted this past Friday to much fit.
- [03:46]
April Callahan
And this is also the part in the episode where we make a quick disclaimer that this episode is not sponsored by and or affiliated with Mattel Barbie or the Barbie movie. We of course time the release of this episode in tandem with the film's release and it's definitely inspired by it, but it's not about it because while I may have personally caught Barbie fever, it's only being heightened by the film because I actually caught Barbie fever when like I'm sure so many other countless people throughout history and into today. I caught Barbie fever when I was just a kid and my parents gave me my first Barbie doll and that fever has never left. It might have been dormant for a while, but it is back in full effect.
- [04:28]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes. And Cass, I too caught Barbie fever as, as a young girl. I don't exactly remember the precise moment that my parents got me a Barbie doll. I think maybe my first one was given to me because it was somebody's when they were a young girl, the first one. But there were several subsequent ones after that and I might just have had the Barb dream house and I had the pink Barbie Corvette and I had that little bathtub. You remember the bathtub that had like real bubbles that you could put in it?
- [04:56]
April Callahan
Oh yeah, for sure.
- [04:57]
Cassidy Zachary
Yeah. She had that in her dream house.
- [04:59]
April Callahan
So in this two part series we bring you this week, the series is not about the film, but it's about the doll that inspired the film. And as we will learn, just as fashion, as we love to stay on, dress is about so much more than pretty clothes. Barbie and her iconic fashion sense is so much more than just a pretty face.
- [05:16]
Cassidy Zachary
Barbie is so much more than just a child's toy and there are not many toys and certainly no other dolls that are as world famous as Barbie. Her reach is so vast that Mattel claims that 90% of people in the world recognize her name and I truly believe this, really. Arguably, no other toy has transcended their original intended purpose to become a full fledged global and pop cultural phenomenon. Barbie is adored by children and adults alike. Barbie is collected by museums, and she has even been immortal by great artists such as andy Warhol. The U.S. postal Service issued a Barbie stamp. And so many books, television series, video games have been produced with Barbie content. And now a blockbuster film. And that is not to mention the billions of dolls produced over her lifetime. One sold every three seconds, if Mattel is to be believed, leaving undeniably huge footprint on both our hearts and the planet. So, of course, that brings up just one way that the legacy of this beloved doll is perhaps equal parts positive and also problematic.
- [06:23]
April Callahan
Oh, yes, April, you are speaking about something at the very heart of Barbie's existence from day one. And that is what I am calling. And I'm sure this is not original. I'm sure others have called it too. But I am calling this the Barbie paradox, because while there is perhaps no toy or doll as singularly famous as Barbie, there has equally been no other doll or toy as controversial. I mean, Barbie has never existed inside a vacuum. For her entire life, she has been in conversation with the world around her, reflecting and challenging society and societal mores around topics like gender, sexuality, race, making her as problematic to some people as she is loved by others. And intimately connected to this paradox is Barbie's relationship to fashion, which is foundational to her very existence and inarguably an invaluable part of her unrivaled success into the present day.
- [07:13]
Cassidy Zachary
Barbie's relationship to fashion and fashion designers has been foundational to the doll since before she was ever even manufactured, when she was just a little twinkle and her creator Ruth Handler's eye in the early 1950s. Since debuting as a fashion model in 1959, Barbie has reflected contemporary fashions of the era within which she lives in that moment. But most importantly, she has also influenced and been part of that fashion culture, featured in and on the COVID of fashion magazines, dressed by and inspiring some of the world's most famous fashion designers, and inspiring children around the world. Engage in fashion and the fashioned self.
- [07:52]
April Callahan
And I have to say that Barbie means so many things to so many people. And those meanings often extend beyond this superficial relationship to dress. Barbie is so much bigger than just a doll. And Barbie's story is also not about just her, but it's also about these fascinating figures responsible for her ascendancy to cultural and fashion icon status. And Barbie's story, of course, has to start with the extraordinary woman responsible for her creation, as you mentioned, April, when Ruth Handler and I actually did not know this April, but not only did Ruth create Barbie for the now multi billion dollar company toy company, that is Mattel, she created Mattel. And she did it at a time when women couldn't even open a credit card without their husband's approval. So, I mean, she did open this company or start this company with her husband, Elliot, but let's just say it would never have existed without Ruth's tenacity and drive and vision. And in many ways, Barbie, which Mattel argues is the original girl empowerment brand, Barbie takes a lot of cues from her maker. She was a bonafide, badass, trey chic one at that. And so it is with Ruth, not Barbie, that this story must begin.
