Barbie– the monstrously popular doll of the 20th century!

As a child I owned a cabinet-full of them, but I could never really fall in love with her and I actually preferred to play with my animal toys.  Barbie was too… plastic, she didn’t have enough detail or value.  She’s preteen “corporate,” she’s “american,” barbie is “the woman.”

BJDs, on the other hand, are quickly becoming the new, modern beautiful doll in trend… and I must say that they are frankly a hundred times more stunning and well-made than Barbie ever was.  That, and they cost 25 times as much.  =/  Ball-jointed dolls are customizable, posable, more life-like, and larger.  They are also made by hundreds of artisans in all kinds of different molds! :)   Maybe I should add that they are Asian – and Asians are known for pushing achievements to the next level.

So out of curiosity, I’ve decided to do a bit of research to compare Barbie proportions with BJD proportions and normal people.  Barbies are approximately on a 1/6 scale, and the standard ball-jointed doll is about 1/3 the size of a real person. Using those proportions, here’s the estimated measurements in inches if the dolls were to be real:

BJD vs. Barbie proportions

Measurements: Height Bust Waist Hips
Avg American Woman 5′ 3″ 35 27 38
Barbie 5′ 9″ 36 18 33
female ball-jointed doll 5′ 9″ 32 22 32

“avg american” data taken from this site

Pretty interesting, huh?  I see that Barbie’s chest-waist ratio is more extreme than a BJD’s; though the newer generation is still not exactly realistic in size.

Thoughts?  Introspection on culture, trends?

Sewing a Barbie Pattern to a BJD

This is something I’ve been waiting to do since BEFORE I acquired Senna! =)  My generous grandmother bought me Barbie clothes patterns back in July, and now I’m undertaking the transformation of pattern scaling to make Senna her first real girl clothes. ;)   The blue dress she had before is now too big for her.

Simplicity 4719: these patterns are so small, they could not fit all of the text onto the pieces! XD

Scaling -  I found that Senna’s measurements are approximately twice as big as Barbie’s, so I remade the dress pattern.  The really cool thing about doll clothes is they’re so simple; it is intellectually refreshing to see shapes and curves reduced into basic pieces that are very easy to understand how to fit together. And, the pattern doesn’t even call for lining or a zipper :O

Okay, so I ended up doing a lot more modifications to the pattern than “2x” to make it fit her– partially because I was lazy about getting accurate measurements, seam allowance, etc.  I also ended up lining the bodice with fleece to tone down the NHO, and added fabric in the skirting for modesty with this slightly transparent calico fabric. =)

Although I threw this together too quickly and didn’t even add a fastener in the back, Senna was SO happy to finally have a real dress…..

That she was willing to STAND ON ONE LEG for me for a full ten minutes!! BJD owners out there know that this is incredibly tough for their dolls to perform.

Actually, my original plan with this fabric  was to make a life size dress of similar style.

*For some really interesting facts about Barbie’s history, I’d recommend checking out her wikipedia article.

Any more thoughts on the Barbie compared to asian ball-jointed dolls?  Culturally, symbolically, metaphorically…