Within the music video for “Drop Useless,” the primary single off her forthcoming third album, singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo hangs out in bed in the palace of Versailles, gazing her flashing laptop display. As she performs guitar and frolics by way of the halls singing alongside to the sweeping track, we see that she’s sporting a brief, off-the-shoulder minidress-slash-tunic with a pair of matching bloomer shorts and knee-high socks—one thing Marie Antoinette would have worn, maybe, if she’d been a pop star in 2026 and never a queen within the 1770s.
Rodrigo’s music video outfit—a glance from Chloé’s pre-fall 2026 collection—has sparked some dialog, with some saying the babydoll silhouette is infantilizing, inappropriate, too Lolita. However the babydoll look performs a really vital function in each music and style historical past, to not point out in Rodrigo’s personal wardrobe, and her option to put on the garment makes lots of sense.
Forward, be taught extra concerning the babydoll costume: what it seems to be like, when it turned fashionable, and why it doubtless resonates with Rodrigo.
What’s a babydoll costume?
A babydoll costume is a mini-length costume with a unfastened, body-skimming match. Many babydoll types have a excessive empire waist from which the skirt descends, however the empire waist is not technically required to be thought of a babydoll costume. Babydolls are usually sleeveless or have brief cap sleeves, and are brief in size, typically hitting the mid-thigh or barely greater.
Babydoll clothes have been fashionable for the reason that Forties and have been first designed to be worn as lingerie and sleepwear, usually in chiffon and paired with with an accompanying set of bloomer shorts like Rodrigo wears within the “Drop Useless” video, or perhaps an identical peignoir gown. (Or each!)
Barbara Parkins sporting child doll costume from ‘Valley of the Dolls’ 1967. (Picture by Display screen Archives/Getty Pictures)Display screen Archives/Getty Pictures
Babydoll clothes have been extra steadily worn as casualwear within the ‘60s, particularly because the miniskirt turned the final silhouette for younger girls. Right now, babydoll clothes are available in all types of prints, patterns, colours, and types, just like the fluffy, full-skirted minidresses popularized by the brand Selkie to extra devoted, vintage-inspired recreations. They’re only a fashionable now as they have been greater than 50 years in the past!
What’s the babydoll costume’s connection to rock music?