- [09:01]
Cassidy Zachary
Ruth Handler was born Ruth Mariana Moscow on November 4, 1916, in Denver, Colorado, the youngest of 10 children born to a Polish immigrant parents. But she was actually raised by one of her sisters and her sister's husband. And there's a certain irony to be found in the fact that the creator of the world's most famous doll, get this, listeners, had no interest in playing with dolls herself when she was growing up. She was by all accounts, quite the tomboy who developed a very strong work ethic from a young age while she was working as part of her family's various businesses. Ruth met her future husband, Elliot Handler, while in high school. They married in 1938. They were both 22 at the time, and the couple chose to settle in California. Ruth was working as a stenographer for Paramount Studios and he was working as a lighting fixture designer. But it was not long before the two went into business together, with Ruth successfully marketing Elliott's furniture designs, molded and machined, that they purchased and kept in their garage. And this was a new, innovative material that they were using at this time. Lucite, also known as plexiglass. And I happen to have some Lucite furniture in my apartment.
- [10:14]
April Callahan
Yeah, it's very cool and very.
- [10:16]
Cassidy Zachary
It wasn't. Maybe it's a work of Elliott. It is from the 1930s or 40s.
- [10:21]
April Callahan
Yeah. And I have to say, from the very beginning of their working relationship, Ruth and Elliot's different roles seem to have been pretty clearly established. I mean, Ruth has said, quote, my husband is a brilliant artist and creator, but he's also shy and introverted, and I am just the opposite. So Ruth was really the business side, the brains that make things happen, as they say. So the go getter. And Elliot was more the Creative. Or was the creative making all of the wonderful things that she would successfully market? So, long story short, April, everything the handlers touched seems to have turned to gold. Solid plastic gold.
- [10:58]
Cassidy Zachary
And not out of any sort of luck, but really thanks to a ton of hard work, determination and vision, in 1940, the couple moved on from Lucite Furniture to Lucite Jewelry, which I also happen to own. I'm a big fan of Lucite. Let's just say this. They partnered with Zachary Zemby to create a company called lzack. You know, short for Elliot and Zachary, which capitalized on the 1940s costume jewelry boom and ended up growing into a multi million dollar company. But the handlers actually ended up selling their shares to their partners in favor of a new venture, selling Elliot's designs with a business partner whose name was Harold Matson, AKA Matt. So I think you might have already seen where we're going with this. Dress listers.
- [11:41]
April Callahan
Yes, this company was started in January 1946, was none other than Mattel. And while the name suggests it child of Matt and Elliot Mattel, Ruth was actually foundational to its creation from the start. And she's actually said, quote, yes, it was Elliot's designs. Yes, it was Elliot's name. Yes, he was very much a part of it in my mind. But I actually started Mattel. And she addresses the name choice in her memoir writing, quote, it never even occurred to me that some part of Ruth, by all rights, belonged in the name. But this was 1944, and just as a woman got her identity through her husband, in her personal Life, you were Mrs. John Smith, not Sally Smith. Should not be so in business.
- [12:22]
Cassidy Zachary
The fact that Ruth's name is left out is even more astounding when you learn that Matt's time at the company ended very early on. Depending on which version you adhere to, he left either the following year because of health issues or because he and Ruth didn't exactly get along. But maybe it was a little bit of both. Who knows? Regardless, the name Mattel stuck, and the Mattel star only continued to rise in the 1940s. And this was thanks largely to Ruth, who had this incredible talent for marketing and sales. So, pairing her talent with Elliot's creative genius, the two built what can only be described as a toy empire.
- [12:58]
April Callahan
So how do we get from Lucite furniture and jewelry to toys? Well, that's because Elliot started making toy doll furniture. And the duo quickly realized there was money to be made in the toy market, which was enjoying an unprecedented boom in the prosperous post World War II era. With more prosperity came more children, aka the baby boom, as this era is so often refer. And thus came a demand for more goods to entertain said babies. And the creation of gender specific toys, just as we see with gender specific clothing, was a fairly new marketing innovation of the mid 20th century, and it was directly linked to how companies could make more money off of consumers. So why sell one toy to boys and girls when you could sell two different ones, right?
- [13:41]
Cassidy Zachary
Or why sell white baby clothing when you can gender it by coloring it pink or blue?
- [13:45]
April Callahan
Exactly.
- [13:46]
Cassidy Zachary
Saying so. Ruth and Elliot seized on this moment first by dipping their toes into the market with an aforementioned line of doll house furniture before really exploding onto the market like a cannonball after a consecutive series of huge successes, including a child ukulele called the Ukadoodle, a music box, and also toy guns. And the latter was actually the subject of the couple's first groundbreaking television commercial, which debuted in 1955 on the very first episode of the children's television show the Mickey Mouse Club. And it is because of this commerc that the many successive commercials that followed that Ruth is actually considered to be a pioneer of television marketing, particularly in the realm of children's toys.
