# Calculating a real life Barbie's measurements **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 5, 2009, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-a-real-life-barbies-measurements/488372 "2009-03-05T10:36:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-a-real-life-barbies-measurements/488372/1 "2009-03-05T10:36:59Z")
I’ve heard people say that if Barbie were real, she’d be way too underweight for her size, would have a super tiny waist and hips, be unable to walk, etc. But how do people calculate it? I mean, couldn’t she be any height, theoretically? She’s a doll–it would depend on whatever height people wanted her to be. I don’t see why she’s automatically got to be 6’ and 110 (what one website gave as her height/weight). How is this calculated? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-a-real-life-barbies-measurements/488372/2 "2009-03-05T11:18:15Z")
Weight is probably determined by her bodyshape. Height? Dunno, perhaps by comparing her to other items in the Barbie universe like the Barbie car. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-a-real-life-barbies-measurements/488372/3 "2009-03-05T13:33:52Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I’ve heard people say that if Barbie were real, she’d be way too underweight for her size, would have a super tiny waist and hips, be unable to walk, etc. But how do people calculate it? I mean, couldn’t she be any height, theoretically? She’s a doll–it would depend on whatever height people wanted her to be. I don’t see why she’s automatically got to be 6’ and 110 (what one website gave as her height/weight). How is this calculated? Assign any single measurement of the doll arbitrarily to correspond with a real human and all the rest of the length measurements follow. The limiting practical measurement would be the waist, I suppose. The likeliest proposed measurement would probably be the bust. There wouldn’t be a perfect correlation with weight but you could come close. If you have any Barbie dolls you could measure one and decide for yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-a-real-life-barbies-measurements/488372/4 "2009-03-05T14:01:02Z")
> **[Nutrition and Diagnosis-related Care](https://books.google.com/books?id=wFzHkKEf0GwC&pg=RA1-PA248&lpg=RA1-PA248&dq=barbie%2Bdoll%2Bheight%2Bweight&source=bl&ots=6lYi_p4uOG&sig=SN2nKCa5odhlVECW-3fqdk8e86c&hl=en&ei=htqvSeLMIYugtwf-kNX3BQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result)** > > Developed by well-known author and nutritionist Sylvia Escott-Stump, the Sixth Edition of this classic text provides timely, pertinent medical nutrition therapy information for the care of patients with over 360 diseases, disorders, and conditions.... Found this via a Google Search. At 6’ she’d weight 101 lbs and have a 19" waist. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-a-real-life-barbies-measurements/488372/5 "2009-03-05T14:06:35Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > [Nutrition and Diagnosis-related Care - Sylvia Escott-Stump - Google Books](http://books.google.com/books?id=wFzHkKEf0GwC&pg=RA1-PA248&lpg=RA1-PA248&dq=barbie+doll+height+weight&source=bl&ots=6lYi_p4uOG&sig=SN2nKCa5odhlVECW-3fqdk8e86c&hl=en&ei=htqvSeLMIYugtwf-kNX3BQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=9&ct=result) > > Found this via a Google Search. At 6’ she’d weight 101 lbs and have a 19" waist. That’d give a BMI of 14, _seriously_ underweight (18.5 to 24 is healthy)! ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-a-real-life-barbies-measurements/488372/6 "2009-03-05T14:16:04Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I mean, couldn’t she be any height, theoretically? The point is, due to the proportions of the doll, she would be underwight and abnormally thin at any height. If you assumed she was 5’2", she would only weigh 84lbs. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-a-real-life-barbies-measurements/488372/7 "2009-03-05T15:20:49Z")
I have read (no cite, sorry) that the tiny waist on the Barbie doll is not an attempt to portray some idealized notion of a woman’s shape, but due to the fact that cloth does not scale down to that size well - that the small waist allows for the bunching of cloth where shirts, pants, and skirts meet. Not sure that is relevant to the discussion, but there it is… ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-a-real-life-barbies-measurements/488372/8 "2009-03-05T16:01:59Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > The point is, due to the proportions of the doll, she would be underwight and abnormally thin at any height. If you assumed she was 5’2", she would only weigh 84lbs. Okay, that makes sense. Most places always say something like she’d be 6’ so I was just wondering where they got that to start with. Maybe it just sounds more dramatic than saying if she’d be 5’2 and 84 pounds. