A thesis on how Barbie is one of the ultimate maximalists

Barbie: the toy, the movie, and now the world

What was once only a toy, is now a movie grossing over $1.4 billion at the box office as of December 2023. I have seen the movie 3 times, but at this point who knows what the final tally will be. Some might say I am a big fan, not only of the movie, but of Barbie. Barbie, is now streaming on HBO Max.

As someone who appreciates clothing and the idea of more, I would like to dive further into just how the movie plays into the heart of all the fellow maximalists out there….

The best part about being a maximalist in fashion, is showing off all of your awesome clothes and outfits. For Stereotypical Barbie, played by Margot Robbie, within the first few minutes of the movie, she changed outfits at least 3 times (4 times if you want to count the Space Odyssey/ original Barbie reference). In order of outfits there was first the original black and white swimsuit, then the pj set, then the pink and white gingham dress, and of course… Barbie had to change when she got to the beach as well. The next day, it was similar. Wake up with pjs, change into the apron outfit, go to the beach in another outfit, and then visit ‘weird Barbie’ in another outfit. The costume designer for this movie stayed BUSY. When we look further into the fashion, not only are these outfits being changed often (even being mentioned later on when Barbie was talking to the human mother and daughter duo [Gloria and Sasha] when they entered Barbieland and mentioned that they could “change outfits again”), but they are monochromatic as well. When wearing pink, the pink is from head- to- toe, same with blue, and patterned prints. The aesthetic of more is more is seen with Barbie’s closet whether with the clothing or the color. Barbie IS a maximalist!

Although the movie was fun to watch, my inner child was dying to play dress up again (sorry mom and dad I will not grow out of it). This time, I was Barbie, and my closet was Barbie’s dream closet. My best friend, Mikayla, and I decided the best place for a Barbie to be was in none other than Barbieland, so we visited the World of Barbie at the Dallas location, happening in Stonebriar Centre. Because what better is there to do on a Thursday evening than become Barbie?

If you are a maximalist or even a Barbie lover, I highly recommend the World of Barbie experience. Barbieland was probably 3x the size of the Stranger Things pop-up (if you went to that one) and had so many more photo opportunites.

Mikayla and I were a little late to the event, but we managed to get through the entire thing and get great photos in just 38 minutes (although some witnesses may say that we were out of breath and a little sweaty).

For those of you who cannot make it to the World of Barbie, or are interested in how my experience went… stay tuned for pictures depicting both below.

First: Dive into the World of Barbie