"Barbie is my fashion icon..." - Paris Hilton

Well, it looks like Barbie has made it to China and all that she entails... As China continues to experience a retail boom, Beijing Fashion Week kicked off with a bang. The label NE-TIGER, one of the leading fashion brands in China, put on a show to rival no other. The runway saw 38 models spread out over 3 levels, standing in individual boxed-sized spaces, looking like human Barbie dolls, complete with their very own designer outfit.

China is the world's fastest-growing market for luxury products and ongoing economic growth is creating new billionaires every year in a huge rise of wealth.

Is anyone here in the states paying attention??

"Hollywood has a lot of plastic people..."

Here is the actor that is going to play the Ken doll - no joke - in Barbie and Ken, the movie. They still have not found the actress that will play Barbie doll, but since tons of young women fashion themselves after her, I'm sure that there will be lots of contenders. Heidi Montag comes to mind. Or Blake Lively (see left) as Malibu Barbie.

When my oldest daughter Alex turned 4 years old, we had a birthday party in the backyard, and I had "hired" a friend of mine's blonde high-schooled age niece to be Barbie. She dressed up in her prom dress and drove in the back gate with a crown on to give autographs. We had all things Barbie - partyware, crowns for all the girls and of course, pink. My brother-in-law was Ken, and drove the convertible. Alex and friends were convinced it was the "real" Barbie.

Best. Birthday. Party. Ever.

Ah, good times....

"If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?"

Barbie - the quintessential girl's American dream... Barbie has it all - the perfect body, the perfect hair, the perfect cars, any job she wants and a cute boyfriend to have on her arm - oh wait, I think she is single now, but I digress...
My oldest daughter used to play Barbies for hours on end. Of course, she was a 'clothes horse' starting at age four. She was my first girl, and the baby girl clothes were all so cute. A 'girly-girl' from the get-go, she and Barbie were destined to be close. Playing Barbies was her alone time - she loved the fashion aspect. She would often ask me if we could have a fashion contest to see who could put together the best outfit. Of course she always won - not because she was young and I would let her, but because she was better. I would be silly and throw a bunch of mismatch clothes on my Barbie - pretty much as I do with myself today. When her cousin came over to play, I did feel guilty because K's Barbie would get married, live in a castle and live happily ever after. My daughter's Barbie would go to work and be tired when she got home... She had quite the collection amassed - definitely around 100 Barbies. And boxes of clothes. It's hard to find separate clothes these days, you have to buy the doll for the outfit.

One of my best friends has a Barbie tree every Christmas. When we were young, her mother started the tradition of Barbie clothes in her stocking every year. Now that her mother is gone, others have continued the tradition. And she's had Barbie birthday parties.... recently. I don't think you can get too old for Barbie... or pink. It's sort of a 'Girl Power' thing - we girls need to stick together.

It's okay to aspire for the Barbie dream life, but not let it get out of hand like reality star, Heidi Montag. She had already had the 'Barbie makeover' with plastic surgery, but now, after more surgeries, looks more like Barbie on steroids. The saying in Hollywood that 'you can't be too blonde or too thin,' isn't true. Heidi looks more like a robot, or Stepford wife now.

So girls, it's okay to embrace Barbie, just don't lose yourself in the process...