The New Barbie Bodies

By now, you have probably seen or at least heard of the introduction of the new body types Barbie is offering in its Fashionista line of dolls. They are offering a Curvy body, a Petite body and a Tall body. Probably the most talked about is the "Curvy" body. Many believe that this is a direct response by Mattel in answer to the Lammily doll. If it is, then thank you Lammily! Now, I do own more that one Lammily doll, but I do not like their ad campaign bashing Barbie. I think there is a place in this world for dolls of all sizes and shapes. Bravo Mattel!

Now if you know me at all, I did have to order some in each of the new body styles. Mine arrived Friday and they did not disappoint (except for the fact that they don't have articulation :-( ].  I took some pictures and did some comparisons to other dolls. I will share these with you all and, of course, voice my opinion.

We will start with a photo of all of the new dolls I received.

From L to R: Petite Blue Brocade, Curvy Chambray Chic, Tall White and Pink Pizzazz, Curvy Sweetheart Stripes

I really love the Curvy dolls! Maybe because I am a bit curvy myself! So I compared the Curvy girls to Lammily.

They are all very close to the same height. Chambray Chic has flat feet and Sweetheart Stripes has high heeled feet, but they are not as high as the original Barbie. Lammily, is wearing black mid-heel pumps. Oh, BTW, I put my mini me head on a Lammily body!

Here we have the girls stripped naked! As you can see, the Lammily body has a much longer torso than Curvy Barbie. Also Curvy Barbie has a much more defined waistline. Her legs are also more, well curvy, than Lammily's. 

Now from behind. BTW, I should note that Curvy Barbie could stand on her own as long as she had her shoes on! Visually, it appears that Curvy Barbie has wider hips that Lammily. I did move Curvy Barbies legs out a bit to aid in her standing, but with a narrower stance, her thighs almost touch, which is true for most curvy human ladies!

I swapped Lammily's outfit with Curvy Barbie's outfit. As you can see, it appears that they do not have much trouble sharing clothes. However, because of Lammily's long torso, the dress barely covers her bum and it definitely shows more leg.

Now, without the sweater you can see that the Lammily pants are very loose on Curvy Barbie. They sit rather low at the waste too. Also, when putting Curvy Barbie's dress on Lammily, I had some trouble pulling it over Lammily's hips. Much to my surprise, Lammily's hips are wider even though they don't look that way to the naked eye. I think this is because with the more defined waistline and more shapely legs on Curvy Barbie, She has the illusion of looking like she has wider hips.

Next, I tried on some other Lammily clothes on Barbie. All of the skirts from Lammily were too big for Curvy Barbie. However, there are some pieces that work.

Here, each of my Curvy Barbies are wearing Lammily jackets. They look good, right?

Chambray Chic has on a running suit from Ty Girls that I had purchased for Lammily and Sweetheart Stripes has the suit jacket from Lammily's Rockin' London set.

Next up, is the Petite doll comparisons. I compared Petite Blue Brocade to a hybrid articulated Skipper doll, a Skipper doll with a Simba Supermodel body and a Momoko doll.

L to R: Skipper on Simba Supermodel body, older Skipper on a hybrid articulated Skipper body, Petite Blue Brocade, Wake up Momoko. Petite's hair makes her look taller, but these girls are all pretty close in height, with the Simba Supermodel body being slightly shorter than the rest. We should also note that Petite Blue Brocade has high heeled feet. 

Naked Petites! Petite Barbie has a more mature and defined shape than the Simba Supermodel and the Skipper Hybrid bodies. Momoko has a defined shape, but is slimmer that Petite Barbie. (Note: I had put on some Barbie flat footed tennis shoes on Momoko and need to apply heat to remove them, so I just pulled her pants down!)

From behind, it is easier to see that the Simba Supermodel is shorter. Skipper definitely has a more juvenile body than Petite Barbie and Momoko (sorry, I forgot to move her hair aside) is slimmer)

Now for some clothes sharing. Skipper on the Simba Supermodel body wearing the Blue Brocade dress and Petite Barbie wearing a current Skipper outfit. I think both look very nice.

Petite Barbie in Momoko's top (I couldn't get the pants off because of the shoes, but I don't think they would have fit anyway). Hybrid Skipper in Petite Blue Brocade dress.  I do see some clothes swapping opportunities here. 

Finally, because I often have used a Liv body as a rebody choice for Skipper, I decided to compare these 2 as well. This is Generation Girl Mari on a Liv body. Still some possibilities here!

Now for the new Tall Barbies! 

Left to Right: Barbie Look Sweet Tea, Tall Barbie White and Pink Pizzazz, Fashion Royalty Perfectly Suited Giselle

Giselle is obviously the tallest of the 3, however, she does have high heeled feet. Tall Barbie has flat feet and Sweet Tea has high heeled feet, put is still a little shorter than the new Tall Barbie.  Also, note the differences in their bodies. Both Giselle and Sweet Tea have defined waistlines and shorter torsos. Tall Barbie has a basically strait up and down figure and a long torso. I think you would say she has a boyish figure. 

Here they are from the back. Giselle and Sweet Tea both have shapely behinds while Tall Barbie has a flatter looking butt. I do like the uniqueness of Tall Barbies shape. Someone mentioned that her body reminded them of the Mixis doll bodies, with the straight up and down waist and hips.

The big question is - can they swap clothes?

Tall Barbie and Sweet Tea have traded clothes. Doesn't look too bad, right? Well I could not close the skirt on Sweet Tea skirt on the Tall Barbie body. I haven't tried any regular Barbie clothes on the Tall body yet, but they may be a better fit.

Tall Barbie cannot wear Giselle's pants, but she can wear her jacket (Giselle better keep an eye on her stuff!).  Giselle, on the other hand can wear both pieces and look pretty good in them!

In conclusion, I am loving the direction that Barbie is taking with this new group of dolls. However, I so wish these ladies had articulation! I do think my favorite body of these is the new Curvy body because she is such a departure from what we have seen in the past. Will I body swap any of them? Probably. I see some viable alternatives for both the Petite and the Tall bodies. Of course, this will depend on skin tone matches. I hope that Mattel is just waiting to see how they sell before making a more substantial investment in the bodies. I for one, will do my part and purchase more! I already have my eye on some of them!

To see more of Mattel's new Fashionista body types go to ShopMattel.com.

Thanks for stopping by. And don't forget the winner of Blog Giveaway #2 will be announced tomorrow with Blog Giveaway # 3 not being far behind!