Andrea Wilkinson
ArchivesFashion Model BarbieFashion Model Barbie, better known as Silkstone Barbie, appeared in 2000. How is it that a doll with less than a decade of history is perceived by many as a repro doll? As you know, initially the Barbie doll is a classic industrial doll for children that has nothing to do with adult collecting. The contemporaries of the first Barbies would be more willing to collect Cissy from Madame Alexander or Shirley Temple from Ideal, but not a new inexpensive doll. Adult collecting began in the late 70s, when the first children who played with (or dreamed of) a Barbie grew up and were able to afford everything they wanted as a child. Mattel reacted almost immediately to this movement by launching its first collectible series, International Barbie Dolls (later Dolls Of The World), in 1981. And in 1986, the first collectible Barbie designed exclusively for adults was released - the porcelain Blue Rhapsody. After that, Mattel began to regularly make dolls for the adult market, but many vintage Barbie collectors did not recognize modern dolls, which often used the same molds as the production of 80s play dolls. This could not but devalue them in the eyes of the "old school" collectors. In this regard, it is understandable why Mattel launched the first series of reproductions for Barbie's 35th birthday. However, the company here limited itself to more or less reliable copying of old models, which could not satisfy those collectors who wanted to see an idealized image of the past in dolls. After all, we all live with cultural myths about the past (the Golden Age of Hollywood, the Beatles' 60s, the era of disco, etc.), highlighting only the most striking and characteristic elements of style: a rethinking of retro fashion within the framework of modern aesthetics is inevitable. That is why Silkstone Barbie dolls were indispensable. This is not a repro in the literal sense of the word: rather, they interpret the style and fashion of early Barbie dolls at a new level. It was starting with Silkstone Barbie that many collectors, collecting mostly vintage dolls, turned their attention to the modern Mattel collector's editions. Silkstone Barbie is made from a specially designed special grade of hard silkstone vinyl that is heavy and feels like porcelain. Silkstone dolls are very sedentary - they have only five standard points of articulation and a rotating waist, and the arms and legs are attached with elastic bands. Silkstone Barbies stand in model poses with one hand on their thigh and appear taller than regular Barbies - probably because the dolls wear very high heels (by the way, their legs do not bend). All Silkstone dolls have a single mold, very graphic and stylized. Their advantages include almost complete seamlessness, more realistic reproduction of arms and legs compared to conventional reproduction, and, in general, greater proportionality. The first Silkstone Barbies were Delphine Silkstone Barbie in luxurious evening wear and Lingerie # 1. The Lingerie Barbie collection (2000-2004, 6 different models) brings Barbie back to her original concept of a “basic doll” requiring the purchase of additional outfits. However, in 2000, this concept caused a real scandal. The so-called "moral majority" anathematized both the "depraved doll" and the manufacturing company itself, and Mattel's assurances that this doll was intended only for the adult market and should not appear in children's stores did not help. However, in Russia, such dolls regularly “pop up” in children's stores too. If you want you can look at Demuse Dolls. Mattel quickly departed from the Silkstone concept as a dressing-up doll: in nine years, she received on the strength of a dozen additional outfits. In addition, it is, in principle, not convenient to change clothes: many dresses are so narrow that putting them on and taking them off is difficult and takes a long time. The arm bent at the elbow also adds problems. As a result, fate played a cruel joke with Silkstone Barbie: created to be an ideal model, she is bought by many modern collectors just for the sake of an outfit, and a naked doll ends up on the secondary market. There are two reasons for this: firstly, now the minds have mobility, and secondly, Silkstone clothes are very fond of Fashion Royalty dolls. The most “fruitful” year for Silkstone Barbie was 2006, when Mattel released as many as 12 dressed dolls and one of the most popular among collectors gift set - High Tea and Savories Barbie Giftset. The main differences between Silkstone Barbie and Repro Barbie Initially released to the markets with heavy adult make-up and angular stylized facial features that evoke associations with a vamp woman, the Barbie doll quickly evolved into a "good girl" from the exemplary American family, which meant softening make-up, facial features and image in the whole. And the Silkstone dolls are a return to the adult image: what is the cost of the traditional for this line fly above the upper lip! by Andrea Wilkinson on 2021-05-14 05:52:21 |