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| Music Barbie and Tropi-Cutie wear Sparkle Girlz fashions with shoes from Barbie accessory packs. Earrings were added using quilting needles for Music Barbie and a pair of gold dangle earrings made from "human" dangle earrings are worn by Tropi-Cutie |
In the case of Tropi-Cutie, a name that begged for replacement, because of her Afro hairstyle, I have decided to name her Pam after actress, Pam Grier, who sometimes wore an Afro in the 1970s blaxploitation films in which she starred. Grier is also a current favorite actor of mine, earning this status after I viewed the 1997 movie, Jackie Brown where she ultimately becomes the victor, outwitting the males, all of whom had their own agendas that would have caused unpleasant issues for Jackie Brown. In a male-dominated society, I always root for women. This movie is one that I can watch over and over again and still want to watch more. Thank you Pam Grier (and I guess Quentin Tarantino for writing and directing it just for Grier to play the role of Jackie Brown).
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| Pam Grier in a 1970s photo, possibly from a film in which she starred. |
Anyway, Tropi-Cutie's new name is Pam. I googled photos of Pam Grier to find a more appropriate Pam Grier-ish fashion for the doll to wear and found the above photo. (Blog reader, Bailey, found and shared a similar image with me as well after I discussed with her off-blog that I was renaming this doll Pam.) The halter blouse influenced my decision to allow Pam, the doll, to swap clothes with Music Barbie (who also needs a name, but I just cannot think of one that I will remember.) The two are shown in the first photo of this post. Pam (the doll) needed Music Barbie's fashion, so the two agreed to swap.
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| After the swap, (seen below), Music Barbie chose not to continue wearing the orange high heels she had worn previously. She opted for a red pair of heels from an older Barbie accessory pack, which also had a red clutch in it. The red shoes and now clutch do more for the new-to-her floral blouse than the orange shoes. See how she pulls it all together in the next photo. |
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| Music Barbie now wears the cold-shoulder floral blouse and denim shorts that Pam had been wearing. Because she has high-heel feet, the two could not swap shoes. As indicated above, she wears a pair of red heels from a Barbie accessory pack. The orange shoes she wore previously are now back in the shoe stash. |
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| Pam is loving her new clothes and enjoys showing off her belly button. She's pleased she was able to continue wearing the black Roman sandals with this, too. |
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| After the fashion swap and shoe change, the girls chat a while. |
Both are pleased with their new clothes. Pam is delighted that Music Barbie was willing to part with and swap out fashions with her. Pam is also happy that the name, Tropi-Cutie has been laid to rest.
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It's nice when friends can share clothes :-)
ReplyDeletePam is a very appropriate name.Pam Grier was both tough and feminine before that was mainstream.
Doll naming is already hard so I can imagine choosing and keeping hundreds of name straight must be difficult. You're right to want to link them to a memorable detail.
The name I'd give Musician Barbie is a bit old-fashioned:Hazel,after Hazel Scott. Nina after Nina Simone would be even an easier to remember pianist.
Thanks for sharing the pictures of your lovely dolls.:D
It is nice when friends are able to share clothing. (I, however, was never allowed to do that as a child. I could share with one cousin, but not any of my friends and they could not wear my clothes either. Mother's rule.)
DeleteI like the name Nina. I have another doll that I named after Nina Simone, a My Twinn doll that was acquired around the time Simone passed. I will consider naming Music Barbie Nina as well. Thanks for the suggestion, Maricha!
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How about Alicia for your keyboard artist? Pam looks great. Her chin is lifted and she looks stronger. I think she likes that name.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the name suggestion, Bailey! Her braids are early Alicia Keys-like and of course she has keyboard skills. I'm leaning toward Nina, but I appreciate the suggestion. Since RC (Romper Chic) has had a prominent role in doll play recently and she looks more like an Alicia, I might use that name for her.
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Nice choice of name for the doll. Nice tribute to Pam Grier
ReplyDeleteThank you, MDW! I wonder if Pam would feel the same way.
Delete:-)
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The are both extremely cute, and ready for the summer! I like Pam's name.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Roxanne!
