a Child's Dream Fulfilled Online of Fashion Dolls

Online dress up games are essentially still the same old dress up game-- this time, on the web. So yes, its still a make-believe game, with an extra rich range of outfits to choose from. The dress up games also carry a sizeable array of themes to suit the player's moods.

Young ladies and teens can pick up a flashy and funky fashion detail or two while playing these games, since among the characters you'll be working to create an outfit for are famous anime celebrities, real stars, fantasy makeovers, just to name a few. An example activity that we can mention here is the Doll Maker series. It involves designing a doll from the drawing board up to the finished product itself. Indeed the player will be something like a short-of-reality doll factory owner.

Now, lets have a little detour regarding how popular fashion dolls have come to battle one another in the toys stores worldwide, and are now still battling in the Web today. Everybody kept talking about the leggy dolls with doe eyes, high-end makeup, plus chic urban clothing. Things were drastically altered when the Bratz dolls made their debut from Southern California. Some dress up games also come with sound effects, which are sure to drive away the boredom blues of any player. There are those thinking that dress up games are nothing more than that, but perhaps they haven't seen the creativity aspect of these online games. Did you know that aside from dress-up, there are also a few more uses for the images of a doll from a dress-up game? If you are in the mood for a little dress up game fun yourself, just surf the web highway for cool dress up games.

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Who is created Barbie and Ken dolls with accessories ?

Jack Ryan , whose wives included Hollywood actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, surrounded himself with busty ' Barbie ' clones and threw wild orgies at his luxurious Bel-Air, California mansion.

Ryan, who died in 1991 aged 65, designed toys like Barbie and Ken, Hot Wheels and the Chatty Cathy talking doll during his years as a top executive for Mattel.

Five times married Ryan also indulged in wife-swapping, claims the book.

Even more disturbingly, Ryan's kinky motivations played a part in his design of the world's favourite doll .

'When Jack talked about creating Barbie it was like listening to somebody talk about a sexual episode, almost like listening to a sexual pervert,' Ryan's friend, Stephen Gnass told the author.

Barbie - who is 50 years old in March - and Ken were named after the children of Mattel founders Ruth and Elliot Handler.

Oppenheimer said Ken Handler 'grew up embarrassed and humiliated by having an anatomically incorrect boy doll named after him with no hint of genitalia.'

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The Perfect Figure of Barbie Doll

While no one will argue with the popularity of Mattel's Barbie Doll , one area that has raised its fair share of controversy over the years is her figure.

Many parents from around the world have argued that Barbie's ultra-slim figure represents a ridiculous standard for a body shape. They say that many girls grow up thinking that they must have the same figure as Barbie or there is something wrong with them. If you take the measurements of Barbie, she would be over 7 feet tall, weigh around 125 pounds, and have a shape of 32-20-42. Some have went as far as saying that the Barbie doll has caused their children to become anorexic from trying to maintain Barbie's figure . In recent years, Mattel has given in a little bit on this issue and widened Barbie's waist a bit. Barbie now has a more proportioned waist.

Regardless of what Barbie's figure looks like, or who is right or wrong on this issue, the real winner in this debate is Mattel. The added controversy and publicity only helps to fuel sales. I wonder why no one talks about Ken's figure?

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Early adolescents' experiences with, and views of, Barbie

Developmental psychologists have long recognized the importance of play to children's development (Huizinga, 1950; Sutton-Smith, 1986, 1997). Toys present messages about gender, adult roles, and values that children internalize.

Barbie has been said to touch every girl's life (Rogers, 1999). The extant literature about Barbie dolls tends to be opinionated and based on essays and popular media articles ("Barbie's Missing Accessory: Food," 1994; La Ferle, 1997; Lord, 1994; McDough, 1999; Suhay, 2000; Mulrine, 1997). Some claim that the toy represents the paradigm of adult female beauty to which young girls learn to aspire (Freedman, 1986; Turkel, 1998). It has been argued that Barbie dolls reflect a highly sexualized image and circumscribe girls' play by emphasizing prescribed roles and patterns of interaction. Despite the vocal opinions that abound about the influence of Barbie dolls on girls' development, there is a paucity of empirical research examining the impact of Barbie dolls on the lives of girls.

Surveys have suggested that Barbie dolls are among girls' first or second "most favorite toys" between ages eight and twelve (Sutton-Smith, 1986). Recently, and most pertinent to the present study, Rogers (1999) explored individuals' experiences with Barbie dolls. Each group was asked to write about their experiences with Barbie dolls. All of the participants had knowledge of Barbie dolls, but mixed views about the doll's influence on girls prevailed. The majority of adolescent girls felt positively about Barbie, while boys distanced themselves from "play" with Barbie dolls, and instead reported disfiguring the dolls through a variety of methods. The college students and adults tended to acknowledge that Barbie dolls impact girls' ideals, but disagreed as to whether the influence was beneficial or detrimental to girls' development.

In light of the limited data, the present research examines young adolescents' experiences with, and views of, Barbie dolls.

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The Biography of Barbie Dolls

Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts. Barbie attended Willows High School and fictional Manhattan International High School in New York City, based on the real-life Stuyvesant High School. Like Barbie, Ken shares his name with one of Ruth Handler's children. Barbie's careers are designed to show that women can take on a variety of roles in life, and the doll has been sold with a wide range of titles including Miss Astronaut Barbie (1965), Doctor Barbie (1988) and Nascar Barbie (1998).[8]

Mattel has created a range of companions for Barbie, including Hispanic Teresa, Midge, African American Christie and Steven (Christie's boyfriend). Barbie's siblings and cousins were also created including Skipper, Tutti (Todd's twin sister), Todd (Tutti's and Stacie's twin brother), Stacie (Todd's twin sister), Kelly, Krissy, Francie, and Jazzie.

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The History of Barbie Dolls

Ruth Handler watched her daughter Barbara at play with paper dolls , and noticed that she often enjoyed giving them adult roles. At the time, most children's toy dolls were representations of infants. During a trip to Europe in 1956 with her children Barbara and Kenneth, Ruth Handler came across German toy doll called Bild Lilli. The adult-figured Lilli doll was exactly what Handler had in mind, so she purchased three of them. The doll made its debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York on March 9, 1959. This date is also used as Barbie's official birthday.

Mattel acquired the rights to the Bild Lilli doll in 1964 and production of Lilli was stopped. The doll was marketed as a "Teen-age Fashion Model," with her clothes created by Mattel fashion designer Charlotte Johnson. The first Barbie dolls were manufactured in Japan, with their clothes hand-stitched by Japanese homeworkers. Around 350,000 Barbie dolls were sold during the first year of production.

It is estimated that over a billion Barbie dolls have been sold worldwide in over 150 countries, with Mattel claiming that three Barbie dolls are sold every second. The standard range of Barbie dolls and related accessories are manufactured to approximately 1/6th scale, which is also known as playscale. Barbie products include not only the range of dolls with their clothes and accessories, but also a huge range of Barbie branded goods such as books, fashion items and video games. Barbie has appeared in a series of animated films and makes a brief guest appearance in the 1999 film Toy Story 2.

Almost uniquely for a toy fashion doll, Barbie has become a cultural icon and has been given honors that are rare in the toy world.

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