A Barbie Less Busty? Mattel Plans Plastic `Surgery' For Icon

NEW YORK - Barbie has an appointment with the plastic surgeon for a top-to-bottom makeover, and it may cost her some curves.

Mattel plans to give Barbie new, more realistic proportions and a less made-up face, The Wall Street Journal reported today.

The doll's new look - including a wider waist, slimmer hips and a smaller bustline - won't immediately replace the current Barbie.

After its official unveiling at the toy industry's annual trade fair in January, Barbie's new body will be phased in gradually, beginning next year, the Journal said. The new face will appear on several 1998 models.

"In the '80s, Barbie's world was more blond, targeted to glamour and beauty and activities that were right then," said Jean McKenzie, who heads Mattel's Barbie division. "Now she'll have a contemporary look that's more natural and today. Kids tell us that everything we're doing to diversify away from pink and glamour and princess is right on."

The most noticeable change may be a reduction in Barbie's generous (and sometimes controversial) bustline. "Her profile will be less graduated," was all McKenzie would say.

One estimate puts the current Barbie's measurements at an unlikely 38-18-34 in human terms.

Many have criticized El Segundo, Calif.-based Mattel for giving young girls an unrealistic standard of beauty, but company spokesman Glenn Bozarth said such criticisms were not the reason for Barbie's makeover.

In addition to the body work, Mattel's plastic surgeons will be giving Barbie a new face, her first in more than 20 years and only the third since the doll was introduced in 1959. They'll replace the current Barbie's toothy grin, wide eyes and platinum hair with a closed mouth, softer, straighter hair and a finer nose.

The old look won't disappear completely. Mattel still plans to use it for traditionally feminine, princessy models, McKenzie said.

"What little girls want isn't just one thing, one ideal," she said. "What they want is a choice of different Barbies with different looks - to reflect how different they look."