- [14:33]
April Callahan
Yes, and the Mickey Mouse Club is, of course, a Disney. Disney's children's TV show, Mr. Potato Head, was actually the first toy marketed directly to children through a commercial, and that was in 1952. But even three years later, when the Mickey Mouse Club was starting, television show was starting, this sort of marketing was still not really being considered as a viable option. Toy companies, a lot of commercials, most commercials at this time were directed towards adults, like cigarette ads and cleaning ads. And toy companies still overwhelmingly depended on buyers at annual trade shows such as the Toy Fair. And those buyers would determine which toys would best appeal to children. Plus, advertising was incredibly pricey. This is a very early era of television. But Ruth took a huge chance, and when I say huge, I mean she paid a whopping $500,000, and that's roughly $5 million today to be the only, the show's only advertiser with the commercial. And this is actually the estimated value of their entire company at the time. So this was a huge risk. And the commercial they aired was for their latest burp gun toy.
- [15:41]
Cassidy Zachary
Let's just say that the commercial was hugely successful and sent Mattel's profits skyrocketing, while also setting a precedent for toy advertising that companies continue to follow today. This burp gun would not be the last Mattel toy to fly off the shelves and into the arms of adoring children. Just as it would not be the last Mattel commercial to air on the Mickey Mouse Club. Case in point, this commercial made its debut alongside the groundbreaking toy it was advertising in 1959. Tune in.
- [16:10]
Unknown Singer
Barbie, you're beautiful, you make me feel My Barbie doll is really real. Barbie's small and so petite. Her clothes and figure look so neat her dancing outfit rings a bell at party she will cast a spell. Purses, hats and gloves galore and all the gadgets gals adore. Barbie dressed for swimming is only $3. Her lovely fashions range from 1 to $5. Look for Barbie wherever dolls are sold. Someday I'm gonna be exactly like you. Till then I know just what I'll do. Barbie, beautiful Barbie. I'll make believe that I am Barbie. You can tell it's Mattel, it's swell.
- [17:09]
April Callahan
Barbie might have made her debut in 1959, but she was a doll almost a decade in the making. In the early 1950s, Ruth had pitched the idea of an adult bodied fashion doll to the Mattel team. The idea came to her as she relays in her memoir, Dream Doll, after watching her young daughter and her friends playing with adult female paper dolls. And she writes, quote, they simply were not interested in baby paper dolls or Even those representing 10 year olds their own age and play. And afterwards, she said, as she says, I discovered something very important. They were using those dolls to project their dreams or their own futures as adult women. And it dawned on me that this was a basic, much needed play pattern that had never before been offered by the doll industry to little girls.
- [17:54]
Cassidy Zachary
Now we as fashion historians know that what Ruth was proposing was not exactly the first fashion doll in history. Smaller scale dolls modeling the latest fashions had existed for centuries prior. Oftentimes they were known as Pandoras. And they were used as a way to transport the latest fashion trends and information to women, not girls, at royal courts across Europe. So at the time of Ruth's revelation in the 1950s, there were actually even fashion dolls already on the market. In terms of the toy market, for instance, there was a line of dolls called Revlon by the company Ideal, marketed as, quote, a teenage sister with a real girl's figure, high heels, sheer nylon sty stockings, high fashion clothes and elegant jewelry. And while the dolls wore clothing that was fashionable, I guess in terms of the 1950s silhouette, they had a disproportionately large head with a young girl's baby doll face with large eyes and pouty lips. But they also had a child's figure with a flat chest and plump legs and arms. And so it really looked like a little girl playing dress up in her mother's clothes. So they were wearing fashionable clothes. Yes, but not on the fashionably ideal adult female form that Ruth's daughter and her friends aspired to have when they were playing with their paper dolls.
- [19:13]
April Callahan
And when Ruth first pitched the idea to her team at Mattel, she was shot down by her male counterparts, including her husband Elliot, who were all basically horrified with the idea of marketing a doll to children with breasts. Oh no, no. I mean, not that they don't see breasts on all their mother and friends, etc, but anyways, so. So it's so commonplace to us now, right? Obviously. But I mean, this is an era when it was controversial for Lucille Ball to appear on I Love Lucy Pregnant because it insinuated to the audience that she and her husband had sex. So Ruth ended up dropping this idea with her peers, but it continued to ruminate at the back of her thoughts until it was inspired to the forefront by a fortuitous family vacation to Switzerland of all places, in the summer of 1956. And this is the part where some listeners in the know say, yeah, Barbie is a knockoff. And the answer is she is and she isn't.
- [20:10]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes, and this is something that I, that I learned about doing this episode I did not know about. This little bit of Barbie history apparently was in Lucerne, Switzerland while shopping with her husband and two children that Ruth and her 15 year old daughter became transfixed by a window display featuring six 11 inch dolls. They all had an identical face, hair and stature, but they were all wearing different fabulous European ski outfits. This doll, you ask, what was her name? Her name was Lily.
- [20:40]
April Callahan
But Lily wasn't exactly a doll intended for children, April, now was she?
