A babydoll is a short, sleeveless, loose-fitting

nightgown A nightgown, nightie or nightdress is a loosely hanging item of nightwear, and is commonly worn by women and girls. A nightgown is made from cotton, silk, satin, or nylon and may be decorated with lace appliqués or embroidery at the bust and hem ...

negligee The negligee or ''négligée'' (french: négligé ; ), also known in French as déshabillé (), is a form of see-through clothing for women consisting of a sheer, usually long, dressing gown. It is a form of nightgown intended for wear at night ...

, intended as

nightwear Nightwear – also called sleepwear, or nightclothes – is clothing designed to be worn while sleeping. The style of nightwear worn may vary with the seasons, with warmer styles being worn in colder conditions and vice versa. Some styles ...

for women. It sometimes has formed cups called a

bralette A bralette is a lightweight bra without an underwire, designed primarily for comfort. Bralettes are also sometimes worn as outerwear top,Linda DyettThe Bralette Is Back. This Time Blouses Are Optional ''The New York Times'', 2019-07-31 and a ...

for cleavage with an attached, loose-fitting

skirt A skirt is the lower part of a dress or a separate outer garment that covers a person from the waist downwards. At its simplest, a skirt can be a draped garment made out of a single piece of fabric (such as pareos). However, most skirts are fi ...

falling in length usually between the belly button and upper thigh. The garment is often trimmed with

lace Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is divided into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...

, ruffles, appliques, marabou, bows, and ribbons, optionally with

spaghetti strap A spaghetti strap (also called noodle strap) is a very thin shoulder strap used to support clothing, while providing minimal shoulder straps over otherwise bare shoulders. It is commonly used in garments such as swimwear, camisoles, crop tops, br ...

s. Sometimes it is made of sheer or translucent fabric such as

nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from petro ...

or chiffon or

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...

History

The creation of the super-short nightgown is attributed to the American lingerie designer

Sylvia Pedlar Sylvia Pedlar (1900–1972) was an American fashion designer specialising in lingerie. She is the only designer to have won the Special Coty Award more than once, in 1951 and 1964. Born Sylvia Schlang in 1900 in New York, she was an art stud ...

, who produced them in 1942 in response to fabric shortages during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Although her designs became known as "babydolls", Pedlar disliked the name and did not use it. The name was popularized by the 1956 movie ''

Baby Doll ''Baby Doll'' is a 1956 American dramatic black comedy film directed by Elia Kazan, and starring Carroll Baker, Karl Malden, and Eli Wallach. It was produced by Kazan and Tennessee Williams, and adapted by Williams from his own one-act play '' ...

'', starring

Carroll Baker Carroll Baker (born May 28, 1931) is an American former actress. After studying under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio, Baker began performing on Broadway in 1954. From there, she was recruited by director Elia Kazan to play the lead in t ...

in the title role as a 19-year-old

nymphet "Lolita" is an English-language term defining a young girl as "precociously seductive." It originates from Vladimir Nabokov's 1955 novel ''Lolita,'' which portrays the narrator Humbert's sexual obsession with and victimization of a 12-year-old g ...

. This marked the beginning of the enduring popularity of the style for adults. Babydoll pajamas in the 1950s through the 1960s consisted of a top and a loose fitting short bloomer bottom with elasticized waist and legs. In the 1970s through the 1990s, the bloomer bottom was replaced by closer fitting briefs with elastic waist and legs. The most recent versions of babydoll pajamas have eliminated the elastic on the legs, the bottoms being either shorts or tap pants. Babydolls became a prominent part of the "

kinderwhore Kinderwhore was a clothing style used by a handful of mostly female grunge bands in the US during the early to mid-1990s. The kinderwhore look consisted of torn, ripped tight or low-cut babydoll and Peter-Pan-collared dresses, slips, knee-socks ...

