Doll-A-Day 2019 #68: Barbie's '60th' Week: Fashion Queen Barbie

  Today's Barbie 60th birthday post is a doll my sister had as a kid,and I loved her.

This isn't my sister's doll. She gave her to me when she outgrew her, but later gave her to her husband's nieces anyway. This is a random girl.

She's Fashion Queen Barbie.

Fashion Queen Barbie appeared in 1963. You can watch a commercial for the doll HERE.

She has a molded upswept hair style,painted brown,and a blue head band.

Most of the dolls found are missing the head band. When I was a kid, I didn't even realize it was removable. I thought it was painted on. It's like a blue elastic band.

In fact, the featured doll today was missing her headband when I got her. I found one of the blue head bands in my Barbie stuff just the other day. I was afraid it wouldn't stretch any more and would just break when I tried to put it on her. It was ok though.
  The gimmick with Fashion Queen was that she came with three changeable wigs. That was the part I loved!

She had a white plastic wig stand and a red flip wig, a brunette page boy, and a blonde bubble cut wig. The commercial claims the doll came with a 'bubble on bubble' wig, but I know my sister's didn't, and I rarely see the bubble on bubble wigs.

  I loved that she could change her hair. My sister liked to use the wigs for other things. Her G.I. Joe frequently wore the brunette page boy, and he and Francie were Sonny and Cher.

Francie and Sonny, uh, I mean, Cher and Joe, uh,you know...

She is definitely not the most attractive of Barbies. She has a pretty crabby looking face. A lot of the Fashion Queen dolls look jowly.  

And somewhat judgmental too.

   She was certainly more attractive than the similarly wig themed and somewhat alien looking Miss Barbie, from the following year. And there were some Fashion Queen dolls with very pretty, high colour faces. However, she usually looked haughty, and sometimes downright angry.

  Some of those Fashion Queen dolls with high colour faces are quite beautiful. My girl isn't a high colour, but she isn't jowly either.

The hats from the earlier ponytail Barbies don't fit very well with the wigs, or on Barbies with rooted bubble cuts either.

  The doll originally came in a swimsuit with white and metallic gold stripes, and a matching 'turban'.
 

Ok. Those aren't the wigs she came with, and she didn't come as a blonde. So much for accuracy in advertising. But there is that elusive Bubble on Bubble!

It's a somewhat Egyptian look, inspired no doubt by the movie "Cleopatra', which was released the same year.

  The Fashion Queen head and wigs were available without a body too,as 'Barbie's Wig Wardrobe'.
 

"You can change Barbie's hair color and style to go with her different fashions...the way real fashion models do". You know, by popping their heads off and putting wigs on.

  Tomorrow is my birthday! I'll be a whole 57 years old. I'll be spending the day with Ken and Emma, but I'll be posting our last Barbie 60th birthday post. See you then.