Hello to everyone here! Today is February, 4, and the most popular and famous doll in the world marks the day of its invention. Being invented in 1959 by Ruth Handler and named after her daughter, Barbara, the doll has immediately become an icon. Barbie is considered to be a portrait of a true “American dream”, according to the words of Christopher Varaste, a historian of Barbie – a long-legged beautiful blonde wears fashionable and stylish designer clothes. Later Barbie had her boyfriend \ husband, the pink house of dreams, glamorous friends and even Barbie pets, not to mention Barbie jewelries, Barbie cars and other various Barbie sets. Why so popular?

Actually, Barbie today isn’t only a doll or a toy but a mirror of nowadays culture, a sort of status index as well. Barbie’s dress reflects the latest fashionable trends, Barbie’s profession presents career modern tends. Barbie has her Asian, African-American and Hispanic analogues, introduced by Mattel in 1960s. Today this doll is officially considered to be the most ever popular toy in the world. For example, Bettina Dorfmann, Dusseldorf, Germany, is famous for her Barbie Doll collection which counts 15,000 items. But have you ever known the fact that Barbie hadn’t a great success at her first presentation at the American Toy Fair in New York City? The full name of the first doll was Barbie Millicent Roberts. She was from Willows, Wisconsin, and worked as a teenage fashion model. She was dressed in a black-and-white-striped swimsuit, open-toed stilettos and gold hoop earrings, designed by Charlotte Johnson, a famous fashion designer.  But the doll wasn’t successful first of all because of her unbelievable body measurements, seemed to be pornographic and unnatural. If Barbie was a real person, she would be 39-18-33 and have an anorexic body as well. Later, the doll mold was redesigned as for waist.

All Ukrainian girls were supposed to have a true Barbie girl. Why true? There were a lot of Chinese cheaper fake plastic dolls stamped to make it look like Barbie. Being a “true Barbie” holder, having fun with the symbol of glamour meant an unforgettable experience and social recognition or prestige. Barbie was considered to be a Russian dream too for Russian girls. In order to fulfill a dream of being a Barbie girl, a young Valeria Lukyanova, Ukrainian lady, became a living Barbie doll. She used numerous plastic surgeries and cosmetics to transform herself and look like Barbie. Valeria has her YouTube channel with more than 2 million views.