The Rise and Rise of the Babydoll Dress

Last year, I bought a babydoll dress, of sorts. It is short, white and voluminous. It stops quite short of my knee, which made me feel particularly exposed after what feels like a lifetime of living in midis. It has an exaggerated collar and three quarter length sleeves. It is magical. It is comfortable. And my boyfriend said it makes me look like a Victorian ghost. Laughing in the face of such adversity, I wore it to work, where a colleague suggested I resembled a royal baby. I will not, however, stop wearing it – and there are myriad reasons why.

The first is comfort. It is so comfortable that it banishes any thoughts of self-consciousness, while still looking purposeful – it’s not like you threw on your comfiest joggers, a babydoll (or smock dress) is clearly intentional, and obviously smarter. The second is that, from the moment I saw Prada’s SS19 collection, I was pretty sure of two things. One was that I felt vindicated in my love of hairbands (not relevant, sorry) and the other was that I knew babydoll dresses were about to be A Thing.

Really, if you look around, they’ve been A Thing for a while now. There’s Ganni, for starters, whose own brand of Scandi cool has made even the frostiest of fashion editors weak at the knees, and whose mini dresses are mostly on the smock side. Then there’s Stine Goya, who produced the Jasmine mini dress that proceeded to become an instant sell-out, having been seen on the influential likes of Susie Lau and Bettina Looney. The brand tells me that, given its success, the Jasmine dress has just launched in two new prints as part of Stine Goya’s Pre-Fall collection.

The babydoll came into being first as lingerie; a super-short nightgown designed by Sylvia Peldar as a response to fabric shortages during World War II. Now, it’s clearly tapping into our desire for oversized silhouettes and comfortable pieces that reflect what we actually need on an everyday basis. On the high street, Kitri, Sézane and ASOS have plenty of options, while my own homage to a Victorian ghost came from Sister Jane, whose own brand of whimsy is completely irresistible. It has a number of babydoll options, including its Pansy Puff dress, which sold out incredible quickly (but will be restocked in the next few weeks) and this slightly longer take on the trend, which sold out in just a day when it first launched. That’s a great option if you’re not keen on anything super-short – it falls just below the knee.

Then, there’s Urban Outfitters, who put the babydoll at the front and centre of its recent sell-out collaboration with Laura Ashley. Next on my (admittedly quite inappropriately long) list is Avavav Firenze, the brainchild of Florence-based Swedish couple Adam and Linda Friberg, who created Monki, Weekday and Cheap Monday (all of which are now owned by the H&M group). Their take on the babydoll is bold, with oversized frills and punchy prints. It’s sold out in two different patterns, but still available in this summery style, while stocks last.

Looks like summer sure is going to be comfy.

SHOP: The Best Babydoll Dresses To Buy Now (And Wear All Summer)