Recently, Mattel made big news: Barbie’s got a brand-new bod. As a mother (who is more curvy than many), I am excited to know that there are now Barbie doll options other than those that I grew up with – bodies that reflect body types other than those I had always dreamed of having! While my daughter is too old to benefit from Mattel’s attempt to characterize young women more accurately, I know she will share in my excitement of acceptance of multiple body types.
But what REALLY excited me was to read that Mattel had already modified Barbie with
removable feet so that she could wear heels and flats!
To me, these will always be Barbie’s favorite pair of pumps!
How did I miss that news!! Can you imagine – feet for flats and feet for heels!
For evening, we would switch out our flexible flat feet to be able to put on high arched feet to have the stability to actually walk from our Ubers to the restaurant for dinner – without worrying that you might fall off your heels or worse yet, be seen wobbling in those heels.
For day time running errands with the kids (as a mom) or for the kids (as a teacher because when I was a kid all my Barbie’s were teachers or secretaries), Barbie can kick off those high arch feet which lack shock absorption and put on her more flexible feet to allow proper foot function and rid her of her back pain.
Or she can put on the feet that are bunion free (bunions BTW – are usually a result of those flexible flat feet) to put on flats that won’t hit right across the bunions and cause direct pain. Or she can put on the feet with a slight arch to make up for the lack of an arch in most flat shoes.
The boots, of course provide the best of both worlds, unless Barbie does have a bunion.
Then Barbie may need to go to Barbie Shoe Maker to have them stretched until she is ready to have surgery to correct the bunion. Which of course, would be the best decision Barbie mom, Barbie teacher or Barbie secretary could make to ensure her future foot health and avoid Barbie arthritis in the unlikely event that she ages.
We won’t talk about Barbie platforms!
Now if only we can come up with a Barbie foot to make those sling backs stay on!