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Most
of the reference books list Barbie dolls and fashions (and this website)
by the date the item was on the market. However, a collector should be
aware that the manufacture obviously must make their supplies prior to
it being on the market, thus an outfit label or tag that has a date of
© 1968 means that it was made or copyright in that year, but probably
was not on the market till at least the following year. So when trying
to identify an outfit look one year after the date on the tag.
Also,
outfits had only one label or tag but often several clothing pieces. Labels are
most often found in the outermost clothing piece for female attire.
In a three piece suit for Barbie: jacket, blouse, pants or skirt the
label will be found in the jacket. In # 991 Barbie's Registered
Nurse the label is in the navy cape, not the white nurse dress. Male
fashions do not follow this example, it seems the labels are more
often found in the shirt rather than the jacket.
Barbie
was the star of the Mattel line, so other 11 1/2" friends
were meant to share her wardrobe (this way a new doll could be
purchased but a whole new wardrobe was not necessary). Other
than the swimsuits they were clothed in, only a handful of outfits
were designed and labeled for the friends. Julia had four
outfits, Stacey at least one, and PJ about two. The same was
true for Francie sized 11 1/4" dolls, her friend Twiggy had four
outfits labeled for her and Casey just one. Skipper's sized 9
1/4" friend Skooter, only a swimsuit is labeled for her, but
Ricky who is also 9 1/4" sized (and has the same body as Skipper
& Skooter), of course, got his own
wardrobe of six outfits. Ken is 12" tall (only in 1963 was
he 11 3/4") and shares his wardrobe with Allan, Brad and Curtis.
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Earliest
labels were: Barbie ™
© BY MATTEL
then
changed to: Barbie ®
©
BY MATTEL.
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All
the early Barbie clothing and dolls were made in Japan. The zippers in
the clothing have YKK on the zipper pull. Metal snaps in clothing
may carry the mark of * 5 0 0 or K 5 I 0 (there may be other markings
too, but this is what we found on 10 garments from this era).
In 1972 Mattel introduced color coded packaging, they also stopped
labeling or tagging the clothing and no longer used title names for the
outfits.
Shoes
- Early Barbie's open toe heeled shoes have a left and a right to the
pair. The left shoe is marked Japan. The same is true
of Skipper's flat shoes, the left one is marked Japan.
During the MOD era Skipper's shoes are marked Taiwan, and these
are a little larger due to the bend leg dolls have larger feet.
Reproduction
outfits we believe are tagged Barbie ® Reproduction © BY MATTEL.
However a Gay Parisienne reproduction outfit has the label in the white
faux fur stole and it is the Barbie
® © BY MATTEL label.
All Vintage Barbie, Family & Friends
Doll Clothes 1959-1976

Skipper, Skooter,
Fluff, Tiff, Ginger
doll clothes 9 1/4"
1964-1970
1971-1979
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Francie, Casey,
Twiggy
doll clothes 11 1/4"
1966-1969 | 1970-1975
Japanese |
Tutti,
Chris, Buffy, Carla, Pretty Pairs,
doll clothes 6 1/4"
1966-1968
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Barbie
Dolls & Clothes Gift Sets 1960-1974
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