Fun Fact!
Skipper is in part the reason Jazzie existed during the late 1980’s and into the early 90’s.
Rewinding back to 1986, back when Barbie’s teenage cousin was just a concept. There was Skipper, who nowadays is a teen, but back then she was de-aged to 8 years old. This is because parents were scandalized by Growing Up Skipper, who was created by a mother with a tween daughter.
I won’t argue that she isn’t a bit odd in practice, but I am all for the intent. And I could say a lot about how the few dolls representing realistic aspects of girl/womanhood went on to be gags in the Barbie movie. But that’s for another day because I am getting off the original topic.
Back to Skipper, with her now being a young girl again, Jazzie was meant to fill the gap between Skipper and Barbie. She was smaller and slimmer than Barbie to combat complaints that Barbie was too curvy and mature. Ironically, that was the same reason Midge was created back in the 60’s.
Unfortunately, Jazzie’s smaller proportions became a double-edge sword because her smaller size meant she couldn’t share a wardrobe with Barbie and her friends. Personally, I think oversized can be a legitimate style and there are work arounds, but in any case it led to her downfall.
I do want to mention that Jazzie’s other purpose in the brand was to compete with Hasbro’s Maxie line. So of course, Jazzie needed a couple friends to go along with her. There was Dude, whose name I thought was a joke until I saw it on the box. But he can fit Ken’s fashions, which leds me to wonder about the double standard at play. She also had two girl friends, Stacie and Chelsie. Not to be confused with Barbie’s sister Chelsea, who was previously Kelly.
My understanding is that when the line underperformed, Mattel wanted to get some use out of Jazzie, so the obvious solution was sticking her as a side character in a few Barbie lines.
Jazzie & Friends:
