Remote Village Fashionista

Balinese Barbie Bridging Barriers

Like many tourists in Bali, Barbie is a world traveler. She has visited countries the world over, but what many people may not know is that she loves to shop for clothes in Bali. However because of her particular measurements, there is only one store where she can buy clothes here and it is located in the small village of Songan on Lake Batur Kintamani, not too far from Hulun Danau Batur Temple. 

 

Talented designer and seamstress Putu Restiti has been making clothes for Barbie for almost ten years now. She first started making these miniature fashion pieces after a local non-profit organization came to see how she was living and gave her and her sister (who has since passed away) a couple of Barbies to play with. 

 

While girls the world over have the unrealistic dream of growing up to be like Barbie, these two young sparks instead felt inspired to make this strange doll look more like them and the women around them. What started out as a fun game between sisters soon developed into a full-time job for Putu with orders and attention flooding in from far beyond her remote village. 

 

 Putu’s mother is a kebaya (traditional Balinese woman’s blouse) seamstress so Putu uses the leftover material from these blouses to create fancy dresses for Barbie. She explained that she is inspired by this beautiful fabric but also by images that she finds online.  She creates her own unique designs and sometimes special orders for particular garments, but always with a Balinese flair.  

 

Putu was born with deformities which meant that her legs never developed making it hard for her to get around and even harder to make friends as a child. However, as she explained: “I was not about to let that stop me from using my hands. I love coming up with design ideas and challenging myself to make these tiny garments. I mostly sell to foreigners who love Barbie, but also to some locals who often have 'knock-off' Barbies that are slightly different”. 

 

Sometimes people from Denpasar will come to her with real Barbies and either has a dress made or buys one of the many designs she has on hand. She even makes clothes for Ken dolls and the matching outfits she makes are enough to make any couple want to start wearing matching outfits. 

 

When asked whether she has thought of selling these clothes directly to Matel Inc. the company that makes Barbie, Putu said that she has discussed the idea with them but they decided that it wasn’t a good match because her clothes are too fancy for the Matel brand who tend to make much less intricate clothes for Barbie. Matel however was so impressed with her workmanship and creativity that they sometimes send her accessories like sequins to use in her creations. 

 

Putu does not have any staff helping her make these pint-sized high-fashion items so she cannot produce them in large volumes yet. She explained that she just really likes making these clothes and sometimes makes simpler versions that she sells to kids in her neighborhood for a reduced price. 

 

This passion of hers not only provides Putu with a fun activity and a little extra income, but it has also served as a bridge for her to develop relationships with the people in her community who might not have even met her otherwise. Fashion has a special way of bringing people together and these unique Balinese styles Barbie clothes have shown that the craftsmanship and beauty for which Bali is known for the world over can take myriad forms, and can even be adapted to something as distinctly foreign as Barbie.

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Written by Gabrielle Thibaudeau, Published in January 2018 by International Bali Post

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