As her forthcoming new movie approaches and Barbie-mania sweeps the media and social channels, I can’t help but feel the same protective best-friend feelings as to when I was a little girl, loyally defending our girl-next-door girlfriend, Sindy to the taller, thinner alternative, Barbie!
With Sindy’s pretty, friendly face and reassuring (more realistic) body-shape I remember being taken by my mum into Tescos in Knowle (the village I grew up in!) each December and experiencing the thrill and excitement of choosing a new Sindy for my Christmas gift!
With different hair colour and alternative clothes, it was clear she worked hard at school and was going to have a fulfilling career doing good out there in the world whilst marrying the loveliest action figure available! I loved playing with her in the various dens my sister Liz and I made in the lounge using old sheets and cushions my mum would put aside for us and I remember it was a serious situation… what would she wear? how would we style her hair…. ? All imaginative play for little girls helping us along as we eventually groomed our own hair and decided upon our own fashion and accessories!
Looking back, it may have helped me a little for Sindy to grow up alongside me… for her to age and mature! Right now approaching 50 maybe Sindy would have a little more fat on her stomach! And perhaps her thighs might be dimpled and flabby in places with possibly an instructional pamphlet in the accompanying packaging to help me learn that after having a baby, Sindy’s body, like mine, just wouldn’t be the same, that none of it would ever be lean or solid again no matter how much exercise was undertaken and that her thick mane of sensational hair was going to start to thin and dull as she grows older! Oh Sindy… I still love you to this day!! How have you kept your looks and youth!? What’s your secret!???
Cx