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-a-real-life-barbies-measurements/488372/9 "2009-03-05T16:09:01Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I mean, couldn’t she be any height, theoretically? Theoretically, yes (within reason). However, Barbie was designed as a fashion doll, and it’s reasonable to assume that her height would be typical of a fashion model. From [here](http://www.newmodels.com/height.html): A study done in 2002 showed that among top editorial fashion agencies in Los Angeles and New York, 81% of their “editorial fashion” models were 5’9” and above; 15% were between 5’8” and 5’9”, and only 4% were below 5’8” tall. So 5’10’‘-6’ tall is probably the best estimate of what her height would be as a human. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-a-real-life-barbies-measurements/488372/10 "2009-03-05T17:04:32Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > I have read (no cite, sorry) that the tiny waist on the Barbie doll is not an attempt to portray some idealized notion of a woman’s shape, but due to the fact that cloth does not scale down to that size well - that the small waist allows for the bunching of cloth where shirts, pants, and skirts meet. I don’t dispute any of that. And for the sake of argument, let’s say I am moved to have sympathy for the engineers and designers who have so much difficulty creating her clothing. Despite that, my main concern is with the children who are so accustomed to these dolls that they end up with grossly incorrect opinions about a proper and healthy body shape. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-a-real-life-barbies-measurements/488372/11 "2009-03-05T17:08:12Z")
Here’s another interesting factoid about children’s toys. If G. I. Joe were a man of normal height, his biceps would be 32 inches in circumference. For comparison purposes, Mark McGuire has 26 inch biceps. (Or at least he did during his steroid days.) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-a-real-life-barbies-measurements/488372/12 "2009-03-05T17:38:35Z")
You could also set a scale using some of her accessories. Take her Corvette, say, and compare it to the size of the real thing. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-a-real-life-barbies-measurements/488372/13 "2009-03-05T20:50:23Z")
I would think any responsible discussion of proportionality would start with the “if/then” of the calculations stated. “If she were an average woman’s height, THEN she’d have a bust size of…” or “IF she were six feet tall, THEN her waist would be…” then it’s just a matter of ratios. If the doll were 6 inches tall, you’d assume that at six feet all measurements can just be multiplied by 12. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-a-real-life-barbies-measurements/488372/14 "2009-03-05T21:12:22Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Found this via a Google Search. At 6’ she’d weight 101 lbs and have a 19" waist. > [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > The point is, due to the proportions of the doll, she would be underwight and abnormally thin at any height. If you assumed she was 5’2", she would only weigh 84lbs. You can’t scale up and down based on height as a linear factor because weight is proportional to the cube of height. (That’s why giant ants would be crushed under Them’s own weight. ;)) So if you assume a 6’ woman is 101 lbs., scaled down proportionally to 5’2" she would weigh only 64.5 lbs. However, in reality people don’t scale like that anyway. Have you ever seen a 6’ tall woman with the same proportions as a 5’2" woman? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-a-real-life-barbies-measurements/488372/15 "2009-03-05T21:19:59Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > Here’s another interesting factoid about children’s toys. If G. I. Joe were a man of normal height, his biceps would be 32 inches in circumference. So G. I. Joe’s biceps are twice as big as Barbie’s waist? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-a-real-life-barbies-measurements/488372/16 "2009-03-05T21:43:01Z")
I used to have a friend who was a bit of an artist, and also made model dioramas. He said that when you make a miniature figure, you don’t just make it a perfect scale representation. You have to exaggerate the subtleties or they won’t be noticed at all. You make the eyes a little bigger. If you want a guy to look tired and haggard, you darken the lower half of his face to look like stubble. Not too much; that’s where the artistry comes in. If someone notices what you’ve done, the illusion is lost. Do it right and you create the impression that you’re after, even if it’s not 100% accurate. I always thought the same thing applied to Barbie. If you want a six-inch piece of plastic to look like a woman, you have to exaggerate the curves. ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-a-real-life-barbies-measurements/488372/17 "2009-03-05T22:20:32Z")
