You could choose between a blonde or a brunette Barbie, and her face and body shape were quite different. She had a ponytail, and her basic outfit was a striped swimsuit. The first Barbie doll looked quite unlike the version of Barbie we know today. They named the doll after Handler’s daughter, Barbara.

This tactic worked, and in 1959, engineer Jack Ryan helped Handler design the first Barbie doll. While on holiday to Europe in 1956, Handler found a recently launched German fashion doll, Bild Lilli, and brought it back to prove that there would be a market for dolls representing young adult characters. Mattel initially didn’t like the idea much, but Handler didn’t give up.

In the 1950s, Ruth Handler, whose husband worked for the toy company Mattel, came up with the idea of creating a doll to represent a young woman instead of a baby. Barbie – A Short Historyīefore Barbie, most American dolls were baby dolls. If you want to check out more or our dress-up games, click here to browse our full dressing-up and fashion game overview. She’s had her portrait painted by Andy Warhol, and she’s even had her own exhibit at the Louvre! Is there anything this iconic doll can’t do? Below, you can read more about Barbie’s origin story and her adventures. In fact, Barbie has had a rather eventful life! She’s held a huge range of jobs, including surgeon, fire fighter, rock star, pilot, politician, and she’s even travelled into space as an astronaut. Barbie is a glamorous supermodel and most of our Barbie games are dress-up games, but modelling isn’t the only career Barbie has had.

Here at Kizi, you can find a collection of fun Barbie games starring the world-famous fashion doll and her friends.

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