Where are all of the doll clothes?
When I was young, I had a Barbie doll. One doll. Maybe two? And I had a case full of Barbie doll clothing. What happened to that system? Now, the toy shelves are filled with rows and rows of different Barbies in a never ending array of different themes. A couple larger sets of Barbie outfits are available around Christmas but the rest of the year there is very little, if any, clothing to purchase separately. It’s no wonder that we end up with so many dolls that our children don’t really play with very often. Barbie was fun because you could change her clothes. If you have one outfit for every doll with only a few extras, it’s just not that much fun. This phenomena isn’t exclusive to Barbie. The High School Musical dolls are popular but, instead of selling one doll for each of the six main characters plus lots of additional outfits, you can buy the dolls in each of the outfits. Sharpay in a grad robe. Sharpay in her rehearsal outfit. Sharpay in a prom dress. It’s just a huge waste. Who needs more than one Sharpay doll?
I had one Barbie and my mother made her a whole wardrobe. I remember a purple satin evening gown and a camel hair cape. It was the late 60′s…
I think the fun of playing with dolls is really in the doll clothes. I have obtained a number of doll clothes patterns and made clothing for my granddaughters.