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graypeape's review against another edition
5.0
Okay, so what you're not going to get in this book is negative stuff about Barbie- her supposed bad effects on girls' body image, her math woes, an unfortunate cookie cross-promotion- but you will get lots of interesting history and trivia about not just Barbie herself, but the times she's lived in. Learning about what Ruth Handler went through to get her doll made gave me new respect for her- just because her husband co-founded Mattel didn't mean she had an easy time making her dream a reality! Barbie's controversial figure came about because the tiny waist and hips made the clothes look better; the waists of the skirts and pants and the fasteners were bulkier than what equivalently sized human clothes had, so Barbie's waist and hips shrank to make the clothed doll look more proportionate. And oh my, the clothes! So much attention was put into every detail of the outfits, so that each was a complete play experience, with accessories to spark the imagination. For me, and I'm sure for many other girls too, the clothes were the best part- I didn't do pretend play with Barbie so much, it was mainly dressing her up, combining outfits to make new combinations, talking my mom into crocheting clothes for me, making clothes of my own. I also loved constructing homes for her, not just using doll furniture but also making furnishings out of household objects (half empty tissue boxes make groovy lounge chairs with built in side tables ha!). Barbie provided countless hours of creative fun for me, and helped me to look at objects in a different way, to see what they could become. She never gave me body issues- I recognized that she wasn't proportionate, and subconsciously realized she was a mannequin to put clothes on, and I didn't want that kind of body. To me, she was just fun to play with, and this book captures that. The pictures will delight Barbie fans, and the stories from collectors will give you the warm fuzzies. A perfect gift for any Barbie fan or collector.
#BarbieForever #NetGalley
#BarbieForever #NetGalley
javierfp82's review against another edition
3.0
Let me begin saying that I don't know much about Barbie's history, so this book was a good introduction, as it gives several brushstrokes about her birth and Ruth Handler, the woman behind the doll, how a doll is made, her fashion and her impact as a pop culture icon. It also has lots of pictures and sketches, from the first dolls in 1959 to nowadays, so it was good to see the changes she has been going through the years.
With several interviews and testimonies, this book is proof that Barbie is as relevant today as sixty years ago and the huge scope of Barbie's effect on culture, being much more than a doll.
Interesting and fun read if you don't know much about Barbie, but I would have liked for it to go deeper into some themes and not just skim through the surface.
Thanks to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group, Epic Ink, for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review
With several interviews and testimonies, this book is proof that Barbie is as relevant today as sixty years ago and the huge scope of Barbie's effect on culture, being much more than a doll.
Interesting and fun read if you don't know much about Barbie, but I would have liked for it to go deeper into some themes and not just skim through the surface.
Thanks to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group, Epic Ink, for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review
manwithanagenda's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
2.0
First of all, let me just say that there is no real fault to the main text of this book. Gerber approaches the story of the Barbie doll from her background of writing the biography of Ruth Handler, Barbie's creator and a pioneering woman in her own right, even without considering her most famous invention. The problem is that this seemed like a rushed job and there wasn't any passion or attention to detail in the creation of the book.
The narrative here is about how inspirational Barbie is as a play doll and as an icon to many generations of women and men. Things only broke down when I noticed factual errors and omissions in many of the splendid photographs included in the book.
This is a sanctioned, official Mattel product put out for the 60th Anniversary of their flagship toy, how is there even one basic error, let alone enough that I stopped keeping count? The errors may seem unimportant, but a year or two difference in a date means a lot in the collecting world, especially when Gerber cites many of the better researched Barbie books in her bibliography. There are simple facts of production years and availability for outfits, dolls and accessories that are made clear as day in those other books, but are clouded here. Other photos show a potentially fascinating interior look at a design office, groups of personnel, and retail or convention displays - with only the slimmest of notations. One instance shows a full retail display of the Barbie clothing line for children that was scrapped in the early '60s without ever hitting stores - the caption describes it merely as a woman looking at a display of Barbie merchandise.
The book also follows the convention where the text and the photos don't pair up. The photos were obviously collected and laid out by a completely different individual and little effort was made past the opening segment of the book to pair the text with relevant photographs. Many of the photos are amazing, have not been widely available before, and deserved more attention. I did not need to hear more from Billyboy,
Barbie is inspirational and a lot of effort has been made by the Mattel corporation in recent years to create an inclusive array of dolls that are the best quality for the price-point and reflect all children. I'm saddened, though, that there didn't seem to be anyone attached to this book project with any real knowledge or passion of the history of the brand.
As Charlie Brown would say, I just can't stand it!
The narrative here is about how inspirational Barbie is as a play doll and as an icon to many generations of women and men. Things only broke down when I noticed factual errors and omissions in many of the splendid photographs included in the book.
