Heels to sensible flats: how Barbie changed her style as career doors opened

She walked into the world on high-heeled mules, but as Barbie's many careers gathered pace, her feet have become more planted on the ground, researchers say.

- Ian Sample

A rare analysis of nearly 3,000 Barbies released over 65 years found that high-heeled incarnations gradually made way to flat-shoed forms, as workplace rules relaxed and an impressive number of career doors opened for the PVC doll.

The steady embrace of sensible flats coincided with Barbie's laudable engagement with professional employment, the study found, leading its authors to conclude that "Barbieland has a dynamic environment with evolving employment patterns and social policies".

The work, led by podiatrists in Australia and the UK, was spurred by a scene in Greta Gerwig's 2023 movie in which Margot Robbie's Barbie suffers an existential crisis, and an onslaught of screams and retching, when her tiptoed feet suddenly become flat.