Real-Life Barbie: Miss America Dr. Debbye Turner

From debbyeturner.com

I never dreamed, as a little girl, that I would one day become Miss America. I didn’t really want to. I always loved animals. And, except for a brief time in elementary school when I thought I wanted to be a teacher, I always wanted to be a veterinarian. Since I was a young girl, I knew that the expensive veterinary education was way beyond my family’s financial abilities. So I began looking for scholarship opportunities to help get me through veterinary school.

When the Director of the Miss Jonesboro pageant approached me about entering her “local” pageant which is in the Miss America System, I was more then willing because she told me that the Miss America Scholarship Program was the largest source of scholarship for women in the world. She then told me that I could win tens of thousands of dollars if I won a state pageant and went on to the Miss America competition. I knew right away that this might be my ticket to paying for veterinary school!

But before I met the Miss Jonesboro Director, I had participated in two other pageants. Thanks to the encouragement and inspiration of my church choir director, I entered my very first pageant, “Miss Black Teenage World.” I was fifteen at the time. All my friends were in it too. It was more fun than competition. Still my natural tendency to want to win made my First Runner-Up placement a bit of a disappointment. But I did enjoy the experience, so when the high school counselor announced the Junior Miss Program was looking for participants, I signed up. I went on to win the title of Northeast Arkansas Junior. And placed in the “Top 8” at the Arkansas Junior Miss Program. I was later told that I was “too sophisticated” for the Junior Miss Program and that I should consider the Miss America program.

In 1983, I was nominated to represent the FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) in a high school pageant. I gladly accepted. I won! That’s where I met the lady from the Miss Jonesboro Pageant. So later that year, I entered my first pageant in the Miss America system, the Miss Jonesboro Pageant. The road was long to the Miss America stage. You see, I HAD to win a “state pageant” in order to get to the Miss America pageant. It took seven years, eleven tries in two states to get there. I entered four local pageants in the Miss Arkansas system. I won three of them, which meant that I went to the Miss Arkansas pageant three times. But I could never win the Miss Arkansas title. So after that third failed attempt, I changed my method. By this time, I was a veterinary student at the University of Missouri-Columbia. So, since I was a student in the state of Missouri, I was eligible for the Missouri preliminaries. So in February of 1989 I entered the Miss Columbia pageant and won. I went on to the Miss Missouri pageant that summer and won. In September, I became Miss America 1990. And my life changed forever...

If you want to know more about the Miss America system, click here: http://www.missamerica.org/.

© 2009, Don’t Just Play Barbie…Be Barbie!, www.bebarbie.net

Comme des Garçons Barbie

From the Telegraph:

The Comme des Garçons Barbie doll by Japanese fashion designer, Rei Kawakubo, comes in a Jingle Flowers box. Kawakubo has designed a multicolored, silk dress, with a full, asymmetric skirt that stands away from the body – perfect for Barbie’s Christmas social whirl.

The dress is in a photo-style, print graphic and forms part of ‘Jingle Flowers’, the Comme des Garçons ‘new nonsense’ Christmas range.

The limited edition Barbie is part of the Barbie Collector Platinum Label collection, and comes in its own box, featuring the Jingle Flowers print, and display stand.
Comme des Garçons Barbie was launched in Tokyo last week and sold out.


© 2009, Don’t Just Play Barbie…Be Barbie!, www.bebarbie.net

Heidi Klum Gets Doll'd Up…Fabulous! [VIDEO]

Here’s a video capturing a bit of the discussion on the design for the Heidi Klum addition to Mattel’s Blonde Ambition Collection. She worked with the always-fabulous Robert Best, one of my favorite Barbie designers. If you recall, he was a contestant on Project Runway a couple of seasons ago.

Anyhoo, Heidi’s doll is gorgeous. That dress is oh so cute. (“If it’s not pink, it’s not good.” Loved that comment!) And those shoes!!! OMG Everything works well on this doll; I can hardly wait to redress another doll in that fabulous ensemble.