This is a sanctioned, official Mattel product put out for the 60th Anniversary of their flagship toy, how is there even one basic error, let alone enough that I stopped keeping count? The errors may seem unimportant, but a year or two difference in a date means a lot in the collecting world, especially when Gerber cites many of the better researched Barbie books in her bibliography. There are simple facts of production years and availability for outfits, dolls and accessories that are made clear as day in those other books, but are clouded here. Other photos show a potentially fascinating interior look at a design office, groups of personnel, and retail or convention displays - with only the slimmest of notations. One instance shows a full retail display of the Barbie clothing line for children that was scrapped in the early '60s without ever hitting stores - the caption describes it merely as a woman looking at a display of Barbie merchandise.
The book also follows the convention where the text and the photos don't pair up. The photos were obviously collected and laid out by a completely different individual and little effort was made past the opening segment of the book to pair the text with relevant photographs. Many of the photos are amazing, have not been widely available before, and deserved more attention. I did not need to hear more from Billyboy,
Barbie is inspirational and a lot of effort has been made by the Mattel corporation in recent years to create an inclusive array of dolls that are the best quality for the price-point and reflect all children. I'm saddened, though, that there didn't seem to be anyone attached to this book project with any real knowledge or passion of the history of the brand.
As Charlie Brown would say, I just can't stand it!
whateveryoneelseisreading's review against another edition
4.0
Brilliant coffee table book! Lots of fun information about Barbie, very accessible writing style and wonderful photos to support the text. A must-have for any fans of Barbie or anyone who wants to learn more
abookishaffair's review against another edition
4.0
"Barbie Forever" is a positive look back at one of the most iconic toys around: Barbie. Starting from her beginning in the middle of the 20th century, Barbie has been the both the subject of praise and scrutiny. I was definitely a Barbie girl (in a Barbie world) growing up and so this toy has a very special place in my heart and I was interested to get a better look at the history through this book!
As I mentioned before, this is a very positive look back at Barbie's origins and her history. The toy faced much scrutiny for offering unrealistic body types and sometimes problematic story lines. This book doesn't really mention that and focuses on the highlights of Barbie's history. And to Mattel's credit (Mattel is Barbie's manufacturer), the brand has made great strides recently in being more inclusive and honoring the diversity of the real world (it's never too late). I appreciated seeing how the brand had changed throughout time. Barbie goes from being a fashion doll to show off pretty clothes to something more like what she was for me growing up: a tool for my imagination. The book captures that magic!
The book is also beautiful! It has a ton of full color pictures that celebrate both where Barbie has been and where she could potentially be going. This was such a great walk down memory lane for me. My sisters and I had an EPIC collection of Barbies that we loved to play with and we definitely had so many of the Barbies that appeared in the book.
With the holidays being just around the corner, this book would be a perfect gift for those that grew up with Barbie like I did!
As I mentioned before, this is a very positive look back at Barbie's origins and her history. The toy faced much scrutiny for offering unrealistic body types and sometimes problematic story lines. This book doesn't really mention that and focuses on the highlights of Barbie's history. And to Mattel's credit (Mattel is Barbie's manufacturer), the brand has made great strides recently in being more inclusive and honoring the diversity of the real world (it's never too late). I appreciated seeing how the brand had changed throughout time. Barbie goes from being a fashion doll to show off pretty clothes to something more like what she was for me growing up: a tool for my imagination. The book captures that magic!
The book is also beautiful! It has a ton of full color pictures that celebrate both where Barbie has been and where she could potentially be going. This was such a great walk down memory lane for me. My sisters and I had an EPIC collection of Barbies that we loved to play with and we definitely had so many of the Barbies that appeared in the book.
With the holidays being just around the corner, this book would be a perfect gift for those that grew up with Barbie like I did!
avalinahsbooks's review against another edition
4.0
If you want to read a personal story related to this book, check out my longer review on the blog.
The book really helped me go back to my childhood. More than that, it was so interesting to see how Barbie was invented, what the first models looked like, what her fashions looked like. The fashions especially! Oh god, this book is full of the most stylish and amazing Barbie designs ever. It reminded me how I used to make clothes for my Barbie along with my mom myself. (I think those are the only Barbie things I might have kept!) The book has a lot of one-page or two-page photos – of Ruth Handler, Barbie’s creator, of the first designs and clothes, the first ads, and just all sorts of special, incredibly gorgeous Barbies. And not just Barbies – it also has a lot of early Mattel toy sketches as they were being made. I looooooved the photos so much. And I tell you, there are photos in pretty much every page. Like 99% of the pages. The 1% reserved for me forgetting, cause I’m pretty sure it was on every page!
Barbie Forever really concentrates on diversity and how Barbie supports it right now. However, I felt that that wasn’t always the case – this is not apparent in the book. It paints the picture of Black, Latina and Asian Barbies available, well, pretty much always – except I’m pretty sure they’ve surfaced in the numbers only very recently. Yes, there might have been diverse Barbies in the 1980s, but were they very popular? Were they sold broadly? I doubt it.
I loved this book’s focus on the diversity and the way Barbie’s body tries to move towards a better, more inclusive body image right now, and that’s great! Barbie has made progress.
