Barbie Is A Living Museum

Normally a living museum is a location that is truly lived in and used while also being showcased as a museum. Barbie isn’t lived in and she’s not a museum, but other than that she fits the bill exactly. Doesn’t make sense? If you think about it, Barbie has documented all the changes in politics and fashion, economics and industry over the last five decades.

You can look at a Barbie doll from a particular era and learn a great deal about what was happening at the time – especially if you are able to include some of the accessories. Are you playing with the Barbie flight attendant or the Barbie pilot? Does your Barbie have to get married before having babies around or is she a single mom?

Barbie fashion especially is a testimony to what has come before us. Dress up a Barbie every few years and you can see the difference in the current fashions. Much like beauty pageants, the fashions say it all and Barbie has some exceptionally, um, interesting confections. Of course she has the perfect hair and the perfect smile as well, but you can count on those to stay the same for another few decades at least.

Barbie’s Hair

Have you ever wondered why Barbie has blonde hair? Why is she a blonde? What if Barbie had brown or red hair instead? I personally don’t care what color Barbie’s hair is – one of my favorite Barbie games is changing her hair to suit me anyway.

A Dye Job
As far as I’m concerned, the best thing about white blonde hair is how easily it can be dyed. And by dyed, I mean colored with a permanent marker. When I feel a need to have a brown or black haired Barbie, I simply grab a marker and get started coloring.

Of course, you don’t have to do a permanent dye job right away unless you want to. You can use washable markers to at least get a feel for what Barbie would look like with different hair – just be careful because water based markers will rub off on everything. They certainly don’t stick to Barbie’s plastic hair for long.

A Cut
Also, Barbie’s hair is always long. This makes it better to braid and do a Barbie hair game, but still, it’s only right that she should have short hair on occasion. When I got tired of my long haired dolls, I’d grab a pair of scissors and take care of the problem. I can tell you – a brown haired Barbie with a pixie cut looks very different indeed.