Hello and welcome! Let me take you through some tours of my extensive fashion doll collection.... including a few unboxing vids thrown in for good measure! I collect Sindy, Mego Cher, Farrah, Candi, Maddie Mod and Jordache, Tressy, Brooke Shields, Tuesday Taylor, Dusty, Tammy and of course, Vintage, Mod era, Superstar era and some early 80's Barbie and her friends and family, as well as most of her structures! I hope you Like, Comment, Share and Subscribe to my channel.... and please do follow me on Instagram @fashiondolldreamer
I recently got this secondhand (12/40 pieces; all the furniture minus one chair plus some of the smaller pieces) and I was really wondering about it because it strongly looked and felt like an authentic Barbie playset but didn't have the Mattel stamp (but I did recognise Arco!). Thanks for this really informative video that explains the history. I had no idea!
Glad I could help! Interestingly enough, (as I mentioned in the video) Mattel bought out Arco in the mid 80's and continued making similar playsets for several years afterward but under their Barbie logo!
She looks beautiful. I remember the pink dress & white coat from my childhood. The pink dress was my favorite though. I also liked the music you used. Enjoyed
Beautiful display! Ive been OBSESSED with special editions/gift sets of dolls. I have a MIB Twirly Curls Gift Set with the different dress and sparkly jumpsuit! And just recently got a MIB Beauty Secrets Pretty Reflections set. She displays so beautifully with the pink mirror ❤ My holy grail though is the Special Edition Kissing Barbie with the yellow dress! I wanna find her so bad but shes so rare 🥺
I actually got the 'Pretty Reflections' Beauty Secrets Barbie edition for my 10th birthday back in 1980!!! I wish I still had that three-way mirror. I would love to see yours! I would also LOVE to get her again, and that Kissing Barbie set (and even the Twirly Curls one you have!) some day!!!
Youre so lucky you were able to have Barbies as a kid. As a guy, my father NEVER let me even touch a Barbie doll. I wish I had those memories, but I'm glad to collect them now as an adult.
Sorry to hear your Father didn't let you have any Barbie dolls (but it's great that you made up for it now!! 😊) I think my parents were a little 'confused' with me TBH as I also loved my so-called 'boy's toys' like my racing car set, my Matchbox and Hot wheels cars and my toy trains! LOL But they were cool with it all. I had a friend whose father also disapproved of dolls for him, but his mother bought him a 'Growing Up Skipper' (remember her?) His father would always confiscate it, but strangely enough, would just hide her somewhere and never actually throw her away! (Probably because he was scared of what his wife would do if she found out he had! LOL) So every time I would visit him, we would play the game of 'finding Skipper.' She would be hidden in the oddest of places.... one day, she was even hiding behind the milk in the fridge! LOL
I love seeing how you restyled her hair! Thanks for sharing that. I love that Autumn dress with that coat. I need to see that coat closer next time I visit! LOVE LOVE LOVED THE FASHION SHOW! The funky music too. It was everything! And the perfect backdrops! I find it so interesting they had no closures. I never knew that.
Thanks so much, Deany!!! I had fun with those backdrops... (and the Tuesday Taylor gang had to move out momentarily for the 'winter' shot! hehehe) IKR? I reckon Mattel omitted the closures to save costs as it was four garments in the pack. Yes, I also loved that Autumn dress with the coat. (Finally found it after I couldn't for ages! It was hiding in the garment bag that was part of that 1984 travel playset! :P ) And the hair segment was a last-minute add-on, so I'm glad that I put that in!
Those navy shoes are everything! And good to know Barbie's sales are going up! I am acutally getting rid of all my barbie sneakers. I never EVER use them and I have so many!
Thanks Deany! Aren't those navy pumps great? So 80's!!! Like with her Chanel-y pumps, I had to blast them with a hairdryer and then quickly mold them to her feet while they were still warm and pliable to stay on! And yes, it seems that 'Glitz Inc' is doing very well indeed! :P LOL I only really use the sneakers with the early 70's jean outfits or her late 70's jogging outfit with the logo top. (Love that one!) Her navy sneakers are now in her attaché case. :P
Yeah, I'm not a fan of this 80's sculpt either! :P I compared it to the similar 'Superstar' sculpt and that seems way more symmetrical. This 80's one looks really lopsided and I'm not a fan of that hairdo with the hair covering the ears. (That made more sense with Superstar's blow-waved look, IMO.) The eyes on these 80's dudes are also super-wonky! I actually wish they did a different sculpt that looked like an early 80's Ted McGinley (Who actually looked a lot like the late 70's/early 80's illustrations of Ken, especially when he had those blonde highlights, like he did in 'Revenge of the Nerds.') I also compared this DTN Ken's head to my 'Great Shape' Ken and Great Shape's head seems way smaller, like it had shrunk. He also has those VERY manicured eyebrows that look tweezed, like a drag queen on his day off! LOL
It's all in the styling, right? 😜 I love a good Superstar rescue, too! ( Especially when she cost around $35!!! TBH her 'bones' were already good... she just needed a good clean and a major hair re-set to look amazing again. )
My apologies ... I had to reload this video again because of a technical error, so those lovely comments I already got were deleted. 😪 (Thanks @disneybarbiegirl615 and @JanaJayX2d3y66st3ay6to5day! You're both fabulous, too!)
