If Barbie talked, she would have been gushing Sunday.
There she was, on Beverly Hills' Rodeo Drive, diamonds laced around her slender neck, toes tucked into ruby-encrusted slippers, mink stole tossed over her shoulders and a Louis Vuitton bag by her side.
Granted, Barbie, who has introduced millions of American girls to the pleasures of consumerism, was visiting the kingdom of retail chic to be auctioned off to the highest bidder as part of a benefit for children's charities. But still, the merchants were worshiping at her feet, warmly welcoming her as one of their own.
"Why not?" said Ron Michaels, president of the Rodeo Drive Committee, which sponsored the event along with Mattel, Barbie's boss. "Barbie is the most fashionable girl in the world."
For Sunday's event, which organizers said was attended by about 25,000 people and raised more than $80,000 for the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation and the Amie Karen Cancer Fund for children, one block of the posh street was transformed into a Barbie fantasy land. Dressed and accessorized by Rodeo Drive's most exclusive designers, 20 one-of-a-kind Barbies were up for sale, while dozens of vintage dolls on display stared out from glass cases at equally elegant shoppers.
The pavement was bathed in 20,000 square feet of a carpet instantly recognizable to Barbie aficionados as "Barbie Pink," though to the untutored eye, it looked more like a sea of Pepto-Bismol. No red poinsettias were allowed, only white and pink. Naturally, the lemonade was pink, as were the bows tied onto every conceivable surface.
There were plenty of Barbie bigwigs on hand. Ruth Handler, who created the first Barbie doll in honor of her daughter Barbie, signed autographs. Designer Kitty Black Perkins, creator of last year's popular and elusive Holiday Barbie--it sold out within weeks, devastating fans everywhere--brought her children. Commercial artist Barbara Rausch, who drew Barbie comic books for five years, admired the collection of vintage dolls on display but declined to bid.
"Barbies are like potato chips," Rausch said. "You can't have just one."
Probably a sensible decision. The starting bid on most of the designer-dressed Barbies was $1,000. A Barbie carrying case designed by Louis Vuitton--actually a converted whiskey case--was the most expensive item, selling at $16,500. According to a Mattel spokeswoman, the record price paid for a Barbie is $27,000, sold to a Brazilian dealer a few years ago.