© 2009, Don’t Just Play Barbie…Be Barbie!, www.bebarbie.net

Real-Life Barbie: Cindy Crawford

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cindy_Crawford

Cynthia Ann "Cindy" Crawford (born February 20, 1966) is a former American model. Known for her trademark mole just above her lip, Crawford has adorned hundreds of magazine covers throughout her career. She was named #3 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of the 90s. Her success at modeling made her a celebrity that has led to roles in television and film, and to work as a spokesperson.

Early life

Crawford was born in DeKalb, Illinois, the daughter of Jennifer Sue Crawford-Moluf (née Walker) and John Crawford.[1][2] She was discovered at the age of 16 by a newspaper photographer. He noticed Cindy at work during her summer job of detasseling corn and took a picture of her. The photo and positive feedback she received were enough to convince her to take up modeling. She entered the Elite Model Management's Look of the Year contest at 17 and was the runner-up. The Elite modeling agency in Chicago then started representing her.
Crawford graduated from DeKalb High School in 1984, as valedictorian.[3] She won an academic scholarship to study chemical engineering at Northwestern University, which she attended for only one quarter. She dropped out in order to pursue a full-time modeling career. After working for photographer Victor Skrebneski in Chicago, Cindy moved to Manhattan in 1986; she was signed with the Elite New York modeling agency.

In 1987, she briefly appeared during the opening credits of the Michael J. Fox film The Secret of My Succe$s.

Career
During the 1980s and 1990s, Cindy Crawford was among the most popular supermodels, and a ubiquitous presence on magazine covers, runways, and in fashion campaigns. She was repeatedly and frequently featured on the cover of many magazines, including: Vogue, W, People, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Cosmopolitan, and Allure. A partial count in 1998 totalled over 400 appearances.[4] Crawford also appeared in many fashion campaigns during her career, including those for Gianni Versace, Escada, Revlon, Ink. She has also worked for Omega, Maybelline, and Clairol.

Fashion designer Michael Kors summed up her impact:
"Cindy changed the perception of the ‘sexy American girl’ from classic blue eyed blonde to a more sultry brunette with brains, charm, and professionalism to spare."[11]

After modeling
Crawford quit modeling in 2000. She continues to provide celebrity endorsement for a variety of projects. In 2005, Crawford created a line of beauty products with Dr. Jean-Louis Sebagh called Meaningful Beauty for Guthy-Renker. Crawford has admitted to regularly receiving certain cosmetic procedures, including Botox, collagen, and vitamin injections. She first saw a plastic surgeon at the age of 29.[12]

In 2005, Crawford launched a new line of furniture under the "Cindy Crawford Home Collection" name. This collection is manufactured by HM Richards Inc., and is sold through many retailers including Art Van Furniture and Rooms To Go. She assisted in the creation of the line by directing the designers to include certain features, colors, or styles that fit the needs of families or reflected her own tastes.[13] She also has a furniture line with Raymour & Flanigan and will launch another home goods line with J. C. Penney in late 2009.[14]

This one-of-a-kind Cindy Crawford Barbie was designed by Robert Best for a charity auction. The winning bidder paid $33,000 for this doll.

I think this Chocolate Obsession Barbie doll looks like Cindy Crawford!

Cindy Crawford’s Official Website: www.cindy.com/

© 2009, Don’t Just Play Barbie…Be Barbie!, www.bebarbie.net

007 Bond Girl: Die Another Day Barbie ~ Halle Berry as Jinx

This doll is a must have for my collection. I love dolls with short hairdos and IMHO, Halle Berry has never looked better than when she rocked this style. It is likely this doll will serve as an excellent model for other doll fashions just as Ms. Berry does IRL. Anyhoo, I'll be sure to share photos with you.

© 2009, Don’t Just Play Barbie…Be Barbie!, www.bebarbie.net

Christian Louboutin Barbie #1: Love the Shoes!

This is the first of three dolls in the Christian Louboutin series of dolls from Barbie® Collector. It comes straight from the "My Year in Paris" dairy calendar’s September scene—Barbie vividly dreaming of being a jewel thief on the rooftops of Paris with her sophisticated partner in crime, Christian Louboutin. Barbie wears a sleek, black catsuit with hood, headband and ultra-chic Differa gold sandals by Christian Louboutin.

