I've been following a few Barbie Instagram accounts for a while—they're a guilty pleasure of mine. They range from parody accounts to mini doll fashion feeds, and I love them, maybe even more than animal Instagram accounts (which is saying a lot). Somehow seeing an iconic childhood toy subverted and made relevant to adult mainstream pop culture is just endlessly entertaining to me. Allow me to share my five favorite accounts with you.
1. Hijarbie
This account is my favorite. I love the looks Haneefah Adam creates for the dolls, and that they incorporate the hijab into high fashion. It's nice to see Barbie donning more inclusive fashion—and especially exciting in conjunction with Mattel's new multi-ethnic line of Barbies.
The outfits are gorgeous —scarves, abayas and couture dresses give Barbie a whole new look. The fact that they are custom made and doll-sized just makes them all the more incredible.
2. Barbie Savior
Basically the Instagram feed of every white girl voluntourist. The account is run anonymously, but the Barbie featured is running an NGO somewhere in the country of Africa. The bio reads:
Jesus. Adventures. Africa. Two worlds. One love. Babies. Beauty. Not qualified. Called. 20 years young. It's not about me...but it kind of is.
I highly recommend you check it out and go through chronologically, as the account does some excellent story-telling. It's clear all the little orphans in the country of Africa have really captured Barbie's heart. #slumfie!
The Instagram even features poor Barbie looking like a glamorous martyr as she's airlifted away due to illness. The captions and over the top hashtags are probably what seal the deal for me.
As the sweat beads off my brow and my fever swells, I can think of little else but the pain and the caption needed to express this moment on my Instagram. I have access to medicine, yes, but I won't take it. So many don't have it, so why should I? I am nothing more than the average.... #malariaempathy #gonativeorgohome #suffering4solidarity #itwormsmyheart #plasmodiumpandemonium #notreatment #cerebralmalariaorbust #insaneinthemembrane #epitomeofirony #millenialmalaria #itmakessensebecauseiwantitto
Spoiler alert, Barbie gets a tattoo of Africa with the words "te amo" and meets an African cutie—#tradingkenforakenyan and #imGhanaloveyouforever may or may not be hashtags involved. Trust me...you want to check this account out.
3. A Doll World After All
This one is hilarious, and since I couldn't pick my top four or five examples I included...ten. The creator dresses and poses Barbies to recreate scenes from television and movies, famous celebrity moments, and red carpet looks.
The creator, Ronny Larsson, has dressed up dolls to stage scenes with Carol from The Walking Dead or the cast of Orange is the New Black.
The account depicted Kesha's ongoing legal battle against her producer Dr. Luke, and the celebrity support she's garnered (including Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga in the background, and Taylor Swift offering a handful of money). Also featured were recreations of Shia LaBeouf's performance art and that cringe-worthy moment when Steve Harvey crowned the wrong woman Miss Universe (oops).
"The Swedish Gepetto" as the account manager calls himself has also tackled recreations of some iconic glamour shots, like Kim Kardashian's Paper cover or Solange Knowles' epic wedding party.
Some other favorites of mine: Drake's killer "Hotline Bling" music video and that time Ariana Grande licked a donut. Larsson has even done Alex from Target!
4. Barbie Birkin
The Instagram account of the ultimate rich girl. The creator has photoshopped Barbie Birkin into photos with all her celebrity pals, and otherwise captured her living her fab fun life. Of course she has incredible taste...
When shopping gets REALLY overwhelming just remember, you're going to die one day. 💀#SaintLaurentProblems
...and loves jet-setting across the world whenever she pleases.
5. Socality Barbie
This is the account that got me started on my obsession with Barbie accounts. Another anonymously run account, this Barbie nails the clichés of the slow-living Pacific Northwest vibe. Every post is just pure "authentic" hipster gold, right down to the captions and hashtags.
May your #nationalcoffeeday be as beautiful and inspiring as mine. #coffee #chemex #vsco #vscocam #socality #liveauthentic #livefolk #kinfolk #visualcoop #finditliveit #getoutside #letsgosomewhere #exploremore #explore #adventure #lifeofadventure #pnw #pacificnorthwest #thatpnwlife #northwestisbest #thegreatpnw #greatnorthcollective #pdx #communityfirst #upperleftusa #peoplescreatives #wildernessculture
Socality Barbie is even writing a book called "How To Live Authentic" and has been featured on the cover of her favorite magazine, Kinfolk!
So those are my favorite Barbie Instagrams. Do you have a guilty pleasure Instagram obsession? More importantly: do you know any other Barbie accounts I should follow?