I can still remember the day I got my first Barbie doll. It's one of my earliest memories, in fact. Christmas 1987. I was 3 1/2 years old, and I ran to my mother's bed with my stocking, and eagerly started opening presents. One of the first things I opened was a ballerina Barbie outfit (
omg this one!!). This puzzled me somewhat, there was surely some mistake, and I explained earnestly to my mother "It's lovely but...I don't have a Barbie...". She kindly explained to her vaguely condescending toddler that she was sure Father Christmas would have thought of
that, and sure enough, some presents later, I was the proud owner of a
My First Barbie, wearing a nice pink lycra and velcro-fastened ballet outfit. I'm told the first thing I did with her, as became my tradition with Barbies, was to take all her clothes off her. Some things never change. But at the risk of diving so deeply into the sentimental I could drown in pink syrup, from that moment on, Barbara Millicent Roberts (that's her name, you know. I read it in a book) became my lifelong friend and inspiration. Yes, I said inspiration. Originally, in the early days, Barbie was sold as just a doll, in a swimsuit. It was up to YOU to decide who she would be, how she would dress, she was a beautiful blank canvas. Although by the time I was a child, all this had fallen by the wayside somewhat, there were still ample opportunities to be inspired by her, and to make her your own. My the time I was a teenager, I had a hideously large collection of Barbies, in a big box (which was semi-legendary among friends and family and still remembered by them), which I still have, although most of them have been 'customized' in some way or another since. Like everyone, I cut their hair and coloured it in with marker pens, I gave them 'new makeup' (mostly with nail polish and a fine fine brush), put together 'interesting' outfits, and went out of my way to have a degree of diversity in them. Eventually my Barbie fandom gave way to online pixel dolls, kisekae, The Sims, and eventually Second Life. But sometimes, I treat myself to a new doll. Just to show that over 20 years on, with her approaching 50, I still love Barbie. My collection is worth roughly nothing in real money, but to me, it's pricelessly precious. It's a chronicle of my style, of how I used to play, it's
mine, and that's the beauty of Barbie. She is what you make of her.
Of course, there are detractors out there who say she's a terrible role model, or, ohmyholyfrickin'gosh, her proportions are not that of a real woman, or that she's an airhead (/me cites the Malibu Stacey episode of the Simpsons that everyone seems to think proves their point, and says no more on the matter), but that's just it. She's only those things if you
want her to be. People say "but Barbie's just all like, tanned and blonde and wearing pink and whatever, blech, how dumb", but, y'know what? Imagine you had some horribly shaped, flat-orangey skinned doll, with inflexible long blargh brown hair, wearing let's say, a lilac sweater and blue jeans...
Imagine what you could do with her if you tried...
So Anyway! The point in this post goes thusly! The Goth Barbie Challenge! As laid down by Akasha Divisadero
here! So anyway, Barbie, just like you or I, can't go round
changing her skin, eyes or shape at will, so it must be admitted that, if she suddenly decided to go goth, she'd have a slightly hard time at it with her California tan and smiling outlook. So I thought I'd go easy on her, transition her into the look gently. Barbie, especially nowadays, is especially familiar with the Princess look, and I've always wanted a good excuse to wear Schadenfreude's amazing Mephisto gown with the epic full skirt, it's always struck me as a sort of offbeat basic princess dress. As dedicated to her sunshine locks as she is, I find it hard to believe Barbie could commit to dying her hair fully black, so my Goth Barbie has her hair tipped, and adorned with pretty black roses. Makeup, would of course, be a problem. Taking inspiration from
Achariya's post, I did the SL equivilant of taking a sharpie to her eyemakeup, and treated her to some overly dramatic prim lashes. And for a bold stab at pallour, I tinted some of Curio's AWESOME free (oh yeah!) prim blush to an ashy grey, to give the effect that Barbie at least
tried to powder her face a bit. The Hunger's Forever tattoo fits the front of this dress almost as if it was made for it, Alienbear's Arachine earrings and necklace are Halloweeny enough to suit the casual or new goth perfectly, a simple spiked lip ring to make her feel all hardcore, and the last minute addition of some epic claws finish the look.
Happy 50th Birthday Barbie. I'll always love you, no matter what.
Credits:
Skin, shape, eyes: Complete Barbie Av from Dollicious Doll Skins
Hair: Calico Ingmann Creations - Juliette - Burnt Champagne
Dress: Schadenfreude - Mephisto - Silent
Necklace and Earrings: Alienbear - Arachine Spiders Dark Metal
Claws: GIANETTI - Nails & Melee Claws - Jet
Lip ring: Synthetic Memory - Lip Ring Spiky Steel
Lashes: Sky Everett Designs - Eyelash w/Dots
Tattoos: The Hunger - Forever
Pose Credits:
All by Long Awkward Pose
1st pic, left to right:
Cam Hor Too (from Drama Queen set)
The Shy One, and TeeHee, (from Sweetheart set)
2nd pic, left to right:
JewelryPose12 (from Eye Candy set)
Sunny (from Sweetheart set)
