"Falsies"

Everybody knows Charlotte Johnson for creating the original Barbie wardrobe and for being the fashion designer in chief at Mattel for 20 years but the fact that is not so well known is that she made possible that Barbie had "real lashes".

The British Invasion had hit USA with the visit of Beatles in 1964 and people were seduced with the youth movement originated in the londoner Carnaby Street as a protest against the austerity and rancidity of the previous generation. Mary Quant had turned everybody crazy with her mod style, miniskirts and.... false lashes! So if Barbie had to become a mod girl she couldn't go without her falsies...

Thanks to the development of plastics lashes became popular in the 60s, so much that in 1968 was estimated that 20 millions of false eyelashes per year were sold in USA. The doll look with exaggerated lashes grew very popular thanks to Twiggy, and Mary Quant "Vamps" were a best selling product in her cosmetic line.

So a way to root sintethic hairs in the lids of a Barbie doll to give her a false lashes realistic look ocurred to Charlotte Johnson. The invention, of course was patented and first tested on Francie, the petite english Mod Cousin of Barbie, for they weren't so sure if a mod doll would sell, but she was a hit! She was released in 1966 and as a plus she came with a tiny brush for her lashes!

So Barbie endured some transformations and more mod friends appeared Casey, the celebrity doll Twiggy, the afroamerican friend Christie, Nurse Julia, Barbie's english friend Stacey, the Sears exclusive Jamie, PJ and Steffie all of them with their rooted lashes except those with straight legs, a cheaper option with painted lashes.

But in fashion all comes and goes and at mid 70s falsies fell off the trends to reappear in the 90s, and from then on we have some Barbie lines like Hollywood Legends, Barbie Fashion Fever Makeup or Barbie Life in the Dreamhouse line and of course the mod repros.

Other companies like Ideal gave her Tuesday Taylor eyelashes in the 70s but they were like tiny plastic filaments relatively thick and glued to the eyelids, far from the mod splendor and far from Charlotte's patent that so a realistic image gave to Barbie