Holiday Barbie 1992 - Just a Pale Imitation
Look. You all know the drill by now. So let's have a good look at 1992:
Hmmm....
It's not that she's BAD.
Exactly.
It's just that it feels similar enough to 1989 – a mere 3 years earlier – that I can’t stop making comparisons between the two. And noting how 1992 comes up short. Like the silver top with the overly bubbly long sleeves that make it look more like a silver haz-mat suit than a ball gown. And the little dingle-berries hanging off the front and sleeves look like at the last second they decided a full-on macramé gown was maybe a bit too corny so they’d roll it back ONE step when it really should have been rolled back about 46 steps, give or take. The skirt could have just stayed standard poufy but instead tried to get creative and ended up looking like a souvenir paper fan. Or a cupcake wrapper. Looking at 1989 HB and then getting this at the end of 1992 is like getting tickets to a Pearl Jam concert and showing up only to find out they’ve been replaced by Creed.
Never mind, she’s not bad, she’s terrible. (You remember two sentences ago when I just compared her to Creed right?) I’m pretty sure whoever was designing 1992 Holiday Barbie knew it too. Case in point: They gave her a scrunchy. A clear sign that someone has given up on life.
Since 1992 is still not all that exciting for extra Christmas/holiday/winter exclusive offerings (I promise it starts getting more fun soon), I took the liberty of researching some classic Holiday Barbies to see where their roots lay. According to this photo, I’d guess it’s in the #MeToo movement:
It's not that she's BAD.
Exactly.
It's just that it feels similar enough to 1989 – a mere 3 years earlier – that I can’t stop making comparisons between the two. And noting how 1992 comes up short. Like the silver top with the overly bubbly long sleeves that make it look more like a silver haz-mat suit than a ball gown. And the little dingle-berries hanging off the front and sleeves look like at the last second they decided a full-on macramé gown was maybe a bit too corny so they’d roll it back ONE step when it really should have been rolled back about 46 steps, give or take. The skirt could have just stayed standard poufy but instead tried to get creative and ended up looking like a souvenir paper fan. Or a cupcake wrapper. Looking at 1989 HB and then getting this at the end of 1992 is like getting tickets to a Pearl Jam concert and showing up only to find out they’ve been replaced by Creed.
Never mind, she’s not bad, she’s terrible. (You remember two sentences ago when I just compared her to Creed right?) I’m pretty sure whoever was designing 1992 Holiday Barbie knew it too. Case in point: They gave her a scrunchy. A clear sign that someone has given up on life.
Since 1992 is still not all that exciting for extra Christmas/holiday/winter exclusive offerings (I promise it starts getting more fun soon), I took the liberty of researching some classic Holiday Barbies to see where their roots lay. According to this photo, I’d guess it’s in the #MeToo movement:
Take that, Ken! And Ken’s….Howdy Doody looking friend. You tried to ply us with mid-quality whiskey in cute Santa mugs but we’re on to you! You can just snuggle your festive-vested self next to your Physics-professor-jacketed friend while we toast to your ridiculousness! Enjoy.
The only thing a search of "1992 Holiday Barbie" provided other than the silver dingle-berries and scrunchied high ponytail seen above was this group entitled ‘Sea Holiday.’
It includes Ken as Don Johnson, Barbie as both the Captain AND Tennille, and Midge/Kayla/whatever the miscellaneous non-blonde friend is being called these days as the cast of Absolutely Fabulous. She may be behind the times, but at least she’s bringing the party!
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