Hobbies And Interests
Significance
There's a huge market for vintage Barbie items. Many are inexpensive and slightly worn, but some are still in mint condition and have never been removed from the package. The items vary in cost, depending on the condition and rarity. Ebay has many auctions for the Barbie items and several Barbie stores. There's a link in Resources to a website that shows Barbie clothing for sale.
New Barbies
New Barbie accessories still in the packaging are available at BarbieGiftShop.com, an official Mattel retailer. This online store has newly released dolls and some older dolls still in the original boxes. While most of the site features dolls dressed in the accessories, they also have the Barbie fashions still in the original box.
Quality
Look for the attention to detail on the Barbie clothing and accessories. The sewing on the outfits is beautiful, and Mattel pays great attention to small details. Some of the jackets have a Miniature Mattel label in the neck area, indicative of the care taken at creation. Barbie kitchen sets often have Barbie-size packages of food that are exact duplicates of the boxes for the product sold at the time.
Size
Make sure that you purchase the correct size for your Barbie. Barbie dolls come in a variety of sizes. For instance, the traditional foot has the appropriate shape for high heels and is 13/16 inches. You can also buy Barbies with feet made for flats that are more casual. The Silkstone Barbie's and Fashion Barbie's foot doesn't fit into the traditional shoe. They tend to fit in a higher heel. You can only find limited separate outfits that fit these dolls. The new Mariposa doll has a foot 1 inch in length and only fits into shoes made specifically for her.
Time Frame
If you collect Barbie items, then you know that there are different eras for Barbie clothes and accessories. There is the Vintage era from 1959 to 1972, the Mod era that includes dolls from 1966 through 1972 and, finally, the modern Barbie. Barbies for adult collectors emerged in 1986. If the doll doesn't indicate "NRFB" when you see it for sale, it isn't worth as much as the original cost. These letters stand for "Never removed from box." If you find a "pink box" Barbie, you know it's a modern doll for children.
Identification
Make sure that you purchase the correct size of clothing for your Barbie. Barbie dolls come in a variety of sizes. For instance, if you find a vintage ponytail Barbie with a black and white zebra striped one-piece swimsuit, Mattel created it between 1959 and 1961. The accessories for the outfit were a pair of open-toe black heels and blue lens sunglasses. During the first year of production, Barbie had gold hoop earrings. During the second and third year, the earrings were either gold hoop or pearl studs. Then, most of the vintage Barbies had pear stud earrings. The swimsuits for Barbie changed to a red jersey in 1962. The Fashion Queen Barbie of 1963 through 1965 had a strapless gold and white striped swimsuit and matching turban.
Effects
Expect to pay quite a bit if you purchase some of the Fab City Mod era clothing. Amazingly, many of the clothes from that era sell for more than some from the vintage Barbie period. There was a larger variety of clothing, and because of that, perhaps fewer of specific styles.