‘For the big Barbie fans’: Margot Robbie’s looks inspired by actual dolls

The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) has spoken—“Barbie” will not be banned in the Philippines.

The MTRCB wrote, “There is no clear nor outright depiction of the nine-dash line in the subject film,” referring to the controversial map that has caused Vietnam to boycott the film.

Some US lawmakers also questioned why the film’s map seemed to depict the maritime border that China has been using to lay claim on the South China Sea. But Warner Bros. responded, “The map in Barbie Land is a childlike crayon drawing. The doodles depict Barbie’s make-believe journey from Barbie Land to the ‘real world.’ It was not intended to make any type of statement.”

The offending lines (of which there are only eight) will be blurred when the film is screened in the Philippines. In one scene from the movie, Barbie, played by Margot Robbie, can be seen standing in front of the map and here’s the truth: When we finally watch the film, we doubt we’ll even notice those blurred lines because it’s just so hard to take our eyes off Robbie.

The actress is captivating as Barbie—the trailer was enough to show us that. She just looks the part. Robbie has embodied the iconic doll on and offscreen, thanks to the work of some brilliant minds in fashion.

For the movie, it was was costume designer Jacqueline Durran, a longtime Greta Gerwig collaborator who also worked on (and won an Oscar for) the director’s film “Little Women,” who got to dress the real-life doll.

Interlinked with fashion

“Barbie really is interlinked with fashion, because how you play with her is by dressing her. Clothes are her form of expression,” she told British Vogue.

The costume designer added, “The defining characteristic of what she wears is where she’s going and what she’s doing.”

Durran and her team created hundreds of looks for Robbie and the other Barbies and Kens in the film, using a strict color combination chart. And of course, Robbie wore Chanel in the film as well—she’s been the brand’s ambassador since 2018.

But it’s what Robbie has been wearing during the film’s whirlwind promotional tour that’s been breaking the internet.

Stylist Andrew Mukamal, who has also dressed Zoe Kravitz, Billie Eilish, Kaia Gerber, Hoyeon Jung and Lily Rose-Depp for the red carpet, worked with Robbie in putting together a wardrobe that is every Barbie fan’s wildest dream come true.

And that’s really who they did the outfits for—the fans, Robbie told People magazine. “We’re finding Barbie references from decades past and just doing it really for the big Barbie fans out there, people who are actually collecting those Barbies. We’re hoping to get them excited.”

And excited they have been, calling the looks “genius,” “iconic,” and “so much fun.”

“I am madly in love with Margot Robbie dressing as Barbie this entire press tour. I love all of it. Every outfit. Please. I want a poster of them all,” one fan tweeted.

Attention to detail

Mukamal showed incredible attention to detail in recreating some of Barbie’s most memorable looks with designer pieces and thoughtful touches.

Makeup artist Pati Bubroff gives Robbie her Barbie glow using Chanel products, while colorist Jacob Schwartz maintains her hair’s perfect Barbie blonde shade. Bryce Scarlett completes the looks by giving the actress the perfect Barbie tresses—with impeccable hairstyles that look like they came straight out of a Mattel box.

At the international premiere in Seoul, Robbie wore outfits inspired by the 1985 Day to Night Barbie doll, first arriving in a Barbie pink Versace skirt suit and custom Manolo Blahnik pink and white heels and accessorizing with a pink scarf, a brimmed hat, a rhinestone-studded phone and a pink and white bag, just like the doll. Later on, she changed into a sparkly pink dress with a tiered tulle skirt, also by Versace.

In Mexico, she channeled 1992’s Earring Magic Barbie, wearing custom Balmain, pink Manolo Blahnik pumps and of course, those large star earrings and matching belt.

At CinemaCon in Las Vegas, she wore a pink gingham Prada top and skirt. She posed with a fabulous pink convertible wearing Bottega Veneta.

While most of the outfits have been perfectly predominantly pink, Robbie rocked other colors as well, most memorably on the red (uh, pink) carpet premiere of the movie in Los Angeles where she dressed like 1960 Solo in the Spotlight Barbie, wearing a black Schiaparelli couture dress complete with a little red rose on the tulle hem, black gloves, Manolo Blahnik heels and layers of Lorraine Schwartz necklaces with nearly 380 carats of diamonds. She also held a pale pink hanky, just like Barbie did.

Another non-pink triumph was the black and white Hervé Léger bandage dress she wore on the press tour in Sydney, a clear nod to the swimsuit worn by the very first Barbie, released in 1959. (Robbie can be seen appearing as that Barbie in the film’s first trailer which was an homage to Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey.”) She completed the look with Manolo Blahnik heels, Jacques Marie Mage cat-eye sunglasses, Spinelli Kilcollin earrings and a side ponytail.

Even off the red carpet, Robbie has been rocking Barbie fashion, showing up at airports in pink and even towing pink luggage. Robbie took the pink dress code seriously, costar Ryan Gosling has shared with People, saying that Robbie had enforced a rule on set: everyone had to wear pink once a week. Those who didn’t comply were fined, with Robbie donating the collected fines to charity.

We are loving Robbie’s Barbie era, we kinda wish it wouldn’t end.

“Barbie” will be in theaters starting July 19.