20世紀最廣為人知及最暢銷的玩偶芭比娃娃今年50歲了。1959年3月9日舉辦的美國國際玩具展覽會上，露絲•漢德勒攜芭比首次亮相，這個介于小女孩和成年女子之間的美國少女頓時成為全世界男女老少的心愛之物。芭比娃娃暢銷世界上150個國家，總銷售量超過10億個。50年來，芭比娃娃已經嘗試過100多種不同職業的造型，從職業女性到總統候選人，造型百變，創意不斷。不過，七年前貝茲娃娃的出現使芭比娃娃的銷量開始受到挑戰，50歲卻魅力依舊的芭比開始想辦法回擊了。

She doesn't have a streak of grey hair, her breasts remain unnaturally perky, and she has endless outfits - but Barbie is feeling miserable ahead of her 50th birthday.

Not only is she accused of promoting anorexia among young girls, but her sales plunged 21 per cent in the last quarter of 2008, and for seven years she has had to deal with Bratz, a sassy rival hot on her high heels.

Born Barbara Millicent Robert on March 9, 1959 in Willows, Wisconsin, the 29-centimeter beauty wowed the world when she made her debut at a New York toy fair, leading to sales of 300,000 that same year.

With her long legs, love of pink-tinged glamour, and hair made for combing, she was a world away from the baby-like creatures cradled by girls of previous generations.

Today she is at the center of the Mattel company empire. She has inspired dozens of fashion designers, become a presence on Facebook and MySpace, revolutionized playtime for young children - and forced untold numbers of reluctant parents to reach for their wallets.

New York Fashion Week this month will fete her 50th with real-life leggy models. And there's already a special wedding dress by Vera Wang that will be on sale for $15,000. For Barbie owners, or those without that kind of money, the same is available in miniature for $159.99 at Toys R Us in New York.

Glossy publisher Assouline is putting out "Barbie" with a 500-dollar price tag and pictures of the doll wearing Prada and Karl Lagerfeld.

Certainly, Barbie has no shortage of clothes. She has outfits for 108 separate professions and a total of a billion items of clothing spread across the globe, according to her website.

In the 1960s, she went through the Grace Kelly period, then got a hippy look in the 1970s, a business woman makeover in the 1980s, and in 1989 a Pentagon-approved military uniform.

In 1992 she ran for the White House and in 2004 she caused an uproar in the doll world by breaking up with her notably sexless partner Ken.

The biggest life change for Barbie though has been the appearance of her nemesis seven years ago, the Bratz fashion dolls. The big-eyed, wild-haired beauties have eaten steadily into Barbie sales.

Mattel last year successfully sued to prevent MGA Entertainment from making or selling Bratz, after a court ruled that its creator had conceived of the idea while he was still employed by Mattel.

However, the court granted a reprieve for Bratz so that the dolls can remain on sale through this year.

Then Barbie and her makers will have to brace themselves for the publication of Toy Monster: The Big, Bad World of Mattel, a book which promises to reveal the doll's dirty secrets, including the sexual shenanigans of her original creator, electrical engineer Jack Ryan.