Barbie is going to turn 50 in style

Barbie is turning 50 this year (on the 9th of March) and she is not going to be short of a wardrobe for the occasion:

50 designers are creating life-sized outfits inspired by the 11 1/2 inch doll, which will be shown in a full-scale fashion show held by Mattel during New York Fashion week.

Hopefully the designers don't make the clothes to fit the real measurement of Barbie if she ever were to be rendered in the flesh, which would be 36-18-38.

I always wanted a collectors barbie when I was a child and I remember spending hours, perplexed over my mother's sewing machine, desperately struggling to re-create the clothes I saw in my Barbie Newsletter (yes, I was a hardcore fan at the time, even if I had a tendency to make my dolls practice extreme sports).

I feel better now knowing dozens of designers did the same as children. Anna Sui admitted she started with dressing Barbie before dressing people.

Over the years Barbie was dressed by over 70 designers, including Burberry, Christian Lacroix, Versace and Vera Wang. She has an entire little family, and she looks damn great for her age.

She is one lucky mini-lady to have a round-up of designers perspiring at this very second to create for her a full Autumn/Winter 2009 collection.

Who ever said the older generation doesn't have a sense of style?

We must admit that it's rare to hear someone this new cool trend "inspired by Nan." Unless curtains are your style trademark. And to be honest, unless you are Vivienne Westwood it's hard to make table cloths look good...

Let's face it, grand-parents (and sometimes parents) are not often cited as the most trendy people.

Could we be wrong?

On Wednesday I was at City Hall listening to Boris Johnson answer questions from the London Assembly, and I saw the most amazing swanky outfit: a delicately tailored bright red tartan double piece suit, with slightly padded shoulders.

And it was worn by a woman well past eighty!

A well tailored traditional design with a modish twist always does the trick, no matter how old you are. This little aged lady can easily rival with a Burberry clad Kate Moss any day in terms of style!

Maybe it's worth looking a little more towards the past to get inspiration going.