- [20:45]
Cassidy Zachary
No, she was not. In fact, she was a 3D rendering of a very popular German adult comic book character described as, depending on what article you read, quote, a gold digger, an exhibitionist and a floozy or pornographic caricature. A gag gift for men. So no, she wasn't exactly intended for children listeners. She was basically this walking sex pot with a wardrobe to match that highlighted all of her fabulous assets. But her clothing, interestingly enough, is often the subject of the scenarios around her in the comic book character. For example, in one comic book strip, a cop tells her that the bikini that she's wearing is illegal. Oh yes, she says, and in your opinion, what part of it should I take off? So she was a naughty little, naughty little vixen. Basically, yes, absolutely.
- [21:40]
April Callahan
So in Ruth's repeated retelling of the story of this fateful day in Switzerland, she actually maintains ignorance as to Lily's identity. And I believe that. I mean, considering her German origins. And in a 1990s interview with journalist M.G. lord for her unauthorized Barbie biography, Ruth says, I didn't then know who Lily was or even that its name was Lily. I was gripped by the window display. And she actually writes in her memoir, here were the breasts, the small waist, the long tapered legs I had enthusiastically described for the designers all those years ago.
- [22:12]
Cassidy Zachary
This encounter confirmed everything Ruth had imagined for the doll that it could be, except for one very distinctive difference, and that was her clothes. When Ruth inquired with a salesperson as to if she could buy clothes for Lily separately, she was basically scoffed at. And she was informed that if she wanted to buy different outfits, she would have to buy different dolls, which she did. And she bought one for her daughter and one for herself, brought it back to LA and immediately asked her research and design department to bring a version of Lily to life. But not exactly as Lily. Right, Cass?
- [22:48]
April Callahan
Correct. And Barbie would undeniably be similar in design, but she would be marketed specifically to children. So of a more respectable and appropriate character, obviously, and with a fashionable and full closet of clothing. She would also, of course, have an entirely different name because this was an entirely different doll. And it would be named after the child who had inspired her creation, and that was Ruth's daughter, Barbara. Her nickname, Barbie. And this is where fashion will truly take center stage. Dress listeners in our narrative after a brief word from our sponsors.
- [23:22]
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- [24:14]
April Callahan
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- [25:56]
Cassidy Zachary
Welcome back. Okay, so maybe Ruth's design for the Barbie doll was not entirely innovative. But as we have made clear, the concept was this was not a sexy pinup intended for a niche adult market. Barbie was to be a respectable, fashionable young woman intended to inspire admiration and aspiration in young girls who dreamed of being her when they grew up and inextric linked to that fantasy. And thus the process of creating Barbies from day one was something that Lily never had. It was a changeable sold separately and a seemingly endless variety, constantly updating wardrobe. And this was a genius marketing concept if you think about it, and the handlers had thought about it thoroughly. This was based on a concept known as razor blade theory. As Ruth describes it, you quote, sell the razor at a reasonable price and people will buy the razor blade, plates or clothes in our case to go with it. So Barbie was priced at about $3 when she originally debuted, would be about $35 today, and the clothes were packaged separately and priced at that time anywhere between a dollar and three dollars. So this was going to be a veritable Cash cow or doll for Mattel.
- [27:09]
April Callahan
Yes. And while fashion was central to Ruth's vision and she herself participated in fashion, she's always described as being impeccably dressed. She was not in fact a fashion designer. And let's be honest, she was running a multimillion dollar toy company at this point. She did not have time to design all of Barbie's fashions. And Ruth realized that if she wanted to sell the reality of Barbie's fashion sense to the world, she would need to go to the professionals. And this is the point in our story where we meet Charlotte Johnson.
- [27:37]
Cassidy Zachary
It's actually Elliot that is credited for finding Charlotte because it was he who called Los Angeles's Chouinard Art School because they had a clothing design course. And Cass fun fact inserted here, Bob Mackey also yes to Chouinard. And Elliot asked for some recommendations. And at the time, Charlotte was a teacher and a dress designer. And Ruth loved her immediately. Charlotte got the job and will remain as the head of Barbie fashion design, overseeing the entire fashion design team until retiring in 1980. So she was there for decades. And one member of that team, Carol Spencer, who will, we will meet more formally in a few minutes, has said that, quote, Ruth was the inventor of Barbie, but Charlotte made Barbie a reality.
- [28:22]
April Callahan
Something, at least in the early days she did while keeping her two day jobs, April, and working on this debut fashion collection at night in her home. And Ruth would actually come over a few nights a week to help. So Ruth was still very much involved in every part of the process. And overall it took three years to bring Barbie to life. And something that in fact did not happen in California or even in the United States. Barbie and her clothing were manufactured in Japan because of shocker low production costs. And Charlotte actually moved there to oversee production, which she did down to the smallest, tiniest details.
