Anniversary Barbie

Highlights from the plasticine era

So Barbie is 35 this year, and you thought sh was just a babe. The girl who gave us Cupa Co-Co brown, not to mention endless makeout sessions with Ken (what was his problem, anyway?), glides toward summer with two new books, a clothing line for adults, and her very own fanzine. Readers of Barbie: In Fashion (Abbeville) will probably wonder why the most famous teen model didn't get around to wearing a mini until 1967, but the truth is she's always been a little slow on the uptake. "I've never been really good at talking about myself," she admits. Well, Barbie was no math whiz either, so think of this tiny folio as a flash book of big hair and party frocks.

As an icon, of course, Barbie more than excels, and the publication of The Art of Barbie (Workman) will no doubt confirm that she is more than a plaything. Karl Lagerfeld and William Wegman are among the artists and designers weighing in with commissioned portraits, though one suspects they've been secretly communing with Barbie for years. "I've always thought Wegman's dogs looked like Barbie," says her mentor at Mattel, senior vice president Meryl Friedman.

Meanwhile, Mattel is reissuing a vinyl replica of the 1959 Barbie, which many collectors believe to be her finest hour, and in June Bloomingdale's will launch a nostalgic collection of clothing and accessories based on her early wardrobe. The fact is, says Friedman, the model teen now cuts a wide demographic swath through toyland, appealing not only to little girls and gay men but, more recently, to pacifier-sucking college students. If all this sounds like booty for Mattel, which puts Barbie's worldwide population at 800 million, just imagine what will happen when America's eternal teenager hits the information superhighway. Futurist Alvin Toffler, who used Barbie as a role model for mass consumption in his 1970 book, Future Shock, now predicts that tomorrow's child will be able to order individually customized dolls right over her television screen. "The kid, in effect," saysToffler, "will be designing her own Barbie." Which means that by the time Barbie reaches the half-century mark not only will she be fabulous and 50, she'll be sitting on one of the largest computer databases in the world.

CATHY HORYN