'Babydoll'

The chemise dress or baby doll, which takes its name from the 1950s loose-fitting negligée, was first introduced by Balenciaga in his winter 1957 collection. It was a trapezoid-shaped cocktail dress made in lace and worn over a tight-fitting dress that outlined the wearer’s real body shape, resulting in a kind of compromise between an expression of the waist and its denial. The idea of the trapezoid shape of the babydoll is a grateful starting point for contemporary designers, as is exemplified in Bernhard Willhelm’s playfully oversized ‘babydoll’ shirtdress.