- [28:57]
Cassidy Zachary
It was incredibly important to Ruth that Barbie's wardrobe was super realistic. So she had proper undergarments and her clothing had functional zippers and buttons. And this realism extended to her hair and makeup. The Hollywood makeup artist, artist Bud Westmore of the famed Hollywood Makeup Westmore family dynasty was brought in to design her hair and makeup. And According to the Westmoresofhollywood.com Bud modified Lily's quote be stung lips, heavy lashes and weird widow's peak eyebrows to give Barbie what Bud called the all American girl look, which apparently by 1950s standards included a heavily lined lid, blue eyeshadow and her signature red pout. He also brought in his wig making skills to root Barbie's Platinum blonde hair to her plastic scalp.
- [29:48]
April Callahan
Yeah. So a lot of care and thought went into the creation of Barbie. And she finally debuted as a teenage fashion model in 1959. And at 11 and a half inches tall, Barbie was white complexioned, but came with either brown or blue eyes, with a brunette or blonde ponytail and bang hairstyle. And she wore, as we mentioned earlier, a black and white swimsuit. But you could, of course, purchase 22 outfits separately. You had tons to choose from. And it was important to Ruth that children had both glamorous and practical clothing. So there were clothes for, say, a fashion show or beauty pageant. But she writes, quote, I insisted that the line also include clothes that would enable Barbie to participate in more ordinary teenage type activities, such as playing tennis, going to a school prom, a picnic, a football game, or to a regular job. Activities to which little girls could better relate. My whole philosophy of Barbie was that through the doll, the little girl could be anything she wanted to be.
- [30:43]
Cassidy Zachary
And thankfully, there are a ton of Barbie collector pages out there that detail the trajectory of Barbie's wardrobe over the years. So we can actually describe for you some of these debut looks. For one, she had multiple undergarment options, complete with slips, girdles, and of course, high heels. Absolutely. There's also the daintiest pink negligee, little heels, and a felt doll that came along with it. There are more practical casual outfits that Ruth insisted on that are incredibly charming, such as the barbecue ensemble. Yeah, pun intended there. And this was a little rose cotton checkered sundress in that kind of classic flared 1950s silhouette. It also came with a white apron and chef's hat and other cooking accessories.
- [31:26]
April Callahan
Yeah, they're so charming. And I think my favorite actually has to be the Barbie sweater girl ensemble, which came with a cardigan with the tiniest gold bead buttons and a flannel gray skir with back snap closures. So it's functional. The construction details on these early Barbie clothes are insane. And that look comes complete with a how to knit book. April. Three balls of yarn and scissors. I just can't handle it.
- [31:50]
Cassidy Zachary
Tiny scissors can't handle it. So, as promised, her clothes range from the casual to the glamorous. And of course, there is the gay prison set, which is the navy polka dotta dress and a white fur stole. But it's really her accessories that kind of take this look to the next level because it also includes a navy headband hat with a veil on it, a gold velvet clutch purse, long white gloves and navy open toed heels. But. But but, but, but we cannot forget about the jewelry. Tiny, tiny, tiny Barbie jewelry. Pearl stud earrings and a graduated pearl necklace. And this pearl necklace makes a repeat appearance quite a lot in Barbie looks from the 1960s was a fashion staple of the era, but it also happened to have been one of Ruth's own favorite accessories. So I wonder if this is a little bit of Ruth's own personal touch or the designer's own little homage to Ruth herself.
- [32:50]
April Callahan
Yes, for sure. So Barbie debuts in March of 1959 and she caused a sensation. So much so that ruth calls the 1960s the golden years for Mattel. And this was the decade after all that Mattel became the largest company toy company in the world at that time, with the company's profits soaring, its annual revenue going from $26 million in 1963. And that's when Mattel became a publicly traded company to $180 million by the end of the decade.
- [33:20]
Cassidy Zachary
Wow, that's six years.
- [33:22]
April Callahan
And while Elliot, as president of the company was inarguably the creative genius behind many a successful toy, such as Hot Wheels for instance, Ruth, who was vice president of the company, was actually the driving force behind Mattel's continued success. Success.
- [33:36]
Cassidy Zachary
In fact, Ruth and her biographers agree that she was vice president of the company in name only. She had full operational control of Mattel. And this was something that became official when she finally earned her rightful title as president in 1968. But it was a long time coming. And Ruth says of this time, quote, for women, it was not a glass ceiling in those days. It was concrete and the ceiling was there and the walls were there. I had had instance after instance in which it was made known to me that I was a fluke or a quirk. It gave me a lot of self doubt. I had all kinds of mixed up feelings. It also gave me the feeling of power. Strangely enough, in 1964 the handler's personal assets were valued at $40 million. And they had Barbie for the most part to thank for this.
- [34:22]
April Callahan
Yes, and this is something Life magazine acknowledged in a multi page article on Barbie called the most popular doll in Town in 1963. And this featured a Barbie who, who is so impeccably dressed she appears to have stepped out of the pages of a fashion magazine. She's wearing what could be a custom Dior two piece gray wool suit. And as the article notes, she has, quote, helped make her creator, Mattel incorporated the biggest U.S. toy company. And her extensive wardrobe has pushed Mattel into first place as the biggest clothing manufacturer. And number of outfits made in the world. The article features Barbie's complete $136 wardrobe, which ranges from everything from nurse to nightclubber. And this is just one of innumerable articles from the decade that really track the trajectory of Mattel and Barbie's success.
