Babes in Toyland
On Barbie and the women-owned brands I'm loving
In the 1950s, the landscape for girls’ toys was pretty limited. So when Ruth Handler would watch her daughter Barbara eschew baby dolls for paper dolls — dressing them up in adult clothes and giving them traditionally adult roles — she had a thought. Maybe girls don’t just want to play “Mom.”
Ruth’s husband was a toy executive so she broached the idea to him: “Perhaps your company should introduce a doll that looks like an adult.” He didn’t get it. Neither did his fellow executives.
Then the couple took a trip to Germany, where Ruth came across a voluptuous doll marketed toward adults named Bill Lilli. She purchased three — one for her little girl and two for the executives at the toy company — and worked with a local designer to create her own version, one she’d name after her own daughter.
Barbie was born on March 9, 1959.
That toy company that wasn’t so sure about the idea? That was Mattel and they sold 350,000 Barbies in the first year alone.
Say what you want about her unrealistic proportions (which, to be fair, have evolved with time and due to consumer criticism), Barbie was incredibly progressive. While most toys marketed to girls were geared toward nurturing and home-making (baby dolls to teach you how to be a mom, Easy-Bake ovens to teach you how to be a wife), Barbie was aspirational.
Barbie wasn’t defined by her relationship to a man (in fact, Ken was initially marketed as Barbie’s ultimate “accessory”—and that’s really all he’s ever been).
She also wasn’t defined by her ability (or desire) to bear children. In fact, in the early 1960s, when consumers demanded that Barbie get a baby, Mattel responded by introducing a playset complete with a Barbie-sized baby, crib and accessories…and it was called “Barbie Baby-Sits.”
Barbie was a career woman who has since dabbled in many things — she’s been an athlete, astronaut, doctor, the president... She’s also always been sexy and has a killer house, a great car collection and a fun group of friends.
The creation of Barbie got a little weird, as these stories tend to do. By the 1970s, Ruth and her husband would be ousted from Mattel after an investigation found them guilty of issuing false financial reports. But her creation, her Barbie, has persisted.
In the spirit of women who chart their own path, this issue is devoted to women-led brands putting out amazing things at the moment.
I’ve written about my love for Tibi (founded by Amy Smilovic in 1997) in the past, probably too many times. Amy knows how to create clothes for women who do stuff. Women who need a skirt that won’t wrinkle on their walk from the subway to the office, or a pair of jeans that look as good with a pair of Adidas Gazelles as they do with a kitten heel. Every season, she makes a jean I love and the Sid is no exception. These are simply the best jeans available at the moment.
Lauren Santo Domingo designed most of the pieces in her company, Moda Operandi’s, new collection of tabletop accessories. These napkins would make a great gift but they’re also a fun way to jazz up your own table. And these plates (a collaboration with artist Dorothy Shain) are EVERYTHING.
The sisters behind Forsyth Art, Maggie Kidd and Anne Genovese, are my true muses. They have excellent personal style, as evidenced both by their own aesthetic and that of their store, Forsyth Art, which carries a mix of fabulous new art, tabletop pieces, and vintage furniture. But here’s the twist: they reupholster all the vintage pieces and make them 10,000 times better. Case in point: this Eero Saarinen Womb Chair upholstered in Pierre Frey fabric.
Copenhagen-based designer Helle Mardahl makes the most incredible blown glass confections. Her pieces are like Barbie by way of Willa Wonka—whimsical but somehow still classic in the sense that you’ll keep them forever. It doesn’t get much cuter than this trinket box.
I have never really been a fine jewelry kinda girl. I prefer chunky, weird, costume jewelry. But Marlo Laz (a brand founded by two women—Jesse Marlo Lazowski and Carly Schuster—creates pieces that strike the balance between fine and costume. This necklace, for instance, looks like a fun souvenir piece you’d find during your travels, but it’s gilded with diamonds. Same with this little pinky ring. And this bracelet…
Rapid Fire
Something I read (& loved): The Washington Post dove into why Outback (yes, the American-pretending-to-be-Australian chain) is the most popular restaurant in Brazil. Fascinating.
A movie I watched: Oppenheimer. In IMAX. Excellent. (Long, but excellent).
A space that’s inspiring me: My style veers decidedly more feminine, but I really appreciated this chic-and-sporty Manhattan apartment.
I’ll leave you with this…