We all remember the “Barbie-Core” of 2023. Thanks to Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster film, the most famous doll in history was reincarnated in the body of Margot Robbie, establishing itself as a fundamental trend of last year. A riot of fuchsia pink capable of catalyzing the attention of both the most experienced fans of the Mattel doll, and the new generations, probably less accustomed to considering Barbie as a model of inspiration.
Barbie has for centuries represented a model of femininity that was at times stereotyped but, – as represented by Gerwig’s film itself, – also decidedly innovative for its time, certainly motivational to always be the best version of oneself. Barbie is a singer, model, actress, doctor, Nobel Prize winner, astronaut, veterinarian, lawyer, ice skater and even a mermaid, if she wants. She has encouraged, for better or for worse, generations of little girls to believe in themselves. Of course, in a way that is sometimes too do-gooder and simplistic, but still with excellent intentions of women empowerment, especially if we consider that she was born in 1959.
But you know, social media trends last the time of a wingbeat, and today Barbie-core seems like a decidedly old trend. Social media, however, is a fertile ground for ideas, which swarm and ferment non-stop between a video and a post. These are feminine years, and luckily we must say, but where precisely those codes of an exasperated femininity have been taken up again. Bows, lace, ribbons, cherries, hearts, bunnies and stuffed kittens have become an integral part of an all-round, at times excessive, femininity; aesthetic codes that we have also seen on the catwalk, from Prada to Sandy Liang. Whether it’s cottage-core, coquette, fairy-core or tomato-girl, everything is cute, “pretty”, girly. An attitude that has recently been taken to the extreme, thanks to the new arrival at TikTok and beyond: doll-core.
Literally inspired by dolls, let’s forget the sinuous silhouette of Barbie & friends, and not even the vaguely human one of Bratz (the “Brat” counterpart of Mattel’s blonde). Here the inspiration is drawn from the dolls of the past, those with big eyes, porcelain-white skin, dramatic long eyelashes, curls and childish clothes from another time. The most famous content creator in this sense is Bambi Baker, a real living doll, very thin and very pale, and above all with slow and mellifluous movements. Yes, because the trend is also accompanied by a certain passivity of attitude, reinterpreting in all respects the immobility of certain dolls that for decades have been kept in dusty cupboards full of doilies. A taste that also harks back to childhood which, further, gives us a lot to think about the concept of an age that should be carefree and rebellious, and that instead seems to prefer an excessive and submissive slowness.
There’s also something vaguely creepy about this aesthetic, which takes the codes of 19th-century beauty and mixes them with Japanese manga culture and goth-core. Just as we saw Barbie-themed plastic knockoffs skyrocket after the Barbie movie debuted, there’s the potential for doll-core to translate into more extreme behavior than just dressing up in doll-like clothing. Some proponents of the trend take it a step further by also engaging in an activity known as “dolling,” which involves wearing BJD kigurumi masks, resin masks that allow the wearer to further embody the features of a doll. And on YouTube, doll-core “subliminals”—videos containing positive affirmations that supposedly help viewers manifest things like “A Living Doll’s Face” and “dolly eyes”—are racking up thousands of views. Add to that the idealized aesthetic afforded by the increasing use of artificial intelligence, and you have it.
But then, is it just an aesthetic destined to disappear soon or is it symptomatic of a new wave of femininity that wants to fish out habits and customs of the past at all costs? After all, we have seen an increase in the phenomenon of “Trade wives”, young women who choose to dedicate themselves to housework and family like women of the past, and even doll-core intersects in a certain sense in a return to a feminine dimension of previous times, and certainly not very feminist.
For now, doll-core is still a subculture far from the mainstream, but we’re already seeing its aesthetic trickle into luxury fashion. At John Galliano’s Maison Margiela Spring 2024 couture show in January, models were made to look as much like porcelain dolls as possible. They even walked like marionettes, with shaking limbs. Soon after, Marc Jacobs staged his 40th anniversary show in a life-size “dollhouse” decorated with oversized tables and chairs.
Every girl has the right to follow the trend she prefers, especially if done with autonomy and awareness. Dressing like a doll? Why not. Behaving like one? As long as we don’t forget to be human, first and foremost.
[📷 instagram: bambibakerr]
Tags: Trend , Doll-core