But why do I remember how I hated my curly hair because that wasn’t “normal”? Because I didn’t have blue eyes? Why have I never in my life seen a non-blonde, non-straight-haired, perfect-figured Barbie played with?
Perhaps those were the problems of the 90s. But they are not even mentioned.
However, I am happy, looking at the photos now. Knowing that if I was growing up now, I could find a petite, curly haired Barbie sold. And think I was normal.
A little too late, maybe, but better late than never! I would have liked to see this talked about in the book. But for some reason, maybe they couldn’t. Really, that’s the only bone to pick I had to pick with this book! I loved everything else.
The history of Barbie was also really interesting. Apparently, before Barbie, girls were encouraged to play with baby dolls (and grow up to be mothers), but they had no way to see themselves grown up (or in any other role, apart from mothers.) I didn’t even know that! That’s one thing Barbie changed.
(Funnily enough, men almost shut down the idea completely, saying that mothers won’t buy their daughters a doll with breasts. Because OF COURSE they did.)
As smart as the marketing technique was of making Barbie a “teen-age fashion model”, I fear that is exactly what raised quite a few generations of women who thought that modelling is the absolute greatest life for a woman (which, as it appears, is a very hard and unhealthy industry to be in for a lot of young women.) I’m pretty sure Barbie is also responsible for a lot of girls’ self-image problems. But disregarding all that, it also allowed girls to see themselves as future grown-up women with more opportunities and jobs than just being a mother, as in a pre-Barbie world. And that’s something this book really tried to accentuate.
All in all, I really loved reading Barbie Forever. It wasn’t just a journey into my own past – it was also an enriching experience, mostly due to the amazing, detailed and super good quality photos in the book. If you’re a fan of Barbie or if you at least remember her fondly from your younger days, this is a great book to delve into. I’d even say it’s a great coffee table accessory! I really enjoyed it.
I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook for review. This has not affected my opinion.
The book really helped me go back to my childhood. More than that, it was so interesting to see how Barbie was invented, what the first models looked like, what her fashions looked like. The fashions especially! Oh god, this book is full of the most stylish and amazing Barbie designs ever. It reminded me how I used to make clothes for my Barbie along with my mom myself. (I think those are the only Barbie things I might have kept!) The book has a lot of one-page or two-page photos – of Ruth Handler, Barbie’s creator, of the first designs and clothes, the first ads, and just all sorts of special, incredibly gorgeous Barbies. And not just Barbies – it also has a lot of early Mattel toy sketches as they were being made. I looooooved the photos so much. And I tell you, there are photos in pretty much every page. Like 99% of the pages. The 1% reserved for me forgetting, cause I’m pretty sure it was on every page!
Barbie Forever really concentrates on diversity and how Barbie supports it right now. However, I felt that that wasn’t always the case – this is not apparent in the book. It paints the picture of Black, Latina and Asian Barbies available, well, pretty much always – except I’m pretty sure they’ve surfaced in the numbers only very recently. Yes, there might have been diverse Barbies in the 1980s, but were they very popular? Were they sold broadly? I doubt it.
I loved this book’s focus on the diversity and the way Barbie’s body tries to move towards a better, more inclusive body image right now, and that’s great! Barbie has made progress.
But why do I remember how I hated my curly hair because that wasn’t “normal”? Because I didn’t have blue eyes? Why have I never in my life seen a non-blonde, non-straight-haired, perfect-figured Barbie played with?
Perhaps those were the problems of the 90s. But they are not even mentioned.
However, I am happy, looking at the photos now. Knowing that if I was growing up now, I could find a petite, curly haired Barbie sold. And think I was normal.
A little too late, maybe, but better late than never! I would have liked to see this talked about in the book. But for some reason, maybe they couldn’t. Really, that’s the only bone to pick I had to pick with this book! I loved everything else.
The history of Barbie was also really interesting. Apparently, before Barbie, girls were encouraged to play with baby dolls (and grow up to be mothers), but they had no way to see themselves grown up (or in any other role, apart from mothers.) I didn’t even know that! That’s one thing Barbie changed.
(Funnily enough, men almost shut down the idea completely, saying that mothers won’t buy their daughters a doll with breasts. Because OF COURSE they did.)
As smart as the marketing technique was of making Barbie a “teen-age fashion model”, I fear that is exactly what raised quite a few generations of women who thought that modelling is the absolute greatest life for a woman (which, as it appears, is a very hard and unhealthy industry to be in for a lot of young women.) I’m pretty sure Barbie is also responsible for a lot of girls’ self-image problems. But disregarding all that, it also allowed girls to see themselves as future grown-up women with more opportunities and jobs than just being a mother, as in a pre-Barbie world. And that’s something this book really tried to accentuate.
All in all, I really loved reading Barbie Forever. It wasn’t just a journey into my own past – it was also an enriching experience, mostly due to the amazing, detailed and super good quality photos in the book. If you’re a fan of Barbie or if you at least remember her fondly from your younger days, this is a great book to delve into. I’d even say it’s a great coffee table accessory! I really enjoyed it.
I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook for review. This has not affected my opinion.
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