- [35:09]
Cassidy Zachary
In the 1960s, Barbie became nothing short of a global sensation. As Robin Gerber notes in her book Barbie and Ruth, during the decade, Barbie accounted for a huge part of the company's success. In nine years, the doll had brought in retail sales of more than half a billion dollars, which included sales of 103 million completes complete costume sets. Wow, just think about that. 103 million costume sets a decade. So during the 1960s, Barbie's world would also expand exponentially. As Gerber explains, licenses and subsidiaries of Mattel have been contracted around the world to make clothes and accessory for Barbie's line, to publish a fan magazine, and to make child sized clothes with the Barbie brand. End quote. So there was a Barbara Barbie Teenage Fashion Model newsletter. There were paper dolls, and there were already so many Barbie knockoffs on the market cast by 1962 that Mattel had to start reminding people in their ads to not accept imitations.
- [36:11]
April Callahan
Part of the expansion of Barbie's world included getting a number of friends and family members and a backstory, actually, thanks to a series of books published by Random House. And it's in those books that we learn that Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Ryan Roberts. She's born to parents George and Margaret Roberts in the town of Willows, Wisconsin, where she attends Willow High School and met her on and off again boyfriend Ken, who joined the Barbie Mattel universe in 1961. Named after, as you may have guessed, trust listeners, the handler's other child, their son Ken.
- [36:42]
Cassidy Zachary
So how did Ken come into being, you ask? Came into demand, basically after Mattel received thousands of letters from children asking for Barbie to get a boyfriend just like Barbie. There was also pushback for the Mattel team about producing a boy doll. Historically, boy dolls had not done well. But Ruth persevered, even if her demand for a realistic bulge in his pants was ultimately scrapped by the design team. And Ruth was right. Ken was hugely successful. And although as a New York Times article from the Arab points out, quote, ken, Ken, unlike Adam, was created after his mate, end quote. And that just points out the fact that Ken's success would always really pale in comparison to sales of Barbie dolls. With three Barbies sold for everyone, Ken.
- [37:32]
April Callahan
And this article you quoted from was actually from 1963 which is another prophetic year for Barbie history, as this was the year that Carol Spencer, who he briefly mentioned earlier, started as a fashion designer at Mattel. And we are actually so indebted to Carol for not only her incredible 35 year contribution to Barbie fashion history, she is the longest working designer at Mattel ever, but also because she so generously detailed that experience in her beautifully illustrated memoir, Addressing Barbie, which was Originally published in 2019 for Barbie's 60th anniversary, but was recently republished just this year in paperback. It's a beautiful, beautiful, big, giant illustrated book. It's amazing. And while alas, we will not be interviewing Carol for the podcast, she just did a wonderful interview with our friend Lucy Clayton over at Dress Fancy podcast, so you can check it out there.
- [38:23]
Cassidy Zachary
Carol's love for sewing and fashion was actually instilled in her as a young child, thanks to her grandmother who taught her how to sew. It is this love for fashion that inspired her during her senior year of high school in 1955 to apply for and ultimately win a coveted guest editorship at Mademoiselle magazine. She went on to study fashion design in college, after which she cut her teeth in the fashion industry as a children's and junior wear designer before answering an ad for a fashion designer stylist for Mattel. She was hired after being sent home from her first interview with a blonde and a brunette Barbie and being asked to create designs for them over a two week period while documenting her entire design process, from sketch to the ultimate finished garment.
- [39:05]
April Callahan
And lucky us, because Carol did more than document that process, Dresslister. She documented really her entire time at Mattel, saving illustrations, illustration boards, boards and clothing prototypes and Barbies to create an incredible archive that is highlighted in this book. And this book also includes the inspiration board and illustrations that she created for this initial Mattel interview. And that comes complete with the Barbies and their Carol original looks that ultimately got her the job. So the final part of the interview process was meeting with Charlotte Johnson herself, who Carol describes as, quote, a bonafide legend in the history of Barbie and very tall and quite stylish. But apparently Charlotte was not very forthcoming. After carefully examining Carol's design, she rendered her verdict, which was I have no objection to hiring you and walked away.
- [39:56]
Cassidy Zachary
Wow.
- [39:56]
April Callahan
Carol writes that her words revealed no enthusiasm for my design.
- [40:01]
Cassidy Zachary
A little bit of sang for it there.
- [40:03]
April Callahan
Yeah.
