Why are Barbie's clothing styles so cheap and tacky looking nowadays?

[KeatAlex]

The quality is so bad for Mattel. Even their signature line is super flimsy and cheap. This is why I've moved on to Integrity. But they cost way more than the cheap fashionistas.

 

[Buttonsy]

Yeah, the newer clothes are pretty hit-or-miss for me, although I've found some that have nice clothes (unfortunately, as most of the Fashionista dolls don't have names, I can't tell you the names of the ones I like, but there's one of the curvier dolls who has this lavender coloured dress with butterflies on it that I think is nice, I also have this tall doll who has a cute sweater that's bright pink and says love on it that I like)
I tend to find the outfit packs they sell separately have nicer clothes than the ones sold with the dolls, plus there's a pretty big handmade doll clothing community online, so at least there is that.
As much as the hit to the styles isn't great, I do like the diversity of the newer dolls in terms of face shapes, body shapes, hairstyles, and skin colours, as I'm a doll collector and I personally get irritated if I buy too many dolls that look almost identical.

 

[Bluelady]

Yeah, the newer clothes are pretty hit-or-miss for me, although I've found some that have nice clothes (unfortunately, as most of the Fashionista dolls don't have names, I can't tell you the names of the ones I like, but there's one of the curvier dolls who has this lavender coloured dress with butterflies on it that I think is nice, I also have this tall doll who has a cute sweater that's bright pink and says love on it that I like)
I tend to find the outfit packs they sell separately have nicer clothes than the ones sold with the dolls, plus there's a pretty big handmade doll clothing community online, so at least there is that.
As much as the hit to the styles isn't great, I do like the diversity of the newer dolls in terms of face shapes, body shapes, hairstyles, and skin colours, as I'm a doll collector and I personally get irritated if I buy too many dolls that look almost identical.

Yup. Took the words right out of my mouth. I really love the Sanrio fashion packs. Although I do hate that they are now using the cheap, thin Velcro. With that said, I like making clothes for my niece's Barbies. They're not perfect but it's fun and cheap sometimes. One fat quarter of cotton fabric can make at least two Barbie outfits. Who knew!