Barbie’s Beauty Transformations Over the Last 60 Years Have Been Amazing to Watch

By
Lucille Clifton
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Barbie’s Beauty Transformations Over the Last 60 Years Have Been Amazing to Watch


Image Source: barbie.mattel.com

If you used to play with Barbie as a kid, you know the doll has majorly evolved since your days on the playground. But you may be shocked to see just how much Barbie’s beauty has changed over the span of her 61-year career. It’s really interesting to see how Barbie has adapted to the popular beauty trends of each decade since her birth in 1959 and even embraced the standards and traditions of different cultures.

The highly anticipated upcoming “Barbie” movie by Greta Gerwig starring Margot Robbie as Barbie herself and Ryan Gosling as Ken has drummed up more interest than ever in the beloved doll. When the official movie posters were released depicting all of the different Barbies we can expect to see (including a blue-haired mermaid played by Dua Lipa), it got a lot of people thinking about the many variations of dolls we’ve seen over the years.

Today’s Barbie is very different from the first model. While she’s far from being a realistic standard of beauty for most women, Barbie has come such a long way. The owner Mattel has made the doll more diverse, and instead of just being white and blond, she’s now Asian, Black, and Latinx with multiple different hair types, too. And Barbie’s extreme makeup looks and highly coiffed hairstyles have been replaced by flattering full brows, fluttery lashes, and a soft pink lip.

While we do wonder how Barbie will change next, we love how she never fails to spark our imagination. Read ahead to see how Barbie has changed over the years.

— Additional reporting by Jessica Harrington

Barbie in 1959

Barbie in 1959

Image Source: barbie.mattel.com