It might be time for Barbie to update her wardrobe

A few weeks ago, my sister & her family came into town for the Thanksgiving weekend. On their final night in town we all gathered at my Parent's home for a family dinner. After helping to clear the table, I ventured down into the basement to put the dirty napkins into my parent's laundry room. As I threw the napkins in the dirty clothes hamper, I happened to look to my left & was struck dumb when I saw this:

Did a tragic laundry incident reduce this load of laundry to 1/10th of their normal size?

Upon reflection, what seemed even stranger to me than the size of the clothing was the fact that all of these outfits seemed strangely familiar.

I just stood there for a minute afraid to move, trying to figure out what was going on. And then it finally hit me why I recognized these tiny clothes...they belonged to my sister. Or more specifically, they were the clothes that my sister's Barbie dolls wore during the mid 1970's.

Apparently, my Mom had kept a lot of Linda's Barbie stuff from her childhood & Linda had decided it was time to pass these items on to her own daughter. She & Mom had washed the tiny clothes in preparation for the trip back home.

I couldn't resist a closer look.

Shall we explore some of Barbie's favorite outfits from the mid 1970's?

A caftan! No closet is complete without one. I am really grooving on the gold and brown trim.

Nice pants Barbie! I'm sure this versatile pattern goes with everything.

Wow! Even my camera was shocked by the pattern on these pants.

Apparently Barbie was not afraid of bright colors. Here's hoping she never wore that sweater with either of the pants we just saw.

This one isn't too bad. I'd certainly pick this outfit over any of the other ones we've seen so far. It kind of reminds me of something Florence Henderson might have worn.

"Here's the story of a lovely lady, who was bringing up three very lovely girls. All of them had hair of gold, like their mother, the youngest one in curls..."

Um, this one just feels wrong, even for the 1970's. I'm just not sure this look was ever really "in fashion" was it?

And, I'm not at all sure what to say about this coat. Is it just me or is this coat just screaming for some platform shoes and a purple fedora?

Wow! While I am impressed by the durability of these clothes, I really think that it's probably past time for Barbie to go ahead and take a trip to the mall. Quickly. Seriously Barbie, if money is an issue, I'll front you some cash sister. If you won't do it for yourself, think of the children and run to the mall. Now.

I can only hope that my niece's own sense of style won't be permanently damaged by what we have seen here today. You can bet that I'll be paying close attention to her outfits in the Christmas photos this year.