- [40:03]
Cassidy Zachary
It is thanks to Carol though, that we do have an insider's perspective of the Barbie fashion design department, which was windowless, basically kept under lock and key, and Even guarded by security because of toy espionage. So this is where the Barbie magic happened. It was here that Carol writes that you found, quote, anything you might need to bring Barbie to life, end quote. Carol describes her experience seeing the space for the first time after she was hired. She says that Charlotte was the only one with an office and everyone else was in a common room. And at the center of the common room was a, quote, large wooden table with doll sized fashions and various stages of development. Shop shelves beneath held a treasure trove of notions. Buttons, zippers, snaps, ribbon, sequins, anything that you might need to bring one of Barbie's fashions to life. Each wall was lined with floor to ceiling shelves teeming with fabrics of every color and print.
- [40:54]
April Callahan
And there's actually a picture of the workroom in her book, which is so cool. So around that center table were the designers individual workspaces where they both designed and sewed. And the latter, actually, Carol tells us, was actually something handled by their assistants who are professional seamstresses who made their samples. So there you were getting Barbie fashions created. And it was also in this room where Carol met the other three designers responsible for creating Barbie's wardrobe. So she was one of four designers, and this was Dorothy Shue, Eileen Zublin and Kate Carter, who, Carol writes, all brought their own distinctive perspectives to Barbie, or flavor, as Carol calls it. And so apparently Dorothy brought the fantasy, Eileen brought high style and haute couture, while K brought the drama. And as for Carol, she writes, I excelled most at the meaning of true American design. So a simple, sportswear driven perspective, comfortable and chic. And despite admiring her fellow designers work, she says that this workspace was actually incredibly competitive because all four designers essentially competed for their designs to be chosen as the 120 fashions produced for Barbie each year.
- [42:01]
Cassidy Zachary
Carol describes the design process from start to finish as being incredibly rigorous and overseen by Charlotte in every way. She writes, quote, as someone whose vision was instrumental to Barbie from her very first fashion collection, Charlotte's opinion was simply unparalleled and respected by everyone, end quote. This includes the handlers with Elliot, who Carol describes as easygoing and cheerful. Apparently he even stopped by the department every afternoon to give bits of helpful advice. She says Ruth, who was of course running the company, was usually not involved until the final stages of the process. Process, which was an annual lineup where each designer presented their finished designs for Charlotte, Ruth and Elliot to review.
- [42:41]
April Callahan
Designs were chosen based on a series of criteria that included not just how much the trio liked the design, but how much children and focus groups liked the design and they also considered how much usage they could get out of the fabric. Carol writes that they were extremely thrifty, hated waste, and put recycling rules into place at Mattel long before sustainability was considered fashionable or necessary. Necessary. And Carol and her fellow designers not only had to contend with if their design was fashionable now at the time that they were designing it, but it would have to still be fashionable 18 months in the future when the dolls would be available to buy. So in this way, they were also trend forecasters, inspired by fashions of the present day with an eye on the future. And Ruth writes, quote, that we never tried to set fashion, we just tried to anticipate what the fashions were going to be by the time the product came to market. Market Dress listeners consider this your official invitation to join us this upcoming June and July on one of our two unforgettable behind the scenes fashion history adventures in the world fashion capital of Paris.
- [43:45]
Cassidy Zachary
That's right. For seven days we will explore the City of Lights, numerous sartorial delights with exclusive tours of the world's most important fashion museums, historic fashion and costume ateliers which are closing to the public. And oh did we mention a visit to Marie Antoinette's Versailles.
- [44:00]
April Callahan
And the summer holds in store not one, not two, but three incredible fashion exhibitions, starting with the Louvre's first ever fashion exhibit in the museum's 230 plus year history. And then you have two much anticipated retrospectives of fashion history's most important designers, Charles Frederick Wirth and Paul par. Our summer 2025 tours promise to be our best yet we have just one.
- [44:26]
Cassidy Zachary
Spot left on our trip from June 29th to July 6th and just opened registration for our second trip which will be July 20th to the 27th. And this one will be run by myself and our treasured Parisian collaborator Rebecca DeVagny of Textile Tours of Paris, who is not only a trained haute couture embroiderer but also an expert on the history of Paris's fashion arts.
- [44:48]
April Callahan
Head over to dresshistory.com tours for the full itineraries and further details about registration. That's June 29th to July 6th and July 20th through the 27th. More info@dresshistory.com tours Carol writes that Ruth.
- [45:05]
Cassidy Zachary
Always directed the designers to think about real clothes when designing for Barbie, and Carol found inspiration for her designs everywhere thanks to reports from the Fashion Group International. She and other designers stayed up on the latest and most popular fashion coming out of Europe, but she was also inspired by what she saw people wearing on the streets of la. And I happen to have seen Carol lecture in New York back in 2020 right after the book was released. And she told us that she even based numerous Barbie looks from clothes that were in her own closet, which is super, super cool. So it was in this way that Barbie style really developed along fashion throughout the decade. Case in point here. Cass was Carol's first look chosen for production, was created as the crisp and cool bar. She debuted in 1964 in a red and white blouse and pencil skirt. And this was a look inspired by Jackie Kennedy with that helmet hairstyle to match. And by the end of the decade, Barbie had let her hair down and her inhibitions down. This was another something that Carol talked about when I saw her lecture in person. She talked about how she designed for Barbie and her friends when they went full mod and even hippie in psychedelic colors and fringe vest. And she adorably calls them counterculture Barbie when she spoke.