Why cant they just take a base point of the size of her eyes or ear and use that to scale up? ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-a-real-life-barbies-measurements/488372/18 "2009-03-06T23:30:21Z")
There is a story on the [BBC](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7920962.stm) about this very subject today, with photoshopped images etc. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-a-real-life-barbies-measurements/488372/19 "2009-03-07T00:01:13Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > You could also set a scale using some of her accessories. Take her Corvette, say, and compare it to the size of the real thing. From what I could find on the net, [this Barbie Corvette](http://www.amazon.com/Barbie-Radio-Control-Convertible-Corvette/dp/B00005QDT7) is 19-20 inches long. A real Corvette C5 (which I think is what this is based on) is 179.7 inches. A standard Barbie is 11.5 inches. Doing the math, unless I screwed up my calculations, that would be anything from a 103 (8’7") to 109 inch (9’1") real-life Barbie, depending on whether that Corvette is 19 or 20 inches. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Philosopher)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-a-real-life-barbies-measurements/488372/20 "2009-03-07T01:30:08Z")
As has been mentioned already, the BBC ran an article today answering this exact question. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7920962.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7920962.stm) > [@](#): > > **What would a real life Barbie look like?** > > She turns 50 on Monday, but Barbie has a remarkable figure for a woman of any age. So what if you scaled her up to human proportions? > > Some argue Barbie’s body shape would be unobtainable and unsustainable if scaled up to life-size. They claim she would not be able to stand up because her body frame would be so unbalanced. A real life Barbie would simply fall over. > > Can this be true? Her maker, Mattel, says it has never scaled her vital statistics to real-life dimensions. Of those who have - usually critics or academics - no one has come up with a definitive answer as to exactly what her measurements would be. > > Serious research on the subject has drawn certain conclusions. Academics from the University of South Australia suggest the likelihood of a woman having Barbie’s body shape is one in 100,000. So not impossible, but extremely rare. Researchers at Finland’s University Central Hospital in Helsinki say if Barbie were life size she would lack the 17 to 22% body fat required for a woman to menstruate. So again, not an unachievable figure, but certainly not a healthy one. > > But the vital statistics they used in their studies are not readily available. Mattel has a standard set of measurements for Barbie, but dolls can vary slightly so any self-respecting researcher would measure one themselves. > > **Vital Statistics** > > So, one trip to the toy shop and one measuring session with “Tricky Triplets Barbie” later, these are the vital statistics the Magazine was left with: > > bust 4.6ins (11.6cm) > waist 3.5ins (8.9cm), and > hips 5ins (12.7cm) > > Next, step forward our real life model, Libby, aged 27 - who is a slim, but unremarkable size 10/12. Applying Barbie’s proportions to Libby’s body yields some interesting results. > > If Libby’s waist size of 28ins (71.1cm) were to remain unchanged, then applying Barbie’s proportions to her would mean Libby shoots up in height, to an Amazonian at 7ft 6ins (2.28m) tall. That’s just two inches shorter than the world’s tallest woman, Yao Defen. She would also have hips measuring 40ins (101.6cm) and a bust of 37ins (83.9cm). > > But what if, instead, Libby’s height of 5ft 6ins (1.68m) was to remain unchanged. Doing the maths, Libby would have an extraordinarily tight waist of just 20ins (50.8cm), while her bust would be 27ins (68.5cm) and her hips 29ins (73.6cm). Even the famously slight Victoria Beckham reportedly only has a 23ins (58.4cm) waist. But neither are they unheard of - Brigitte Bardot was famous for her 20ins (50.8cm) waist. So basically what they do is they take the actual Barbie’s measurements - height, waist, bust, etc, measured in inches - and that gives them the ratios between them. They then pick one of these variables to use as a constant and apply the ratios to determine what the other variables would be: so if you set a ‘real life Barbie’s’ waist at 28 inches, she’d be 7’6" tall. If you set her height to 5’6, she’d only have a 20 inch waist, and so on. The conclusion of the BBC’s article is that it is possible for a real life woman to have similar proportions to Barbie (they mention Bridgette Bardot as someone who had a 20 inch waist for example), but it’s very unlikely.