She is Barbie, of course, now 45 years old and still captivating girls with her anatomically impossible proportions and lustrous hair.

But it is not just prepubescent girls who have a soft spot for the leggy clothes horse. She has plenty of big girls among her fans. And a few men, too.

An exhibition of Barbie dolls at David Jones's Elizabeth Street store in Sydney is pulling in people of all ages, staff say.

There are grandmothers taking their grand-daughters, 20- and 30-something women reminiscing about their first Barbie and more than a few gay men. The serious collectors have also come out to see the exhibition. Vintage Barbies can be worth more than $20,000.

The exhibition, 45 Years Of Barbie Fashion, tracks the volatile movements of fashion and some social changes, as well.

Early Barbies show a demurely dressed suburban shopper with moulded hair and heavy eye make-up. But by the late 1960s she had shaken off her dowdy image and emerged as a mod in a red mini and lairy yellow stockings.

Later incarnations of Barbie show her as a hippie, a glam-rocker in thigh-high metallic blue boots and as a corporate power woman.

With her long limbs and famously nipped-in waist, Barbie has long been feted by top designers. The exhibition shows her in elegant black Givenchy , red-carpet chic Armani and a Christian Dior gold brocade dress that Krystal Carrington would have been proud to wear.

To celebrate the 45th anniversary exhibition, Australian designers Akira , Third Millennium , Alannah Hill and Alex Perry also have created outfits for this ultimate mannequin. Perry has dressed Barbie in what else? a voluminous pink ball gown.

Over the years Barbie has had some subtle physical alterations. She has been given a collarbone, and, in 2000, was given wider hips. The heavy blue eye shadow and frosted pink lips have been replaced by a more natural face.

Carly Stanton, 23, of Kings Langley, made a trip to David Jones especially to the see the exhibition. For her, Barbie will never be out of fashion.