I love how the 80s interpreted femininity in the office. Huge shoulders and pencil skirts with high heels and hosiery. It was such a moment. Love the little sneakers so she can run around the city comfortably and the switch into the elegant heels.
Same here! Loved that quintessential 80's 'power dressing' look... It was so specific. And yes, the sneakers were such a timely touch and really signified that whole 'Working Girl' era, didn't they?😘
It's a shame a company hasn't made reproductions. I love this stuff. The dioramas in those old commercials were on point. I liked the doll anyway but the literal world building really sells it.
ah, i thought you were going to put a twist on it and dub over Ken's voice "Get in the kitchen and make me a sandwich!" or something unexpected. omg, your ken sounds like Yakko from Animaniacs.
LOL yes, I think it was just how the face sculpt was. I thought it was the usual 'shrinkage' but my friend Dean (who knows more about 80's and 90's dolls than I do) said that it was just how he was sculpted. I kinda like it now TBH as it gives him a bit of character!
Lovin the soundtracks! I LOVE BARBIE! From the beginning straight through the 80's. Then it was downhill from there! What a treat! Congrats on P.J.! Soo Pretty!
I received Starr for my 9th birthday in 1979 - I even have a picture of her amongst my gifts. I also had the disco purse! I have to admit I was a Barbie girl, (still am) and although I enjoyed my Starr doll, my heart belonged to Barbie! I no longer have Starr but I still have my Superstar Barbie! ⭐
Hiya Spagbol! About time you opened her! I find it so odd and a little annoying that the hispanic sculpt is so small. On her own she looks fine but next to other dolls it looks odd. Which is funny as I actually think Barbie’s head is too big. I love the business fashions. As you know I have recently started working on my own Commuter set and I have already done my version of Day-to-Night. I now want to do a 70s inspired business outfit. I love the bags that come with this doll and that they open. Yay! She got a job at Glitz Inc! So happy for her 😂 I love her face. So pretty!
Thanks Deany! 😘 LOL I know, right? It took me long enough to debox her... and now I am glad I did! Ooooohhh I can't wait to see your rendition of 'Commuter Set'... and have I seen your 'Day to Night' one yet? You need to bring it over next weekend if you have finished it as we can dress some office gals in it! 😜 I would also love to see what you would come up with for the 70's office look! I have so many US Vogues from the 70's that were all about the working woman! (Something Halston-ish or YSL-ish, perhaps? Even maybe Calvin Klein? I loved all the russet-y brown-ish/cream/tan tailored looks that Jane Fonda wore in 'The China Syndrome' and that coincidentally Faye Dunaway also wore in 'Network!' A lot of that was Calvin Klein, I think.)
@@fashiondolldreamer I'm sure you have. The pink and black thing. Wait, I KNOW you have! I brought it over one time! Do you mean you have physical copies of those vogues? I need to see them!
I also love a transformable outfit... My very first Barbie as a kid was 'Pretty Changes' because she came with so many interchangeable outfit pieces and even a long blonde fall and a brunette wig! And I'm glad you liked the fashion history. That was fun to do!! Thanks for commenting. 😊 (Did you like the shout-out? I even used 'Chanel-y' a couple of times! LOL)
I bought them all already repaired, with the exception of that Stacey that - believe it or not! - STILL talks without having been repaired as the seller's mother pulled that string every week for 50+ years!!! I still do the same with her, but she IS starting to get a little slow now.
Thanks for commenting! Look for the Arco Fashion Doll office playset from 1985 as that includes the diorama, or you can easily make one yourself by printing out whatever skyline pic you choose and gluing it onto stiff cardboard!
Such a pretty doll! You have GREAT taste in music too! I hear Olivia Newton John’s Twist of fate playing in the background! Olivia has been my idol since I was 9 years old. I grew up loving singing because of her. She and I even share the same birthday September 26th!!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Good spotting with the music! 😉 I really wanted some 80's instrumental that was also very 'big city' if that makes sense.... And I remember that movie the song was from 'Two of a Kind' was set in New York so there ya go! LOL I also used another instrumental from Olivia for my 80's Great Shape dolls video! ('Physical' of course! LOL) Fun fact:- I also have a Barbie 30th anniversary magazine that has an interview with Olivia Newton John and how she and her daughter love Barbie!
Does the reverse skirt stains? I also both like the strong synth bass line with chimes in the US ad version and the Saxophone in the UK version. Both so 80s.
I unbuttoned the skirt to have a little peek and no stains on the legs. Yeah, I discovered I had copies of both the US and UK versions, so thought I'd show the differences between the two commercials.
@@fashiondolldreamer Thanks, I was just looking at the reversible fashions (Twice as Nice) and was wondering about the staining risks. I guess 40 years without staining is pretty safe.
Thank you!!! I did a little research into the Estrela Barbies from Brazil and there was a similar doll available in 1987 called 'Night and Day' Barbie, but wearing a seafoam blue/green outfit! So your country had their own variation of her!!! 😘
I had this barbie in Brazil. She is one of the few i clearly remember. Me and my sister won the caucasiano one. I remembed more the day outfit than the nigth one.
