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Have you heard about #barbiecore? If you haven’t, I’m genuinely curious, where do you go to shelter from all these relentless trends and buzzwords? Like, where is this haven from social media that you appear to reside in? And are you taking lodgers?? Or maybe renting it out on AirBnB?? (Asking for a friend, obvs...)
If you haven’t heard about #barbiecore, it’s the latest trend which is sweeping the Interwebs, inspired by the upcoming Barbie biopic directed by all-round legend and film-making genius Greta Gerwig. Not that I needed an excuse to buy all the tickets to go and see Gerwig’s latest cinema hit, but the fact it’s about Barbie is literally just the icing on the cake. Cute, kitsch, ironic – all my fave things.
I was under the impression that #barbiecore was a trend that had been and gone in the 2000’s. But that was before I saw images of the Barbie movie stars, Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, papped on-set shooting scenes as Barbie and Ken. These pictures seemed to have the same sensational effect on basically everyone with a Twitter account, and soon enough, the ‘How to get the #barbiecore look’ guides were out in full force. Incredible.
These images have seemingly sparked a nostalgia-fuelled renaissance of the Barbie Girl aesthetic, aka anything pink, girly, preppy, cute and so plastic that it’s fantastic. Despite the iconic doll’s unrealistic proportions, so many people who played with Barbies growing up dreamed of having their pick of outfits from her hot pink wardrobe. And now, with #barbiecore rocking up as the must-have summer trend, we can live out this childhood fantasy. I mean let’s be honest, it’s Barbie’s world, we’re all just living in it!
Pictured: So many people who played with Barbies growing up dreamed of having their pick of outfits from her hot pink wardrobe.
Now, I wasn’t really into Barbies when I was little. I can’t remember if I even had the dolls, or if they were just something that I would play with when I went around to my friends’ houses. But even I can appreciate the unbridled serotonin hit induced by a photo of Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in matching neon pink roller-skating garb. Truly joyous.
Like what is more nourishing for the soul than #barbiecore nostalgia with a bit of Ryan Gosling thrown in for good measure?
It genuinely warmed the cockles of my heart to see the Internet responsible for something objectively harmless, whimsical and fun like this. And then my cockles are immediately saddened because I remember how rare an occurrence it is for the Internet to just spread joy rather than vitriol and hate. And then my cockles get very overwhelmed and need to take a lavender-scented bath in order to calm down...
So, if you’re wondering if I’ll be dying my hair platinum blond and investing in a load of tiny pink handbags and even tinier dogs to put inside aforementioned handbags – you can bet your life I will. Did someone say POOL PARTY??!
