Hi gals and dolls,
The totally beautiful and ever doll-lightful Heidi Klum will be guest blogging for me this week (OMG)! Plus, over on Barbie Collector, Heidi dishes all about her must-have dolls, and joins me for a totally fashionable doll-to-doll interview-I sooo can't wait to find out who makes the cut! And just in case you're looking for the 411 on the new, totally modelicious Heidi doll, you can find all the deets right here!
Thanks, Heidi! And congratulations to you and your baby girl!
Read on,
It's hard to explain why someone would collect a plastic doll... but only to anyone who has never owned a Barbie. Any girl or woman who has had a Barbie would tell you it's a passion and a love that is undeniable.
I believe it starts from when you get your first Barbie doll as a child. She is so pretty, so perfect—she lives the dream and you can live that dream with her. Playing with Barbie means using your imagination and spending hours making up wonderful stories. I have fond memories of playing with my friends and especially making clothes for my Barbie with my mom. My mom is really creative and every time she would sew or knit something for me, she would always make something from the scraps for my Barbies. (I tell you, my mom would rock Project Runway if there was ever another Barbie challenge!)
I have no problem admitting that I still have all my old Barbies (and the clothing my mother made for them). Their hair is all knotted from the (at least) 1,000 washings & braidings my Barbies endured. Some have pen on them, others chewed hands and nail polish marks, as I always enjoyed giving them a 9 year old's version of a makeover. Once I got involved with Mattel, I went to their factory to see how the Barbie dolls are created. I saw so many Barbies that brought back so many terrific memories as well as newer dolls that I had not seen. It made me feel like a little girl again, and I just had to have them! I started picking them off the shelf and remembering that same feeling I had as a kid when I’d see a new Barbie in her familiar pink box. I now proudly have about 30 Barbies that are collectibles. I also got a few for my daughter Leni.
It is so exciting that I now get to experience the excitement of Barbie all over again, vicariously through Leni. She loves her Barbie dolls; she and her friends play with their Barbies and, as I did, they now make up the most imaginative and funny stories. I can't tell you how proud I am to now have a Barbie in my image- it is so exciting and surreal. Thankfully, Leni loves her too and the 'Barbie as Heidi Klum' doll is now one of her absolute favorites. I think Barbie is such a great role model for Leni and other girls- she really is an empowering icon. After all, Barbie is fearless- she can do any job- fly to the moon, run a company, save a life, raise a family, be a rock star... the opportunities are endless. It shows girls that a woman can have it all and do it all with style. Barbie has also always been fabulous in the best sense of the word and graceful throughout her 50 years. I greatly admire that about her.
But what I loved most about my Barbie? She never complained and she did everything I wanted her to do... with a slight smile on her face. What a wonderful, irreplaceable friend!
