Mattel said that the waist of the Barbie doll was made small because the waistbands of her clothes, along with their seams, snaps, and zippers, added bulk to her figure.
In 1997, Barbie""s body mold was redesigned and given a wider waist, with Mattel saying that this would make the doll better suited to contemporary fashion designs.
In 2016, Mattel introduced a range of new body types: ""tall"", ""petite"", and ""curvy"".
""Curvy Barbie"" received a great deal of media attention and even made the cover of Time magazine with the headline ""Now Can We Stop Talking About My Body?"".
Despite the curvy doll""s body shape being equivalent to a US size 4 in clothing, many children regard her as ""fat"".