In my mailbox recently was the latest issue of Elle magazine. While in the elevator skimming through it, something caught my eye. BARBIE! But, these were different barbies, I said hmm. My barbie never came with a Chanel bag...So naturally I'm intrigued. Excited about reading the full article I began to ponder, If I were a barbie what would I be called. *laughs out loud* I would be a "Fierce is the new Fabulous" Barbie limited edition complete with metal studded liquid leggings and a tweed Chanel jacket.......Read on...
Style A to Zee: Dream Girl
Joe Zee turns his homespun styling techniques toward the one and only Barbie
By Joe Zee | May 15, 2009 9:00 a.m.
Photo: Len Lagrua
Fashion Editor Barbie in Chanel, Hermès, and Balenciaga.
At the risk of sounding like a finger-snappin’, cape-wearin’, color-lovin’ male-fashion-editor cliché, I have to confess that I spent a lot of my childhood playing with dolls. Not the kind that join you for tea parties, mind you, but the one I could style and make over. She was a statuesque glamazon who never once objected to my fashion experimentation—and her name was Barbie.
Convinced she never had anything good to wear—I never liked her collections at Toys “R” Us—I set out to create new looks I’d seen in fashion magazines. I redesigned outfits using thread, glue, and scissors; I turned skirts into tops, tops into belts, and coats into dresses; I styled and restyled her hair, sometimes adding fabric for headscarves I’d cut from my mother’s clothes (she still doesn’t know). I was determined to make her look spectacular every time she stepped out of her box. Who cared about the inappropriately dressed Cabbage Patch Kid? My concern lay strictly with one Barbie Millicent Roberts.
So it was sweetly ironic that decades later my career path would take me back to dressing glamazons—only real ones who went by names like Cindy and Naomi. This was around the time a new model, Nadja Auermann, burst onto the scene with killer legs and dimensions that were widely compared to Barbie’s, had Barbie been real. However, Barbie’s measurements (5" bust, 31/4" waist, 5 3/16" hips) actually translate to a 39" chest, 21" waist, and 33" hips—clearly not Nadja and something closer to a pole dancer!
I bring up my doll-playing formative years because this month is our annual Body Issue, and for the occasion I enlisted an old friend, who coincidentally turns 50 this year. I mean, how many 50-year-olds do you know who have a face full of plastic and still look this good?
To pull this off, I gained entry into Mattel’s top-secret headquarters in L.A., where I styled four individual Barbies. I love the girls I created because they all represent my favorite elements of fashion. My inspiration came not only from the runways but also from the personal style of cool, iconic women and ELLE’s own fashion editors. After a day of pinning, prodding, and picking hair color and styles, I’m so excited that the results—instead of ending up in a pile on my playroom floor—can be shared with you!
This is the quintessential ELLE girl. I was inspired by all the great hallmarks of ELLE in the ’80s, when towering supermodels dominated these pages in neon neoprene and swimsuits on beaches
and volleyball courts. So you can imagine my delight when, after styling our Supermodel Sporty Barbie, I saw some of those same ideas walk down the runways for fall. My advice is: La
yer the color! The sexier, the better! And sunglasses are a must. Tennis racket optional, of course.
NIGhtLife Barbie
Being a part of the insidery, night-crawler crowd demands a certain sense of style. First of all, she’s a rule-breaker—especially when it comes to fashion. She defies convention, often opting for the unexpected, and my Nightlife Barbie is no different. In this case, I’ve taken a ruffled miniskirt and transformed it into a bandeau top, while tapering her black shiny suit pants to make them skinnier and cooler. And lastly, again with the details: Throw in an armload of glittering jewels and a python clutch to carry your cab money home.
This girl adheres to the style dicta that anything goes and excess is best! Pile it all on with patterns over textures over colors over shapes, and bring to life a fashion gypsy of sorts. My biggest advice for this look? Don’t follow any guidelines about the way you dress because everything works together—an easy rule if you’re in a hurry. For my Boho Barbie, I mixed a lot of elements designed for her over the years, including a ’70s shearling (Outback Barbie) with a floral off-the-shoulder top (’50s Bad Girl Barbie) and modern-day skinny jeans. Toss in an animal print and you’re all set.
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