When Was the Last Time You Dressed Up Like Barbie?
A spoiler-free musing on getting dressed, wearing pink, and complicated films
I saw Barbie this weekend. Twice.
The first time was with my students. The second was with friends. So I’ve had two opportunities to take in, reflect on, and formulate my opinions on the film. My thoughts in a nutshell:
Barbie is an angsty Millennial woman’s fever dream.
I love pink. I love Billie Eilish. I want Greta Gerwig to be my best friend.
It’s a complicated movie.
The first point you really have to just see the film to understand. The second speaks for itself.
So I’ll spend the next few minutes unpacking the third.
No matter how I look at it, Barbie is complicated.
Watching with my students I sobbed when I saw my girls crying at the emotional moments, the parts where the plot and the dialogue wax poetical about the struggles of being a woman-identifying human.
And, the story was very gender binary-ish and I wondered how my trans/gender-fluid students would feel watching it.
Margot Robbie is the perfect Barbie and I love her as much as I loved my very own Beach Barbie (which was, apparently, kind of just a Baywatch Barbie...? 😬)
And, in a debate on the way home with my friend I had to self-reflect and unpack why I was “Sooo relieved” that Amy Schumer didn’t stick with the role.
Right after watching, a friend described this as the “perfect mother-daughter movie,” which I can totally see.
And, for me, the nostalgia I have for my Barbie-playing days is stirred together with significant familial grief and trauma, so framing the film that way is a little painful.
I’ll tell you what felt wholly joyful though, and that was the clothing. Both the characters’ and the viewers’.
Dressing for the first time on a class field trip, I knew I had to bring a little “classic Ms. Fraser” as the kids said, which meant my controversial leopard Crocs and a THRIFTED THE DAY BEFORE hot pink Marc Jacobs bag. My students wore pink scrunchies, t-shirts, slides, glitter, and makeup. One of my amazing kids even had on a pair of the paisley palazzo pants that are actually featured in the film 😍
The second night, for my pink-loving friend’s birthday, I knew it was go big or go home. So the theme of the night was extra. Extra pink blush. Pink lipgloss to match. Not just a hot pink tank but a baby pink button down. (And, duh, the Marc Jacobs again. She was born for this moment.)
Of course ,the leopard Crocs came out again, which, as I explained to my friend in a text, while not pink, are definitely in the spirit of Barbie.
Okay, it’s official. I am making leopard and pink a thing. Right now. There, it’s done.
Getting ready was So. Much. Fun. And we saw this fun matched in our fellow movie-goers. There were pink slip dresses and gingham peplum tops, sparkly heels and neon bomber jackets.
I speak for all of those of us who attended dressed on theme when I say, we abandoned our three style words, let go of whether we’re a cool or warm tone, released the idea of “neutral basics with pops of colour” and went balls to the wall (sorry, it’s really the best turn of phrase here 🤷🏽♀️) with what we FELT like wearing. It was glorious.
The last time I experienced this creative freedom in wardrobe was, unsurprisingly… playing Barbie.
So this is all to say, the film Barbie and Barbie herself are complex and mean something different to everyone depending upon their particular way of being in the world.
But I think we all could benefit from dressing ourselves up as though we’re our own favourite Barbie a little more often.
It’s so easy to follow our own self-imposed rules and start dressing more self-consciously than self-expressively.
If you need it, take this as your permission to let go of the rules and take a fashion risk in the name of a good time.
By the way, I wrote this post from the bathtub last night after I got home, intermittently checking TikTok (which for me has basically become BarbieTok), listening to that Billie Eilish song, and texting my friend about memes while we recapped what we’d just seen.
I’ll unpack the rest of my thoughts on Barbie including the wardrobe, brands, and makeup in a future post. If you want it delivered straight to your inbox, be sure to subcribe to this publication.
If you’ve seen Barbie (or if you refuse to) let me know your spoiler-free thoughts in the comments.
Thank you for reading des lettres, which loosely translates from French to Letters. This is where I (Sarah Renée) write about fashion, personal style, thrifting, and what it means to live a beautiful collected life.