Steffie of the Day: Vidal Sassoon Barbie 1970s

Vidal Sassoon, a photo by alington on Flickr.

I can't post about the 1960s version Vidal Sassoon Barbie and not also post about the 1970s version as well. Also styled after J-Pop start Namie Amuro, this doll's styling is inspired by an outfit worn in the music video to Rock Steady:



You can see sort of a crappy full-length shot of both dolls, which Leslie of The Vintage Goddess had for sale for $2400 at this year's Barbie Convention, here:



The 1970s version is actually for sale in her online store (I believe the set sold at convention). I think the 1960s version comes up less often and is slightly more popular.

Her arm is actually on the same side as one of the original Barbie Basic Model 03, though this doll wasn't released as a Target exclusive till two years later. Her hair style is also similar, though her facial screening is quite different.

Her outfit is really cute--check out the beaded details and the boots in the full-length photo.

Again, I'd love to add both to my collection. I can't decide which doll I like most!

Steffie of the Day: Vidal Sassoon 1960s Barbie exclusive

Vidal Sassoon, a photo by alington on Flickr.

This special and hard-to-find Barbie was exclusive to the Japanese market (in 2008) and was not available to purchase. She was raffled off as a prize, limited to a small edition of 300 dolls. Japanese pop star Namie Amuro promoted these dolls in conjunction with Vidal Sassoon, who gave this doll (along with the 1970s-styled version) away as prizes to people who participated in a contest.

Check out the pop star (and see how the doll's styling was inspired) in her music video here on YouTube:



As you might notice, this doll may have started off as a Barbie Basic Model No. 03. However, the dolls that have this face mold don't have brown eyes, their facial screening is different, and their arm poses (there are several versions of this doll) are slightly different (this doll's arm is on the opposite hip, for example, compared to one of the dolls).

The outfit is pretty much identical to the one Namie Amuro wears in the New Look video, and it's really well done.

I would love to have this doll in my collection, but the dolls rarely come up for sale. Leslie, the lovely and wonderful The Vintage Goddess on eBay, had both versions for sale at this year's Barbie convention. She was gracious enough to allow me to take photos of both.

The asking price for the dolls varies, depending on what the original owners ask--in this case, the set included both dolls (they are rarely found as a set), and was $2400. From what I can tell, the set is sold, but she still has the 1970s version available and in stock.

Leslie is your go-to person for anything hard-to-find when it comes to Barbie, by the way, and especially Japanese exclusives!

Tropicalia? What is it?

Image from FlyGirlBlog.com

Based on the Integrity Toys upcoming convention, I found the following article on Tropicália from Wikipedia:

Tropicália, also known as Tropicalism, is a Brazilian music movement that arose in the late 1960s and encompassed theatre, poetry, and music, among other forms. It came under the influence of avant-garde artistic trends and pop culture and foreign (such as pop rock and concreteness); mixed traditional manifestations of Brazilian culture to radical aesthetic innovations. Tropicália was influenced by poesia concreta(concrete poetry), a genre of Brazilian avant-garde poetry embodied in the works of Augusto de Campos, Haroldo de Campos, and Décio Pignatari, among a few others.^[1] However, Tropicália is associated almost exclusively with the musical expression movement, both in Brazil and internationally, which arose from the fusion of several musical genres, like Brazilian and African rhythms and rock and roll. 

Additionally, I found more information on The Barbican's website. Apparently, this movement was formed in response to the military dictatorship in Brazil at the time. While it only lasted from 1967-1972, its influence can still be seen today in musicians such as David Bowie, David Byrne, Beck and The Bees.

In doing an image search for "tropicalia," I came up with quite a range of images, which I'm including with links to their original sources here as well. Psychedelic colors, flowing fabric, large prints, fruit hats, beads and feathers seem to be recurring themes--just from my short searches.

Image from www.barbican.com

An example of Tropicalia inspired shoes - for kids today - just adorable and cute: