Barbie Gets Real

Friday October 30, 1998 12:00 AM EST

Barbie, 40, is getting a millennium makeover, its manufacturer, Mattel, has announced. Among the improvements: a belly button. It will replace the current unsightly seam at her waist and debut at next week's American International Toy Fair in New York. "Jewel Girl," as the new model Barbie will be called, is due out in August and will be the first Barbie to be made with a midsection material that allows much more human, natural movement. As Barbie marketing executive Anne Parducci told USA Today, "It looks almost like skin and has a soft, fleshy feel. Bend her over and she gets a little bit of a (paunch)."

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