In 2025, Mattel’s Barbie doll turns 65. She was not the first doll with a grown-up figure—that would be Bild Lilli of West Germany, a sexy doll for men—but she was the first marketed to girls so that their play could be a projection of their grown-up selves. Often viewed as reactionary because of her showgirl figure, Barbie and Christie (the first Black Barbie) have actually been recalibrated through the decades to keep current with pop culture and social change; the exhibition at the Museum of Arts and Design takes viewers through the doll’s expanding racial diversity, not to mention many eras of fashion. Curated by Karan Feder, and drawing from the private collections of David Porcello and Mattel, the show features the 22 original outfits of 1959, the year Barbie was born—tiny ensembles that nod to couture and the movies. The exhibition also includes 50 historical objects, such as the first dreamhouse (1962) and numerous Barbie-doll trunks. You can pose in various life-size Barbie accoutrements: her box, her 1962 living room, and her pink Corvette. Ken’s here too, still an afterthought. —Laura Jacobs