Francie arrived on the scene in 1966, and was always considered the 'test' for Barbie's subsequent 'Mod' revolution that started a year later and that lasted into the early 70's. Noticing that there were seismic changes going on in fashion, music and general pop culture at the time (which must have been so exciting!) Mattel realised that they had to update their top 'Teenage fashion model' to better reflect the changing times, but also didn't know how far they should go, as Barbie was still a huge success at that time. It was a test that worked, as Francie (with her 'real eyelashes' that Barbie started flaunting the following year...she even came with her own eyelash brush!) was an instant smash hit, staying in the Barbie family for another ten years, until she spluttered to a 'baggie' encased stop in 1976. Even though she has been revived in recent years as a perky and cute 'Silkstone', through some uneven repros ... and also this year, as every Francie fan on the planet awaits the 50th Anniversary version.(Hopefully not too long to wait now... I contacted Bill Greening recently about it and he told me probably by the late US Summer. Let's hope so! ) Interestingly, Francie remained the initial test doll for quite a few Barbies, including the 1971 Barbie with Growin' Pretty Hair and the highly sought after 'Hair Happenin's' (Mattel really didn't like the letter 'G' it seems!) Barbie, also from 1971.The Francie versions were released a year earlier.
While Barbie did get a 'Mod' makeover, she was still relatively demure throughout the late 60's, whereas Francie's wardrobe was definitely sharper, groovier, 'kickier' and way more MOD. In the first TV ad introducing her, they pegged her age at 15, and all the print ads touted her 'young, slim teenage figure' which was a world away from Barbie's 50's film starlet hourglass curves.
The earlier Francie styles had a very perky prettiness to them, and got wilder and more colourful with the years. I decided to treat myself to a minty version of the 1967 TNT brunette Francie (to me, the ultimate incarnation of Francie, though I like ALL types that were created!) I was thrilled to get her in an equally minty version of 'It's a Date' from 1966... (It always looked very Marlo Thomas in 'That Girl' to me. See her wear it in her debut TV commercial below!) And stay tuned for this groovy gal in some other Mod era outfits on this blog soon...
Fabu! I can't believe how much of Jenny came from Francie. Mattel should never have stopped making her. Japan obviously loved Francie so much that they needed to recreate Barbie to have Francie's big brown eyes, long hair with blunt bangs, and an exact copy of her TNT torso too. I agree with the Japanese market! Forget Barbie, we want Francie! I can't believe I had no idea that they were making a 50th anniversary repro. I hope it won't be like the previous repro's.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's a shame that they just let her end with Malibu and a few cheap baggies. Even her last fashion collection was very small and looked like a bit of an afterthought. Unfortunately there was a new management team in place by 1976 after the Handlers got ousted, and they were too focused on their 'Superstars' to care much about her, or anything from the Mod era, which must have seen as old hat to them (even though Mod itself was experiencing a revival in the late 70's and early 80's in the underground culture.)
DeleteDamn superstars! I love the superstars, but I think they took it too far. That is when barbie became bland and less diverse IMO.
DeleteI agree, Deany! It was mirroring what was happening with TV (Farrah Fawcett etc) and the magazines (Christie Brinkley and Cheryl Tiegs, all of whom I'm convinced the Superstar was modelled after) in the United States at the time. Avedon called it 'slipping to the lowest common denominator, from an intelligent and complicated beauty to the 'apple pie girl-next-door' who was blonde and all teeth.
DeleteHe was so right! Although I love it in small quantities (LOVE Christie Brinkley), it did all go overboard.
ReplyDelete