Has Mattel finally gotten the memo?

Can it be that they'll finally stop giving their Barbie dolls of color bubblegum-colored lips?  Probably not, but this young lady's lips are certainly NOT pink!  This is Fashionista #156.  I have yet to name her properly and have subsequently nicknamed her "Theta" after the 2020 hurricane.

Debbie Behan Garrett is a step ahead of me, as usual, and she's talked about this doll on her blog.  But since I've harped ad nauseam about Barbie dolls with pink lips I figure I'll touch on it here too.  Theta's lips are polarizing; I like 'em and Mama hates 'em, and my FB buddies are pretty divided as well.  Theta's short dress had me believing she was tall, but her Mattel entry lists her as having an original body.  This dress is similar in construction to Leide's stock dress, but not exactly the same.

When I discussed Leide I derided her dress as ugly and childish, but I was subsequently made aware that her dress was considered fairly stylish among college students.  I could never wear such a dress, so maybe my scorn for the garment was due in part to sour grapes (LOL).  Anyway, this dress has long sleeves (made out of pleather, GRRRR!!!), but the doll wears nothing else.  I dunno about y'all, but if I'm gonna wear a long-sleeved minidress then I'll be pairing it with some blue jeans!  I like the print on this fabric, though.

Oh, it should probably be obvious by now, but Theta has an Afro.  She makes my third doll to sport a 'do like that, after Jova and Dandelion (Fashionistas #59 and #91, respectively).

Dandelion and Theta wear the same make of shoe, but Dandelion's are white and Theta's are Day-Glo yellow.

Sometimes I wish Mattel would vary up the mold of their shoes a little, but it's hard to beat high heels with pom-poms attached.

Lastly, Theta sports the Kira mold, a mold that I'd once despaired of ever seeing again. 

When I was a little girl Kira was a fairly common doll, common enough that I even owned one, but she's since disappeared as Barbie's friends often do.  However, the head mold has popped up a few times in the Fashionista line and I'm always looking for new ones.  The last one I saw had a cute dress with mice on it, but I didn't like her lips either so I didn't get her.  She was/is Fashionista #140, and she had nude lips that just didn't cut it with me.  #81 was pretty, and I've long forgotten why I didn't get her...but I didn't.  She didn't have blue lips anyway, LOL.

So that's my post for this week.  I've mentioned having mixed feelings about Barbie's increasing diversity, but I've also mentioned that fewer adults are "adulting" and doing the job of building the kid's self-esteem.  I don't know what a doll like Theta might do to build a child's self-esteem, but two of her friends might (they utilize wheelchairs).  I personally am surprised that Theta and her blue-lipped sisters made it to my neck of the woods as fast as they did, since the weather and this coronavirus crap have slowed shipments of new stuff.  But she's here and I'm happy!  I'm currently keeping my eyes peeled for #150 to be her friend; Fashionista #150 is bald and super-cute.  And maybe #154 can be her boyfriend, and a pair of jeggings to keep those little legs warm!  LOL, the only thing that annoys me about the Fashionistas line (besides bubblegum lips and poor jointing) is the complete lack of Steffie.  I'm an avowed Steffie fan, and she looks good with any vinyl color, hair color, or eye color.  While she still appears in collectible lines I'd love to see her as a Fashionista.  Fingers crossed that Mattel will make that happen!

Stay warm (seriously, it's freezing here),
RagingMoon1987