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Woman goes viral with custom-made ‘Barbenheimer’ outfit for double-feature: ‘Flawless’

The ‘Barbenheimer’ craze had fans seeing both ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ during opening weekend

Meredith Clark
New York
Monday 24 July 2023 19:28 BST
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Issa Rae says she can’t wait to ‘burn’ pink Barbie clothes

A woman has stunned movie-goers after she showed off her custom-made outfit for back-to-back screenings of Barbie and Oppenheimer.

This weekend, the simultaneous release of Barbie and Oppenheimer on 21 July made around $235.5m at the domestic box office. Ahead of opening weekend, many fans affectionately nicknamed the double-billing as “Barbenheimer” and shared their plans to see one movie right after the other.

Such was the case for one fan, who went viral on Twitter after she shared her two-in-one look, fitting for both the pink-filled Greta Gerwig movie and the Christopher Nolan biopic. The Twitter user – who goes by Danielle – posted a video of herself standing in front of an Oppenheimer movie poster, dressed in a black sleeveless jumpsuit with a black studded belt.

As she strutted through the movie theatre lobby, she then ripped off the belt and unclasped the black jumpsuit to reveal a hot pink outfit underneath, complete with a Western-inspired tassel neckline. Danielle spun around before hopping into a life-size Barbie box that was on display in the corner of the theatre for photos.

Danielle’s “Barbenheimer” look received nearly 150,000 views on Twitter, where fans praised the designer for the ultimate double-feature outfit.

“Flawless,” one user replied, while another person wrote: “Ate and left no crumbs”

“We can all stop, this is the best post. Nothing else is allowed,” tweeted one fan.

“I just want Barbenheimer to go on forever. It’s making me so happy,” wrote someone else.

Others pointed out how the double release of Barbie and Oppenheimer has allowed many people to showcase their creativity and fashion talents.

“I love seeing how creative people are and just have fun,” said one user.

“Genuinely wish there were way more socially acceptable opportunities to dress up and get really creative with an outfit / costume as an adult,” someone else wrote. “There’s only really Halloween parties and rare events like this. People should be able to dress up whenever they please and not be judged.”

A third person said: “You know if there’s one thing that the Eras Tour, Renaissance World Tour, and Barbenheimer have shown us in the last six months, it’s that people are taking every opportunity to have fun and dress up and I just think that’s neat.”

Speaking to The Wrap, Danielle revealed that her “Barbenheimer” outfit was inspired by RuPaul’s Drag Race season seven winner Violet Chachki, who did a similar two-in-one outfit reveal in 2015.

“Violet was my blueprint – I’m obsessed with all of her looks!” she told the outlet, adding that she acquired the fabrics for her outfit from Mood Fabrics in New York City. “It’s overwhelming how amazing their store is and just how many fabrics they have. I pulled an all-nighter and constructed the entire garment the night before my Saturday double feature, but bought the fabrics and supplies a week before.”

Danielle also shared that she watched Oppenheimer, starring Cillian Murphy, before the Margot Robbie comedy. “We saw Oppenheimer first. Wanted to end the day with some laughs since Oppenheimer is so intense,” she said.

Fellow “Barbenheimer” viewers have wondered what order to view both Barbie and Oppenheimer, considering their radically different tones. Some have argued that the lighter tone of Barbie would make it a good pallette cleanser after the intensity of Oppenheimer, like Barbie star Issa Rae.

“I want to have mimosas and drinks and cocktails after Barbie, I don’t want to, like, sulk,” she said during a red carpet interview.

West Side Story star Rachel Zegler agreed, writing on Twitter: “I think it’ll be Barbie first because I think Oppenheimer will hurt my brain and I would rather not be thinking about it during Barbie.”

Others have claimed that the heavy content of Nolan’s film would overshadow the levity of Barbie. Film critic Scott Mantz wrote: “Now that I’ve seen #BARBENHEIMER, I highly recommend watching #BARBIE first, then #OPPENHEIMER! Barbie is really fun, but Oppenheimer stays with you - you don’t wanna be thinking about Oppenheimer while watching Barbie! (Or maybe you do?)”

Following the Barbie movie release, the Greta Gerwig film broke the domestic box office record for biggest opening weekend ever for a female director.

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