The Doll comes with four pairs of Barbie shoes by Christian Louboutin each with the signature red sole, miniature shoe boxes and cloth bags. Shoes include the Differa gold sandals, Altameche Leopard boots, the Claudia ankle straps in Barbie 219 Pink and the Belle Ankle shoes in black.

Monsieur Louboutin ruffled many feathers earlier this year when he declared a redesign of Barbie's legs would be required before the doll could wear his creations. It seems the Barbie we've known and loved has fat ankles but let's not go there, okay? His shoes are fab so I may have to buy the doll just to get them!

© 2009, Don’t Just Play Barbie…Be Barbie!, www.bebarbie.net

Today is World AIDS Day

From Avert:

Started on 1st December 1988, World AIDS Day is about raising money, increasing awareness, fighting prejudice and improving education. The World AIDS Day theme for 2009 is 'Universal Access and Human Rights'. World AIDS Day is important in reminding people that HIV has not gone away, and that there are many things still to be done.

According to UNAIDS estimates, there are now 33.4 million people living with HIV, including 2.1 million children. During 2008 some 2.7 million people became newly infected with the virus and an estimated 2 million people died from AIDS. Around half of all people who become infected with HIV do so before they are 25 and are killed by AIDS before they are 35.

The vast majority of people with HIV and AIDS live in lower- and middle-income countries. But HIV today is a threat to men, women and children on all continents around the world.

© 2009, Don’t Just Play Barbie…Be Barbie!, www.bebarbie.net

The Barbie Basics Collection: Permission to Play, Uh, I Meant Redress and Accessorize

The new Barbie Basics Models Collection 001 is perfect for collectors who love to redress and accessorize their dolls. I confess that would be me. I have bought dolls just for their fabulous ensemble or accessories to adorn another doll. Thank you for this collection, Mattel.

I must tell you that I’d planned to only purchase three of the dolls until I saw these photos on Flickr. All of the dolls are so much more appealing than the photos on the Barbie Collector site.

Here’s more info about the Collection:

Customize. Personalize. Play. Barbie Basics is all about permission to play. Part of the Barbie Basics Collection, this collection of dolls and fashions is all about customizing the fashion staple, the "Little Black Dress," and making it your own! This collection includes 12 different dolls each of which is dressed in a different style of a "Little Black Dress.” Barbie Basics Accessories, sold separately, help you personalize your very own "Little Black Dress" Barbie!

As you probably already know, the entire collection is on back order on Barbie Collector and pre-order at many doll dealers on the internet. There may be a few available at your local Toys R Us or other large stores. Shop wisely, as the dolls are advertised on the internet for a wide range of prices.

Let’s hope Mattel produces a sufficient quantity of these creations but remember this is Collection 001 so let's try to exercise restraint. LOL

© 2009, Don’t Just Play Barbie…Be Barbie!, www.bebarbie.net

Barbie Goes Muslim (for charity) and Causes International Controversy

Barbie has been almost every legitimate profession one can imagine. She's also been from several countries around the world too. Barbie has been praised for encouraging girls to be all they can be and criticized for unrealistic body measurements. She's had houses, automobiles, motorcycles, clothing, jewelry, etc. etc.

Now Barbie is the center of controversy again as Italian designer Eliana Lorena has created Burka Barbie for a fundraising auction at Sotheby's. The doll is part of a 500-Barbie doll collection. Checkout: Burka Barbie to raise funds for Save the Children csmonitor.com

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PHOTO: Newscom

Barbie Collector Catalog Spring Preview 2010

My Barbie Collector catalog arrived with an awesome cover of the Christian Louboutin Barbie from the 2010 "My Year in Paris" diary calendar. The mixture of Barbie with real people is so fabulous!

This catalog is definitely a keepsake. The folks at Barbie Collector put together a catalog with offerings that can be described as HOT...HOT...HOT! I'll blog about some of the dolls in the catalog but it definitely has an adult flavor this time. The problem is I'll probably have to eat Ramen Noodles all year just to afford the Barbie dolls and accoutrements that I want!

Smooches...

© 2009, Don’t Just Play Barbie…Be Barbie!, www.bebarbie.net