I do not currently own any Barbie fashion (or Barbies for that matter), but I have been paying close attention to the worldwide press tour for “Barbie,” which finally hits theaters this weekend. The film’s cast, including Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Issa Rae, America Ferrera and Simu Liu, has been crisscrossing the globe for red-carpet appearances and promotional events for weeks now. Some, like Robbie, have fully embraced the Barbiecore look, while others — God forbid — have shown up to press stops wearing beige. What are we to make of these choices?
Official Barbie red-carpets are over now, due to Hollywood actors and writers going on strike, but the cast left us with plenty of images to pore over. To discuss all things Barbie fashion, I knew I had to talk to The Post’s own fashion writer, Rachel Tashjian.
Let’s start with Margot Robbie. What do you think of her and stylist Andrew Mukamal’s approach to re-creating vintage Barbie looks for the red carpet? She’s done the Totally Hair look with Pucci, the Day to Night look with Versace, the 1960 Solo In the Spotlight look with Schiaparelli. Is this working for you?
I think what makes it really work is that the original creators of the Barbie outfits were clearly looking at the contemporary fashions. So the Totally Hair look that you referenced, for example — obviously, Barbie’s designers were looking at Pucci outfits and Ken Scott and things like that. The source material is at a really high level, so then when you copy it, I think it looks fantastic. I was blown away by both the Schiaparelli black dress that she wore for the L.A. premiere and then that Vivienne Westwood gown that she wore for the London premiere.
What makes those two looks in particular really interesting is that those Barbie outfits are references to — and this is like ouroboros, the snake eating its tail — 1950s couture, which is a golden age of fashion. It’s probably the most significant decade in terms of inventive, imperious glamour coming out of Paris and the United States.
And so the dresses are based on that era of fashion, and then you have these designers who are able to replicate that at a very high standard, like Vivienne Westwood and of course Schiaparelli, which is a couture house. Their creative director, Daniel Roseberry, created that black look.
So I think the references are really, really elevated, and then the copy as a result can be more elevated, too, so it doesn’t look as costume-y, even though it is a costume.
I’m sure you saw that fans were really upset about this one photo call in L.A. last month where Margot was in hot pink and Greta Gerwig and Michael Cera and the rest of them were in sort of “sad beige” looks. Do you think it’s fair for fans to expect that everyone associated with this movie go full Barbiecore for the press tour?
It’s interesting the way that the expectations have been set up — that everything is marketing for this movie. For example, Margot Robbie is a face of Chanel, and the Chanel resort collection that came out earlier this summer was extremely Barbiecore. And it wasn’t done in partnership with Mattel, but they were obviously anticipating the excitement around the movie and that their younger clientele would want to dress in Barbiecore. So I think there’s this sense that everyone should be playing the game, right? And that’s why it’s been so much fun to see these little red-carpet moments with Ryan Gosling where he’s talking about his “Kenergy.” It feels like everyone should be kind of in on the joke and the gimmick of this Barbiecore dressing.
There has been some debate as to whether the average consumer is really embracing Barbiecore as a trend. Once the movie is said and done, do you think this could fade away, or do you think the excitement will continue and more people might try it who maybe hadn’t thought to wear pink before?
The costume designer on the film, Jacqueline Durran, is one of the great living costume designers; she’s really, really incredible. The costumes we’ve seen so far remind me actually a bit of “Clueless,” in the sense that they’re quite feminine and fun, but there is sophistication and polish to them and clearly a joy in getting dressed and expressing yourself with fashion.
“Clueless” has continued to resonate with women, even women who were born after the movie came out, [and so] I could see “Barbie” having that effect — you know, inspiring a certain way of thinking about yourself and making your whole day about what you’re wearing, even if it’s just in your imagination. Like, “Okay, I have to go do something really rote and boring, but I’m going to put on something really fabulous.”
I love that. Have there been any other standout looks for you on this press tour? People really liked Ryan Gosling’s pink Gucci suit for the L.A. premiere and Nicki Minaj’s Barbie hair. Who else is nailing it?
It seems like Greta Gerwig is having a lot of fun, and also Hari Nef, who is someone with deep, deep fashion credibility and is friends with a lot of designers who are not necessarily well-known. For example, at the London premiere, she wore a dress by a very under-the-radar designer named Dilara Findikoglu. It’s like a fitted bodice dress covered in knives, and I think that is sort of embracing the “camp” of Barbie. It’s fun to see everyone do that in their own way.
This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.