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I love what you have done with these two dolls. Swapping clothes and finding the right accessories can work miracles.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I am sure Pam Grier would be pleased with your tribute. Your Pam is a lovely Pam.
Thank you, Arlette. It would please me that the doll pleases Ms. Grier.
Deletedbg
Pam's a lovely name for a lovely doll. Both dolls have looks and charm. Thanks for sharing their photos!
ReplyDeleteThank you, D7ana and you're welcome!
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As we have discussed our mutual appreciation of the actresses of blacksploitation cinema of the seventies (Tamara Dobson, Cleopatra Jones) all I will say is "Right On" (also an early Seventies Supremes record!). Pam looks Dynomite!! (Okay I'll stop now ;)). I really also like the idea of the yellow wedges with Pam's look as well as they echo the yellow flowers in her top. I'm so sold on Pam's Afro, as one of my favourite Barbie's is Magic Curl from 1981 because you can style it into a great Afro style so it's nice to see this in a modern doll. I love her earrings too they're fabulous!
ReplyDeleteI love 'Jackie Brown' Pam Grier is so, so good in it. It really was a renaissance for the always controversial Tarrantino. I know he's definitely not helped himself with a couple of his films (and after charges of misogyny) he did begin to write some great roles for women starting with Jackie and leading into Kill Bill Vol. 1&2. But Pam really holds her own in that world, and she definitely keeps you focused on her throughout the film!
DeleteThank you, Julius. My daughter owned Magic Curl Barbie and I have her as well. I think I mentioned that before. I purchased mine after I began collecting during the 1990s.
DeleteI'll have to pull out the yellow sandals and try them on Pam. She is currently wearing the black Roman sandals. I didn't even think about the yellow (probably because I really like the black ones). I had white ones like those during the late '60s.
I am in love with her Afro, too. It can be worn with the side part or as a traditional rounded out 'fro. I have seen several collectors create two Afro puffs with it, but to me that spoils the vibe I want to maintain. I can create Afro puffs with other dolls. In fact, I have an Integrity Toys Janay that came with Afro puffs.
Pam Grier is great in Jackie Brown, which is why I can watch that movie over and over again. I have tried, unsuccessfully on two separate attempts this week to watch the DVR recording I have of it, which is not commercial free, unfortunately and I keep falling asleep. I may have to break down and buy a copy. The language is harsh, particularly Ordell's (Samuel L. Jackson's) lines. Tarantino received criticism from Spike Lee and others for the use/overuse of the N-word. Not a fan of the word myself, I understood and still understand Tarantino's attempt at authentic language. Ordell was "street" and that word would be part of his vocabulary. Jackie Brown is the only Tarantino movie I have watched in its entirety. I take that back, I have seen Django. Because of the violence in it, Django not a movie I will ever watch again.
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I did watch Django too, I have watched many of his films and I do like that he is uncompromising in his world building but yes agree the violence was horrifying. He's an interesting filmmaker and he is someone that really knows his movie history, but because he works in movie tropes I think he misses the sensitivity of some of the choices he makes.
DeleteInterestingly there is a new documentary on Maya Angelou on Netflix where she discusses the N word, and as a writer I'm sure you would be sensitive to the use of language but the quote so stayed with me I wrote it down:
""If a thing is poison and it has a skull and bones on it you can take the content of it and pour it into Bavarian crystal, it's still poison". I thought that was so powerful, about words in general, not only "that" word.
I still haven't been able to watch 'The Hateful Eight' yet, simply because I know that I have to really give myself over to Tarrantino's vision and they're never a flippant movie choice for me.
Hi Julius,
DeleteThank you for letting me know about the new Maya Angelou documentary on Netflix. I'll make plans to watch it soon.
I read the reviews of The Hateful Eight, which were mixed. Some people loved it, some hated it. I am not sure I'll be able to muster up the nerve to watch, but if I do, I'll let you know.
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I love how you think about renaming your dolls. Both are. Very cute and they resemble both Pam Greer and Nina Simone who is one of my favorite female artist.
ReplyDeleteThank you Lady_Rose. Music Barbie will just be Nina. I won't add the Simone.
Delete:-)
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