- [46:25]
April Callahan
And Barbie and her clothes were not just a reflection of changing clothes styles, but changes in society at large. And in 1968, Mattel introduced talking Christie, which was the first black doll created for the Barbie line. And while the doll represents Mattel's first efforts to diversify Barbie's world, which is commendable, they still had a very long way to go because Christy was not herself a Barbie, but a friend of Barbie. And actually the first black Barbie would not debut for another 12 years. And her mod inspired swimsuit actually was designed by Carol Spencer. And Mattel wouldn't hire its first black designer, who was Lavinia Kitty Black Perkins, until 1978. And we're going to learn a lot more about Lavinia and her contributions to Barbie history. And part two of this episode next week.
- [47:09]
Cassidy Zachary
1968 was also the year that Barbie made an appearance on the Dean Martin Show, a move that signaled not only her transcendence into popular culture, but into pants. So I guess it was rather a jumpsuit, which, you know, I love. And this jumpsuit was of white lace over fuchsia taffeta. This was designed by Carol, remembers Carol, quote, unsurprisingly, Ruth Handler decided to lead the charge for women at Mattel, making pantsuits a regular part of her work wardrobe. If Barbie could wear them, then why not the women who worked for her to make her a success?
- [47:42]
April Callahan
Yeah. And we have to remember that Barbie really, in many ways, was a symbol of women's empowerment, reflecting but also prefacing women's real achievements throughout the decade. For instance, she purchased her first home in 1962, at a time when women could not get a line of credit without their husband's approval. She had numerous careers throughout the decade, expanding out from fashion model to be a designer, a nurse, a teacher, and even an astronaut in 1965. Sally Ride doesn't become the first American woman in space until 1983, so she's ahead of her time. But despite all this, Barbie wasn't exactly a feminist icon, or at least not.
- [48:20]
Cassidy Zachary
According to the feminist organization, the National Organization of women or now, who in 1972 picketed the annual toy fair where Mattel and and other toy companies debuted their latest toys. They were doing this to protest against toys that they claimed were sexist or militarist. So basically dolls and guns, which happened to be two of Mattel's specialties. So according to the New York Times from this time, the demonstrators handed out leaflets that quote, charged that fashion dolls such as Barbie, dawn and Chrissy perpetuated sexual stereotypes by encouraging little girls to see themselves solely as mannequins, sex objects or housekeepers.
- [48:59]
April Callahan
And these accusations are a bit ironic when you consider, as Carol told Lucy in her interview, that the designers were all members of now, the national organization for women. And also when you consider that Barbie's creator Ruth had shattered numerous glass ceilings, or she said, concrete ceilings, at this point, challenging head on this idea that wife and mother should be the sole aspiration for young girls. And in fact, Ruth proved you could be all three. Ruth envisioned a doll as independent and driven as herself and always maintained throughout her life that Barbie was a role model that girls could look up to. It should also be noted that in the 200 plus roles and career Barbie has enjoyed in her 60 plus year lifespan, mother is actually not one of them.
- [49:41]
Cassidy Zachary
That does not mean that the women's complaints were completely unfounded. Barbie was just like fashion models and magazines, undeniably instrumental in promoting an unrealistic, arguably harmful body ideals to young girls. If, as Ruth insisted, she was a role model, she was also one that was white, blonde and incredibly thin.
- [50:02]
April Callahan
And let's just say that the wrath of female organizations was not Barbie and Ruth's only problem in the 1970s. While Carol described the decade as a boom time for design, it would also be the decade that witnessed Ruth and Elliot being unceremoniously ousted from the company they built from the ground floor up.
- [50:20]
Cassidy Zachary
And on that note, dress listeners, we are going to conclude part one. You're just going to have to tune into part two this episode of Tuesday next week to find out how that happened. And also this is where you're going to learn all about Barbie's ascendancy to fashion icon status throughout the 1980s, 1990s and into today.
- [50:41]
April Callahan
So much more Barbie fashion history coming your way, but until then, may you consider the role models who have influenced you. Next time you get dressed, you are definitely going to want to check out our Instagram this Week Dress listeners for images and reels. Accompanying this week's episode, which is our Instagram handle is of course Dressed Underscore podcast and the hashtag will be dressed 309 and dressed 310. You can also find us on Facebook at Dress Podcast without the underscore and on our website dress history.com please reach out to us and say hello at our new email hellorusthistory.com dress the history.
- [51:15]
Cassidy Zachary
Of Fashion is a production of dress Media.
- [51:23]
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