" look during the early-to-mid-1990s, due to the popularity of

riot Grrrl Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington and the greater Pacific Northwest and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. Riot grrrl is a subcultur ...

and

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...

performers such as

Courtney Love Courtney Michelle Love (née Harrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, her career has spanned four decades. She rose to prominence as t ...

and

Kat Bjelland Katherine Lynne Bjelland (born December 9, 1963) is an American musician. She rose to prominence as the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of the alternative rock band Babes in Toyland, which she formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1987. ...

Contemporary styles

Babydolls are now considered an eroticized item of adult apparel, often classified as a form of

lingerie Lingerie (, , ) is a category of primarily women's clothing including undergarments (mainly brassieres), sleepwear, and lightweight robes. The choice of the word is often motivated by an intention to imply that the garments are alluring, fashio ...

. Adult babydolls are quite different from the infant babydolls; they fully expose the woman's legs, and some styles emphasize or deliberately expose the breasts as well. The gown is often sold as a set with matching

panties Panties (in American English; also called pants, undies, or knickers in British English) are a form of women's underwear. Panties can be form-fitting or loose. Typical components include an elastic waistband, a crotch panel to cover the genita ...

, as a typical babydoll is short enough that underwear is visible if worn. Styles of the same general length but not intended to emphasize sex appeal are sometimes called shortie nightgowns. Barbara Loden in Splendor in the Grass

Babydolls are available in a sufficiently wide variety of styles that many lingerie retailers consider babydolls a distinct department. Modern babydolls often vary considerably from the styles of the 1960s and 1970s. Babydoll negligees from the 1950s to the early 1980s are now collectible vintage items. Some babydolls open in front and resemble a

robe A robe is a loose-fitting outer garment. Unlike garments described as capes or cloaks, robes usually have sleeves. The English word ''robe'' derives from Middle English ''robe'' ("garment"), borrowed from Old French ''robe'' ("booty, spoils" ...

peignoir A peignoir (, ; ) is a long outer garment for women which is frequently sheer and made of chiffon or another translucent fabric. The word comes from French ''peigner'', to comb the hair (from Latin ''pectināre'', from ''pecten'', ''pectin-'' ...

. Tuesday, 15 December 2020 Short daywear dresses of a similar style are sometimes called ''babydoll dresses''; the name is sometimes two words, ''baby doll'', and sometimes hyphenated, ''baby-doll''. Some styles are similar to what is worn by some infants; and by dolls designed like infants. The

gown A gown, from the Saxon word, ''gunna'', is a usually loose outer garment from knee-to-full-length worn by men and women in Europe from the Early Middle Ages to the 17th century, and continuing today in certain professions; later, the term ''gown ...

or top is short enough that

diaper A diaper /ˈdaɪpə(r)/ (American and Canadian English) or a nappy ( Australian English, British English, and Hiberno-English) is a type of underwear that allows the wearer to urinate or defecate Defecation (or defaecation) follows dig ...

s may be easily changed. An alternative origin for the style may be the lace-trimmed shortie

bedjacket A bedgown (sometimes bed gown, bedjacket or shortgown) is an article of women's clothing for the upper body, usually thigh-length and wrapping or tying in front. Bedgowns of lightweight printed cotton fabric were fashionable at-home morning wear i ...

s and bed-capes of the 1930s and 1940s. In the 21st century, babydolls have become popular as bridal lingerie. They are more affordable than a bridal

corset A corset is a support garment commonly worn to hold and train the torso into a desired shape, traditionally a smaller waist or larger bottom, for aesthetic or medical purposes (either for the duration of wearing it or with a more lasting effe ...

and often offer a greater choice of designs and colours.

References

; Bibliography * Barbier, Muriel & Boucher, Shazia (2003). ''The Story of Lingerie''. Parkstone. * Cox, Caroline (2000). ''Lingerie: A Lexicon of Style''. Scriptum Editions. {{Clothing 1960s fashion 1990s fashion 2000s fashion Fetish clothing Gowns Lingerie Nightwear Women's clothing

History

Contemporary styles

See also

References