Wedding Day Set
Over the years, Barbie, has dressed as a bride on countless occasions but she has never been really on her way to the altar...
The reason is that Barbie can't get married for it would compromise the game but, in tests prior to its release in 1959, it was found that mothers would be willing to buy the doll for their daughters if she could teach them how to be a "perfect young lady".
Let's not forget that in the late '50s and early '60s, getting married meant a house and food on the table, so a wedding dress was included in the first Barbie wardrobe designed by Charlotte Johnson and Fumiko Miyatsuka in Japan. A dress that, in turn, had a lot of prominence in the first Barbie commercial in which the line of the song "one day I'm gonna be exactly like you, and until then I know exactly what to do" was made to coincide with a close-up of Barbie dressed in the "Wedding Day Set" to end with a "Barbie, beautiful Barbie, I'll make believe that I am you". Needless to say, the tune was very much in line with singers of the time like Connie Francis or Doris Day.
According to Fumiko Miyatsuka in the book "Barbie and I", she and Charlotte were inspired by the American fashions they saw in the Vogue magazines of the time that "Mrs Johnson brought as a reference" since they wanted Barbie's dresses to be something that children all over America could easily identify so, not surprisingly, the "Wedding Day Set" was extremely similar to pattern #9084 from 1957 Vogue Patterns and consisted of a strapless dress composed by a satin heart bodice and long satin skirt heavy influenced by 50s Dior's New Look and a sheer lace envelope dress with long sleeves and a V-neck. The set was completed by a blue garter with two flowers, white open toes, short gloves, veil, a bouquet of flowers and a graduated pearl necklace with larger pearls in the center that decrease in size as they get closer to the clasp that completed the experience of a bride and put it at children's service.
The "Wedding Day" Set upper line, covering the arms with a sheer lace, was very popular in the 50s and remember us of brides like Elizabeth Taylor in her wedding to Nicky Hilton or Grace Kelly in her wedding to prince Raniero III of Monaco in 1956. Precisely because it was a very 50s line was sold until 1963 when it was replaced by the "Bride's Dream" and today it's hard to find a vintage Wedding Day Set in mint condition as the tulle was brittle, Barbie's fingers were pointy and few have arrived intact but, for those collectors who don't feel the need for the vintage one, in the 90s Mattel released a repro line in which, of course, they included the "Wedding Day Set"