TEAM BARBIE!!!!

I was watching the news the other day, and apparently Barbie doll sales are on the decline, thanks to the rise of a new fashion doll: the seriously unfortunate and trashy looking Bratz dolls.

I am well aware that Barbie has had her own share of controversy--unrealistic body proportions and whatnot--but seriously, get a grip people. Bratz dolls actually look like skanked out teenagers, sporting micro- mini skirts and obnoxiously huge lips. The barely-legal looking dolls look like they are about to hit the club and snort some coke. They look like inflatable sex dolls with seriously bad attitudes. Even the name--"Bratz"--is not a term I would want my daughters associating with something cool or fashionable.

Barbie, on the other hand, is a classic fashion icon that goes back generations. She has evolved with the culture and spends a large portion of her free time outside the club. Barbie goes to the beach. She plays tennis and walks her dogs with her younger sisters, Skipper and Stacie. She has a diverse group of friends and has picnics with her boyfriend, Ken. She is a doctor, a teacher, an astronaut, a ballerina. She embraces all cultures and has even spent time being Italian, Chinese, or Native American. Barbie cruises town in a hot pink corvette and lives in a luxurious mansion, both of which she presumably paid for herself. She represents fashion on all levels--cute to sexy to trendy to haute couture. What a travesty that parents are choosing Bratz over Barbie.

And on a more superficial note, Bratz dolls have to be about the ugliest toy I have ever seen (aside from Cabbage Patch.) There really is no comparison--the pictures below explain it all.

VS.

For further Barbie browsing, visit http://angelicdreamz.com/store/barbie.html and http://www.barbiecollector.com/. They sell so many of the vintage, special edition, and designer Barbies, and there are plenty of pictures!