Barbie Her Life and Times

by Boy Billy and Billy Boy

Book Overview

BillyBoy, owner of the world's largest Barbie doll collection (20,000 dolls and counting), charts the history of this protean American dream girl in a good-humored and affectionate retrospective. Illustrations.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0517565749
• ISBN13: 9780517565742
• Release Date: October 1987
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 3.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 8.9" x 12.2"

Customer Reviews

Quite Interesting!

I had no idea what to anticipate when I ordered this book, having heard only of the Billy Boy-designed 80's "Feelin' Groovy" Barbie (a lovely doll, by the way). I was quite pleasantly surprised to see the glorious photos in this book, which included, as others have said, clips from Barbie comic books and stories, which you rarely hear about, in addition to fantastic photos of Barbie in her 59-60's, 70's and 80's fashions. The text is interesting and informative (tho I found a couple small errors - the American Girl Barbie of the mid-60's didn't have a "flip" Marlo Thomas hairdo as Billy Boy conjectures, but a "page boy" style, which wasn't nearly as popular at her release as the doll later became, hence her rarity & desirability on today's reseller market), and I absolutely adored the many photos of fashion icons/real-life models from the 50's and 60's and their stylish clothing, from which Barbie's earliest outfits were clearly derivative. As a minor collector, I am always intrigued that Mattel went to such lengths to design and create these early doll outfits, out of luxe fabrics like silk, brocade & real fur that you wouldn't expect today's (or yesterday's) small child to play with carefully. But Mattel did go to these lengths, most wonderfully, and Billy Bob is able to capture that exact sense of amazement. He does an excellent job of featuring and providing history for some of Barbie's family, friends and later incarnations, and does a particularly great job defining Midge (and later Barbie BFFs as well). This is a book for Barbie-lovers and collectors, or for those nostalgic for that simpler, yet elegant era of haute couture. I wouldn't use it as a reference guide to clothing or dolls for the collector, however. It isn't complete in that sense - not all outfits are featured, nor are all accessories used perfectly accurate. But as an addendum to your collection of "everything there is to know about Barbie", it's suberb, riveting, and the photos are remarkable.

BARBIE-FASHION ICON

Having met the author in Paris in the early nineties I can sincerely say that Billy Boy knows his subject well.He is an expert not only on Barbie but on Bleuette and various other fashion dolls.This book gives a fascinating account of Barbie's itineraries as fashion icon and pop phenomenon.It contains some very interesting photos of Barbie's best outfits from the late 50ies to the late 80ies as well as a great gallery of Barbie portraits dressed by every well known designer.Also,lots of information on Barbie family members.A must.

The book that launched a million Barbie collections.

Although more than a decade old, this book continues to fascinate me. Mattel owes a debt of gratitute to Billy Boy*, whose landmark coffee-table book inspired many, including myself, to start their own Barbie collections. I own three copies of this book, whose narrative is as fascinating as its photos (Twiggy and Malibu Christie are two of my favorite Barbie friends, and are given prominence in this book). The photography also captures the "fun" of Barbie, and are not merely dolls posed in a wire stand. "Great" says it all ...

Billy Boy puts down facts and visuals, all very good!

This book about one of the world's greatest doll really emphisises the fasion of Barbie. The photos are absolutly stunning; with shots of the original doll to the French, Italian, Brittish, and American designers to Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Chanel, etc! He covers all the fasions of the time periods, which starts from when she was first debuted to middle 80s, and especially mentions the Haute Couture. The history of Barbie is very good; I think out of all the books I read about her history, this one has the most, and also the most facts about things that you never really knew. It shows alot of things that weren't coresponded to Barbie and her fasions mainly; It has the Bild Lilli and Twiggy dolls (a brief page or two), old comics or books on her, and on a lot of pages, you will see someone who was famous back then, who he thinks the doll had some connection to (i.e., Brigette Bardot, Elizabeth Taylor, Kim Novak, Marilyn Monroe, Bettina, etc.). It covers the Barbies and accsessories, like Flirting Miss Barbie, the twist and turn era, Color Magic Barbie, Talking Barbie, and many of Barbie's pets. A very good book if you are intrested in knowing what actually made barbie famous and knowing her history and fasions.

A tribute from one of Barbie's most ardent admirers.

Most fans know Billy Boy as one of the "original" fashion designers who lent their skills to Barbie couture. Billy Boy was perhaps the most ardent admirer of the 11-1/2" fashion doll, and while his association with Mattel lasted for only two doll releases (1985's Le Nouveau Theatre de la Mode and her followup Feelin' Groovy), his tribute to the Fashion Queen Extraordinaire lives on in this book. If you are looking for a guide to identifying dolls or viewing a complete history of the most popular toy in the world, you'll be disappointed, but if you want a true tribute from one of her biggest fans loaded with pictures of one-of-a-kind dolls from the world's most well-known designers, then this is the book for you.