What was the name of Mattel’s 1965 Barbie with bendable legs?

Mattel’s 1965 Barbie with bendable legs was called Bendable Leg Barbie.

The release reflected a major change in Barbie’s play pattern. Earlier dolls generally had rigid legs, so the new construction allowed children to place Barbie in more seated and posed positions. That made fashion play more interactive because trousers, skirts, and other garments could be shown on a more naturally posed figure.

The name is descriptive rather than a character name, which can cause confusion with later poseable Barbie bodies. It is also easy to mix up Bendable Leg Barbie with Twist ’n Turn Barbie, whose defining feature was a waist that could rotate. The two releases belong to the same broad era of body experimentation but introduced different physical features.

Bendable Leg Barbie illustrates how Mattel connected doll engineering with fashion. A change to the body changed how clothing looked, how outfits could be displayed, and how children could play with them.