New York Fashion Week: I’m A Barbie Girl, In The Barbie World

I'm a blond little girl, in the fantasy world
Dress me up, make it tight, I'm your dolly
You're my doll, rock'n'roll, feel the glamour and pain,
Kiss me here, touch me there, hanky panky...
You can touch, you can play, if you say: "I'm always yours"

I'm a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world
Life is plastic, it's fantastic!
You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere
Imagination, life is your creation

To commemorate her 50th birthday, Barbie partied like it’s 1959, 2009 and 2059. Yesterday, Barbie took Manhattan and staged the most anticipated fashion week show in forev. 50 celebrated designers showcased one-of-a-kind, adult-size creations inspired by the renowned fashion doll. The epic fashion event celebrated the past, present and future of fashion, with Barbie as the muse; she’s once, twice, three times a lady.

Backstage at Barbie, I spoke to Charlotte Tilbury, lead makeup artist for Stila. She told me that the looks were divided into three sections: Past Barbie, Present Barbie and Futuristic Barbie.

“Past is a 50’s dominatrix with pure red lips and really high-gloss pink-red gloss. A late 50’s black cat liquid eye with a little bit of contouring and shimmering white highlights. And a little bit of a filled in eyebrow,” she said.

“Barbie from the present is very Sharon Tate doll-looking; lots of lilacs and soft pinks, whites and dove grays - and beigy, pale pink glossy lips.”

“Futuristic Barbie looks like she’s wearing a Venetian mask or going to a Venetian ball. She’s got a butterfly be-dazzled eye with feathers, sequins, and electric blue glitter. Like a peacock butterfly with a beige Bardot gloss.”

Charlotte added, “Barbie was always my favorite game when I was younger. And being in fashion and making up models feels like you’re still playing Barbie. But today is so much fun. I get to live a little bit more of my fantasy.”

I asked Charlotte how these runway looks can be translated for real life, to which she replied:

“The present and the past are really great looks for real women. For the futuristic look, if you wanted to take the fabulous electric shimmery blue shadow with black eyeliner and did that with a beigy gloss lip, it would be a fantastic look also for real women.”

When asked why she thinks Barbie continues to be an icon, Charlotte answered, “She leggy, she’s got a waist, she’s got fabulous perky boobs, she’s got big blonde hair, huge big doe eyes, glossy lips and she never really speaks.”

For Past Barbie, Orlanda Pita (for T3) styled exaggerated ponytails and blunt bangs, reminiscent of vintage Barbie with the chevron striped swimsuit. He teased the models’ hair, a la Valley of the Dolls, for Present Barbie - using Plump and Control sprays. Futuristic Barbies sported larger-than-life buns, embellished with braided extensions.

CND was responsible for the dollicious manicures. As you can see in the photo below, all of the artifical nails have an elongated almond shape. CND lead nail technician, Amanda Fontanarrosa, gave me the skinny on the show's nail looks...and shared some pro secrets.

Past Barbie: Wildfire #111
Present Barbie - Hot Pop Pink #348
Futuristic Barbie: French manicure, evolving into a lucite tip

"If a model smudges a nail at the last minute backstage, I simply glide a tiny bit of acetone over the nail with the pad of my finger to smooth out the enamel," Amanda shared. "Wafting your hands or blowing on wet enamelk does NOT speed up drying time, instead it slows it down. That's why we use Solar Speed Spray to control the flow of oxygen over enamel, helping it to dry faster."

Stay tuned for the Stila face charts…

#NYFW

Photo Credits: Spoiled Pretty, IMG, Makeup Bag