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Home / Lifestyle

She has curves and stretch marks. Meet 'normal Barbie'

By Emily Wax-Thibodeaux
Washington Post·
20 Nov, 2014 03:50 AM3 mins to read

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Normal Barbie Photo / Lammily

Normal Barbie Photo / Lammily

She has cellulite, no makeup and a few extra kilos around the hips.

Forget bony, perky and perfect Barbie. Meet "normal Barbie" - She even comes with stickers where you can place a zit, some stretch marks or a scratch.

Read more
• Dear ladies of NZ: Get a bikini, put it on your body
• Sarah Vine: Why this Victoria's Secret ad is cruel and damaging

Pittsburgh graphic designer Nickolay Lamm told The Washington Post that he created the Lammily doll because he wanted to send a message that "reality can be beautiful."

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Before you ask, he also wants to do "normal Ken," maybe a little balding, maybe a little chunky in the belly. (Possible stickers: chest hair and dirt stains.) He's still working on it.

"Guys are a lot grosser," he chuckled. "It's hard to say the inappropriate things we could possibly do."

He was inspired to work on the Lammily doll after recent reports about what the iconic Barbie doll would look like if she had the measurements of an average 19-year-old woman's body. (Those are based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.)

"I feel not only kids, but we as adults try to escape reality watching movies, playing video games and being on our phones all the time," he said. "But I wanted to show that life is beautiful and reality is all we have."

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He said he developed a passion for the project because he lived through his share of body insecurities.

"Back in high school, I thought I was short for a guy at 5-5, so I starved myself and exercised to exhaustion to have a set of six-pack abs," he said. " I looked and felt terrible. I thought a lot about how everyone's body is different, but we measure ourselves with one standard."

His younger cousin, who he said was a competitive college athlete, top student, soulful person and beautiful young woman, "used to call herself 'fat.' She could only look 'fat' if compared to exceptionally thin beauty standards," he said.

He also wants young girls to "think more about what they love and what they do and not as much as how they look. So if they have a doll that looks like everyone else, they won't have to focus on looks so much."

Discover more

Lifestyle

11 ideal body shapes since 1900

13 May 07:00 AM
Lifestyle

What is a normal body?

02 Jun 10:25 PM
Lifestyle

Meet 'Entrepreneur' Barbie

19 Jun 11:00 PM
Opinion

Delaney Mes: 'I'm sick of people feeling guilty about food'

22 Sep 11:55 PM

Watch: Young girls react to Lammily

App users tap here to watch Young girls react to Lammily.

He said he's gotten a great response, "plus my mom likes it, and, most importantly, kids like it."

He crowd-funded his creation, raising $501,000 - far outstripping his $95,000 target. And he has more than 22,000 orders, which ship later this month. Lamm also created a cool video that shows how he transforms a Lammily doll into a Barbie:

App users tap here to watch Lammily: Time to get real.

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