Warning: Spoilers for Barbie forward.
Clothes is usually chosen with cause in motion pictures, as shade and magnificence shifts can inform a higher story about the place a personality’s headspace is past the script’s phrases. The wardrobe of Barbie‘s Stereotypical Barbie, performed by Margot Robbie, is not any exception to that.
Whereas some outfits she wore pay direct homage to previous Barbie doll appears, one among Robbie’s easiest outfits within the position, the yellow gown she wore within the movie’s remaining Barbieland scenes, had a a lot deeper significance to it along with being a tribute to trendy Barbie dolls. The gown’ draping, the wedge sneakers Robbie wore, and the guts necklace have been all chosen very intentionally to convey how Robbie’s Barbie had modified by the tip of the movie, costume designer Jacqueline Durran defined to Selection.
Plot-wise at that time, Robbie’s Barbie had returned from the actual world and succeeded in working with Gloria (America Ferrera) her daughter Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt), and the opposite Barbies to save lots of Barbieland from changing into a everlasting patriarchal “Kendom.” However Stereotypical Barbie could not return to simply being the doll she was earlier than her journey. She wished to be human—a creator of concepts quite than simply an thought.
The gown in distinction to the opposite Barbies’ outfits.
As Durran put it to Selection, “The Barbies have gone by means of all of that stuff and so they’re now probably the most fulfilled variations of themselves. And that units the scene for what’s taking place to Margot’s Barbie as she’s changing into human.”
The gown lower tells that story too, because it accentuates the softness of the human physique in a manner conventional Barbie garments do not: “The costume is a bias lower gown which drapes—it’s not Barbie high quality,” she mentioned. With it being yellow, “I used to be eager to trace the historical past of Mattel within the costumes. I requested them what was the preferred costume within the final 5 to 10 years. It seems it’s a yellow gown. I used to be going to repeat that gown, however it wouldn’t actually be recognizable sufficient.”
Durran made Robbie’s gown herself: “We wished a delicate yellow and wished it to have much less pop,” she mentioned. “So, we printed that yellow onto white silk, and due to the lower, it clings to the physique. That’s not likely a Barbie attribute—the Barbie attribute is to be lower straight and to create a form that falls away from the physique.”
The shoe (a wedge) and jewellery selections (Missoma’s coronary heart locket) additionally add to the symbols of Stereotypical Barbie’s shift. For the sneakers, “we moved from the basic Barbie heeled court docket shoe into one thing softer, however on the identical time we needed to hold the heel,” Durran mentioned.
And with the necklace, “there’s a supply of pathos in a locket that Barbie doesn’t essentially have. So, earlier within the movie, she has coronary heart equipment that she wears within the block celebration, and she or he has enormous coronary heart earrings, however there’s one thing about that locket and scale that makes it extra human.”
Missoma Ridge Coronary heart Attraction Necklace
Missoma Ridge Coronary heart Attraction Necklace
Clearly, the precise gown Robbie wore can’t be purchased because it was custom-made, however the web is stuffed with lookalike choices. Store a few of the greatest beneath:
Store Related Yellow Clothes from ‘Barbie’
Rixo Clarissa Jacquard Starfish Midi-Costume in Starfish Jacquard Lemon
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Chelsea28 Flutter Sleeve Plissé Midi Costume in Yellow Citron Jenna Blooms
Dôen Eclipse Embroidered Natural Cotton-Poplin Midi Costume
Tanya Taylor Lacey Costume
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Madewell Fiore Floral Brief Sleeve Cotton Wrap Costume
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Self-Portrait Lace-Trimmed Chiffon Midi Costume
Senior Information and Technique Editor
Alyssa Bailey is the senior information and technique editor at ELLE.com, the place she oversees protection of celebrities and royals (notably Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She beforehand held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves operating round Central Park, making folks take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York Metropolis.