$ so tall that my barbie's gotta climb it

it's no surprise that finally, an ... eccentric Barbie doll has been born. 

with the development of a new tween generation - you know, the ones that text, play on their iPads and tumblr post non-stop, in addition to incessantly watching those horrible MTV shows like Skins, Teen Mom, Teen Wolf? I don't even know anymore...but kids today are different than those of the '90s and prior. their interests are different, trend-based. and this is where Barbie steps up her game, tattoos and all. 

wow. she's more bad ass than me.

Tokidoki always puts out the most vibrant, off-the-wall fashion accessories & toys which make the brand a perfect partnership for Mattel/Barbie, in my opinion. though this doll comes off a bit Jerseylicious meets Courtney Love circa 1990whatever, the fact of the matter is that kids these days aren't dressing a far cry from this. I'm almost positive you can find a similar outfit (minus the glitter platforms) worn by Disney channel actors.

the tattoos and pink hair make this Barbie a product of her time. the fact that children are idolizing Nicki Minaj nowadays (hello, Sophia Grace!) who contributes greatly to our culture shift in style, fashion & music, I don't understand the assaults poor tokidoki Barbie is getting.

ultimately, this is a collector's and limited edition doll, so most of these are probably in the hands of people over the age of 18, who could give 2 shits about her punk style. plus if you're going to name Barbie's cactus-dog pet "Bastardino," even more of a reason to release this as a doll for adults.

due to so much controversy with parents whining about the possibilities of their precious daughters wanting to get tatted up after playing with tokidoki Barbie, Mattel was forced to issue a statement which follows:

“Barbie has been dressed by more than 70 fashion designers over the years.  From Versace to Vera Wang, Tarina Tarantino to Christian Louboutin, Barbie has sported an endless array of styles.  Many of Barbie’s most pop-culture couture outfits have been designed for the adult doll collector.”

knowing myself years ago as a pre-teen, if I were growing up today no doubt this doll would 100% be on my xmas wish list. but in hindsight, if you're a parent, would you really spend $50 on a collector's edition doll just so your bratty tyke can play with it? (I've had experience with my prized Spice Girls dolls being abused by little cousins...I learned my lesson)

child/teen actors that take rides on the crazy train should be more of a concern to parents rather than a plastic toy doll. I'm no psychologist, but I can bet the actions of real life people that your kids love & watch everyday on tv & film have a greater impact on ruining their future in comparison to a pink-haired Barbie doll.

see more tokidoki Barbie greatness here

cute kids modeling. 'nuff said.

When I was 6 years old, I can clearly remember the feeling of having a mother that is obsessed with fashion dressing up her one and only daughter (me) in the poofiest of poofy dresses, play clothes with a hat to match every color and pattern of the ensemble. It was a treacherous ride for the, nearly 8 years it took me to learn how to dress myself and develop my own sense of style, which you can imagine went the extreme opposite of the Gymboree or Nordstrom get ups my mom would force me to wear. Though I hated it at the time, I look back on old photos and think, "hey, I looked pretty cute in that polka dot jumper"...and sometimes I even wish my mom continued to dress me throughout middle school where my style got progressively Nike oriented (my tomboy phase). That is why, when I saw this article about the kid models for the Australian line Witchery, I couldn't keep silent.






Circling the world wide web is this photo controversy of the child models posed in Witchery's lookbook for kids. As you can see, the tots are not stanced like Gap Kids models, who are cheery and bubbly - just as kids should be...right?

When I first saw these pictures, I couldn't get over how cute the kids looked in their cargos and booties. My thought process went a little like this: "OMG! ... I would probably wear that ... how cute! ... this is a little weird, though ... I wish I was that cool looking when I was 5 ... I wish I looked that cool now.."

Nowadays, I get the feeling that kids are growing up way too fast. The availability of cell phones, the ridiculous television shows they watch (in comparison, my '90s generation shows had it made), their increased curiosity/experimentation of sex now begins as young as kindergarten, from what I've heard. Knowing this, I was not surprised to see these "disturbing" images from Witchery.

Personally, I love the photos. If anything, it shows how good these kids can model and how chic they look in these clothes. On the other hand, I do see the arguments being made from neurotic parents and children's charity spokespeople that hate the photos. One said, "The whole point of early childhood is to be joyous and free." So true in this case where the child models keep straight faces and hold high-fashion inspired model stances. In all honesty though, do the photographers expect children to act this way naturally? I'm sure a great amount of direction was made to achieve these vogue-esqe images, being that kids run on sugar constantly. Still, it surprises me how good the children are at posing this way, maybe they've been interpellated to believing this is how a model should look like - even at age 5.


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Witchery says "the next generation is here," and it really is. Think of how many child actors we have today.. there barely are any that are at least relevant to me. Still the only person I can think of is Dakota Fanning and to my dismay, she has grown up. Maybe the problem here is not with Witchery, but with society in general - it is moving fast, the economy may not be, but I'm sure as hell that the population is and their obsession with media and technology is along for the ride.

Also, how often was it before (aka 1999) to see kids in gossip magazines for adults? Every other second we see Suri Cruise or the Jolie-Pitt clan on the glossy pages. Do kids even read Bop or TigerBeat anymore? Do those magazines even exist still?

My whole point here is that the images are far from disturbing because they are highlighting the type of grown-ups that kids look up to these days. Models, bikers, hipsters...whatever you see posed in this spread is a reflection of the "coolness" society is heaving on its jovial offspring.

images via The Cut, Witchery

black is the new...black?

for an upcoming issue of V magazine, Sasha Pivovarova and Heidi Mount

when I first saw this image, I thought what was the point of this? my mind immediately turned to the countless images of blackface that were so popular in the 1900s, one CENTURY ago.

though I cannot relate with the black public, I can relate to what it means to have your "race" physically broken-down and socially constructed. asians went through this same shit with yellowface in which white actors packed on the eyeliner to appear more "oriental." this, too was done back in the day so why have we suddenly reverted to discrimination? aren't we supposed to be moving forward?

this image from american apparel haunts me for some odd reason. I first saw this ad in one of my comm classes last year and literally, could not stop staring at it. again, WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THIS? fashion, or not, this concept of painting faces will never resonate with me. arguing that one is done more "tastefully" than the other is barely a reason to justify blackface, or yellowface, anycolorface. it's just ridiculous to me. the day when models of color put on whiteface is the day I'll finally be able to drink again (remember, I have panreatitis? hahaha)

let me know what you guys think! is it acceptable, fashionable? or just plain bonkers?

sources: ny magazine & racialicious.com