Our Friday Girl today is Butterfly Art Barbie. She is one of the 180 and I recognised her crimped hair. When I undressed her, I found her butterfly tattoo. I bought Butterfly Art Teresa when the dolls first came out because I thought she was the prettiest. Later on, I bought Kira but I always thought that Butterfly Art Barbie had a strange expression even though I love the Mackie face. This is the first time I’ve seen one out of the box and I think that her face could grow on me. I am not really a fan of the deep tan though.
Barbie was not in her original outfit so I swapped her into a top and skirt that showed off her signature tattoo.
Does anyone remember all the controversy surrounding the Butterfly Art dolls when they came out? Many people did not like tattoos on a children’s toy or the skimpy outfits the dolls wore. Really these tattoos are pretty innocuous compared to real life tattoos. Since those days it’s become a lot more common for women to wear prominent tattoos. I personally don’t care for them but I thought it was a lot of fuss over a doll. Some years later, in 2011 I think Mattel released another tattooed doll, Tokidoki Barbie who featured tattoos covering her back and neck. There was a lot of fuss about that too but she was aimed at the collector’s market.
Dolls, Dolls, Dolls 
I have Butterfly Barbie. I found her in a charity shop for 99p. She still has her yellow and pink bikini but is missing the denim miniskirt. People make too much of a fuss about things, they don’t have to buy her! Personally I don’t like tattoos either. Your Barbie looks good in the outfit, it shows the butterfly tattoo nicely.
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I thought so too. I might use her for the next Round The World show.
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I missed all the controversy as I was not in the dollyverse in 1998. I do, however, have a tattoo, done by a famous tattoo artist in Chicago called Cliff Raven. That was 50 years ago! I do like tattoos and quite a few of my dolls have them.
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This Barbie seems relatable to a more fun world view.I would certainly buy one if I found one. Any Barbie that looks fabulous in swim wear I’m for.Would love seeing her and other doll(s) in series as besties hanging out. I love having two or more of a series.I think it’s fun to swap out various groups for display.Enjoy! Thanks for sharing!
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I was thinking of showing the three of them together but I think they are in three different boxes at present. Maybe soon.
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BTW, great outfit and shoes! Awesome blog.
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As I didn’t have her outfit, although I think I’ve seen it somewhere, I went for something that showed off her tattoo.
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The tan is definitely overdone, but I love the vivid colour of the outfit you redressed her in. The shoes are fab, too. I agree with Laurel; it would be neat to see a picture of all three Butterfly Art dolls together.
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I just happened to have the shoes handy and I think they are perfect with this outfit.
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