Common Sense Note
Barbie and her friends all have exaggerated figures and while the friends have different skin colors that hint at ethnicity, the faces all resemble Barbie's, so this attempt at diversity is lukewarm at best.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Jinny Gudmundsen
The world of high fashion is just a mouse click away in Barbie Fashion Show, where glamorous models sashay down Paris runways wearing fashions designed by your daughter.
In Barbie Fashion Show, girls team up with Barbie to design outfits for 20 fashion collections including "School Spirit" and "Barbie Bridal", and they choreograph fashion shows to display their creations.
To create outfits, girls head to Barbie's Design Table to pick from over 70 clothing patterns including tops, bottoms, and dresses. Once a pattern is selected, girls create the clothing by choosing from over 240 different fabrics. An easy-to-use interface and special brushes allow girls to combine fabrics; and 80 different decals add pizzazz.
When a collection is complete, girls choose among Barbie and four of her friends to model the outfits. The friends have different skin colors that hint at ethnicity, but the faces all resemble Barbie's so this attempt at diversity is lukewarm at best. Girls can accessorize the models by choosing from 88 hairstyles and 88 shoe styles.
Next, budding fashion designers customize their own fashion shows by choosing the shape of the stage, the background, the runway textures, the stage decorations, the music, the lights, and the models' moves. After tweaking each option, girls proudly watch their clothing designs flutter and flow over the models as they spin, twirl, and pose on the runways. They can also snap "photos" of their style shows and then play them back for friends.
Cleverly, the program doesn't give girls all the patterns and fabric options in the beginning -- they are unlocked gradually during the first 10 assignments.
Girls can even try to share their creations by uploading them to www.Barbie.com, where Mattel will select some of the designs to post.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentSome of the fashions can be sexy--midriff showing and off-the-shoulder outfits. |
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Social BehaviorBarbie is super skinny and disproportionally built. |
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CommercialismThis program is all about Barbie. |
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