Barbie Turns 56: Her Best Beauty Looks Since Birth

Barbie, you look amazing and we’d really like to meet your plastic surgeon. Today is the international superdoll’s 56th birthday, and if you didn’t think a modeling career could lead to other opportunities, just look at how far Barbie’s gone since she made her debut as the Teen-Age Fashion Model. Karlie Kloss, meet your model mogul match. When Barbie appeared at the annual Toy Fair in New York on March 9, 1959, she was the first American doll to not have toddler or baby features. Since then, Mattel’s best-selling doll has had over 150 careers, been dressed by top designers, been a muse to famous artists, had her own runway show at New York Fashion Week, and will star in a live-action movie. Committed to empowerment, Barbie also has her own awards show in Mexico to celebrate inspirational women. Ken, you are a lucky man.

Barbie’s appearance has changed with the times, too. In 1997, with the era of the voluptuous supermodel long gone, she got breast reduction, filled up her waist a bit, and slimmed her hips. Nowadays her hair is made of seven shades of blonde woven together, styled, and set using a contraption much like those dome hair dryers you see in salons. She comes in seven different skin tones, can only use her own custom hair gel, has more than 100 shades of brown eye shadow (her favorite eye color, surprisingly!) in her beauty kit, and needs up to 10 fine artists to paint her face with water-based acrylics and mini sable brushes when coming up with a new look. Okay, so she’s high-maintenance, but what do you expect from a doll with impossible 36-18-38 measurements?

To celebrate Barbie’s 56th birthday, here are her best beauty looks throughout her life:

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