The History of the Babydoll Dress

Written by Sammy Cabo

Over the course of a century, the infamous babydoll dress has consistently held a presence in fashion and feminism.

Dating back to the 20th century, the babydoll style (empire waistline with a loose skirt ending above the knee) was introduced as nightwear that freed (change freed to something else) women from the confines of corsets. It allowed women to distance themselves from the idea of always needing to accentuate their figure.

In the late 1950’s, Cristobal Balenciaga transformed the lingerie style into couture with his lace-tiered dress referred to as the babydoll dress.

In the 60’s the babydoll style had another transformation when haute couture was no longer fashionable. The dress lost its tight bodice like structure and the hemlines grew even shorter. During this time the babydoll dress represented complete abandonment of the typical female stereotype and encouraged self-determined freedom.

After falling out of fashion for a few decades, the babydoll dress made a comeback in 90’s punk performance. The idea of dressing up as a little girl while screaming punk rock on stage appealed to many at the time. It exaggerated the contradictory demands of ideal femininity by betraying its constructed-ness.

Since then, the babydoll dress has remained present, falling in and out of style with different interpretations. Today, the most popular interpretation of the style is a tight empire waistline dress with a short, puffy skirt.

Throughout the many styles and personas the babydoll dress had, it is yet to veer from its overarching theme of feminism and female liberation.