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Barbie got a makeover. And we *love* her new look(s)

 
Barbie has been a classic childhood toy for basically as long as we can remember, and during most of that time, she's had pretty much the same look: blond hair, blue eyes, super thin and super tall. If you saw a Barbie doll that looked any different, you knew it was one of Barbie's friends or family members, not the real deal. Now, all of that is changing, and Barbie herself is coming in all different shapes, sizes and colors.

We talked to Zendaya back in September about how Barbie was getting a makeover when she teamed up with Mattel to host the Barbie Rock 'n Royals Concert Experience. "When I was little I didn’t really have a Barbie that looked like me," she told us at the time. Now, Zendaya doesn't just have her own personalized Zendaya Barbie, little girls everywhere will be able to find Barbies that look like them.

"I feel like it’s important that there are different races of Barbie, and when it comes down to skin color and hair textures, facial features, I saw a change in that," shared Z. "And what’s really cool is that they're not just Barbie’s friend or Barbie’s cousin, but they’re all Barbie!"

 

Today, we're officially meeting all the new different Barbies. "We’ve expanded our line to offer girls more choices than ever. Curvy, Tall, and Petite dolls now stand proudly next to the Original body," Mattel shared on Barbie's Instagram. "With 4 body types, 7 skin tones, 22 eye colors, and 24 hairstyles, we proudly offer girls more choices than ever."

Barbie was even featured on the cover of this week's Time (you can check out their story here). 57 years into the company, Barbie is finally joining the ranks of more diverse doll companies.

 

Bratz, which began releasing dolls in 2001, featured toys with all different skintones and ethnicities from the beginning. More recently, Lammily started with a crowdfunding campaign in March 2014 to create a doll whose measurements matched those of the average 19-year-old American girl and Malaville gave us four different black dolls featuring curly, natural hair just last month. American Girl dolls have even added items like wheelchairs and diabetes kits to their doll accessory lines so that girls can further personalize their Truly Me toys.

Though it may have taken Barbie a while to come around, we're so excited and ready to finally welcome her into a world where there's a toy for every different kind of girl.

What do you think of Barbie's makeover? Are you excited to discover all of her new looks?

Photos credit: Barbie

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by Chelsea Duff | 2/1/2016
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