Life is not so fantastic in pink plastic.
Despite the Barbiecore bonanza ahead of the highly anticipated “Barbie” movie, which opens Friday, July 21, not everyone is thinking pink.
Fuchsia fans have drenched their closets and homes in a swath of magenta hues ever since the film’s titular stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling were spotted filming last year, prompting a hot pink crush.
But Toronto-based interior designer Phoenix Gray isn’t jumping on the Barbie bandwagon.
Last summer, she went viral for criticizing the abode of Bruna Barbie, who transformed her home into a mansion fit for a Mattel doll, in a viral TikTok, and her stance hasn’t budged since.
“When it comes to the Barbiecore trend, a sense of nostalgia can create so many good memories for people and relive those childhood moments with the iconic pink color and the brand that transformed many young people since the 1960s,” he told The Post.
But she cautioned fans of pink to be careful “how much you incorporate into your space” because, like all trends, it can be “short-lived.”
“I tend to avoid letting clients get too trend-conscious when designing their homes, but I do like to add a little flair every now and then,” she added. “It’s fun to incorporate a trend into a design that will allow for a unique perspective as long as it’s not a prominent feature.”
In her viral TikTok clip last June, she criticized the migraine-inducing bubblegum exterior of Bruna Barbie’s house.
Bruna Barbie, whose real name is Bruna Carolina Peres, has turned her estate into a real-life dollhouse, complete with a pink car, pool, and matching appliances.
While he admitted he was “mildly impressed”, there is “no way” Gray could live in a similarly decorated house, calling it “flat” and without “dimension”.
It was a resounding “no” for him, he concluded.
She told The Post that her least favorite part of the Barbiecore trend is the “excess.”
“Some people have really taken it to the extreme to live out their Barbie fantasies,” he explained.
“I understand the sentiment behind Barbie inspiring people to do or be whatever they want, but the commitment some people have made to transform their entire room or even every aspect of their home to the Barbie fantasy is too much for me.” she continued, adding that it would be hard for the “average person” to keep up with the rich color palette.
But Peres isn’t the only blonde to revel in her own Barbie world.
Katie Loveday, 18, modeled her living room into a red dreamhouse, complete with pink rugs, pink walls, furniture, and even an all-pink wardrobe, plus her expansive collection of dolls.
However, he fears that his overly saturated lifestyle will scare away potential love interests.
“If I’m out shopping, my eyes are naturally set on pink things; there’s no point in trying to use something else,” Loveday previously told South West News Service.
“I shop online every day. I have ‘new collection’ alerts on many of my apps and I’ve even managed to set it to just be pink clothes.”
For someone like Loveday who can’t tear herself away from a hint of pink, Gray recommends adding the accent color in subtle ways.
“If someone wanted to incorporate the color pink into their homes, they would incorporate it with subtle details so that it still works with the rest of the space without sticking out like a sore thumb and not fitting in naturally with the designed space,” Gray advised. , who has more than 742,000 followers on TikTok.
While he’s not totally adverse to Barbie — he admitted that he’s incorporated custom vanities inspired by the Barbiecore trend — he doesn’t want to see all pink.
“For those who want to dabble in the trend itself, paint is always a great option: it’s affordable, and when you get tired of it, you can always paint over it.”