You Can Now Dress Like Barbie—But Would You Want To?

(Source: Wildfox)So many little girls log entire afternoons dreaming of futures filled with neon plastic high heels; ruffled, scalloped and bejeweled skirt suits; and dainty molded purses. Eventually, most of them grow up and take to wearing jeans just like everybody else, but for every child who grows up to embrace normcore, there are plenty who refuse to dress anything less than fantastically.

Barbie, were she a real person, would be one of the latter. She would also likely live in a powder pink estate in New Jersey and star in her own reality show, which would actually make the existence of Barbie-inspired clothing a bit more understandable. 

As it turns out, Lord & Taylor, Wildfox and Forever 21 are collaborating with Mattel this season to release three collections, each inspired by the iconic American doll. Lord & Taylor will reinterpret Barbie's fashions from the '50s, while Wildfox will take care of the '80s and Forever 21 the '90s.

Launched this week, Forever 21's interpretation is a somewhat limited, cheeky attempt that cashes in on the brand name. You'll find bodysuits ($11), crop tops ($16) andnovelty tees ($16), but not a single plastic shoe or sparkle.

(Source: Forever 21 Barbie Graphic Bodysuit, $11; Barbie Muscle Tee, $16; OG Doll Graphic Crop Top, $16)Wildfox, on the other hand, took the exact opposite approach: its cotton candy–scented tops and sweaters ($64–$128) and limited-edition pink sunglasses ($169–$179) are exactly the sorts of things real-life Barbie would wear in 2014. The capsule launches in November.

(Source: Wildfox)By the time Lord & Taylor releases its '50s-inspired collection, slated for the middle of next month, it's possible the hype will have died down, that is, unless they create the life-size versions of this dainty number:

(Source: Mattel)What do you think? Will you be playing dress-up this season?