When a dress is named after a baby doll, this connection seems a bit weird at first and not really appropriate for a mature and elegant look. But maybe that’s why the fashion trend of babydoll dresses is so interesting. Since the playful clothes stand for the opposite of modern purism and the clear style principles, at least a wide variety of designers seem to have taken a liking to the play of the supposedly childish contrasts. The current trend models for spring 2020 show to what extent the current trend is influenced by the history of babydoll dresses.
Dress Trend: Why Babydoll Dresses In Spring 2020 Are More Than A Feminine Statement
The Babydoll Dress has its name mainly from the film of the same namethanks to the fifties. But the story goes back a little further. It is worthwhile to take a short look at the beginning of the 20th century. Not to awaken a dreamy nostalgia of Victorian frills on babydoll dresses, as you might imagine today. Because in its beginnings, the fluid cut was above all a revolutionary sign.
At one of the first mentions of the Babydoll Dresses in 1912, “Roman Captain Martha Mary”, Avery Abbott’s description recalls the characteristics of Paul Poiret’s reformed clothing that freed the corset at the turn of the century. Taking into account the years of being constricted, the new motion-free dresses and the associated motion-friendly outfits were actually a fashion revolution.
The second and decisive appearance of the babydoll dresses also had an anything but sweet and nice origin for a doll. The American designer Sylvia Pedlar shortened the nightgowns of her lingerie brand Iris Lingerie to above her knees due to rationalization and a shortage of fabrics during the Second World War. Thanks to the feather-light lingerie fabrics, combined with the playful details from puffy sleeves to bows, the nightgowns from back then actually reminded us of dresses for dolls.
After the mini dress became the epitome of nightwear, not least because of the film in question, Cristóbal Balenciaga finally translated the short A-line cut into haute couture for the first time in 1958 . The Freigeist women of the 1960s at the latest discovered and celebrated that the simple yet feminine cut was just as suitable for the requirements of an uncomplicated dress for an outfit in everyday life – and celebrated as it should have been in the swinging sixties .
Babydoll Dresses: How To Style The Trend Chic And Elegant In Everyday Life
The trend in clothing has its origins in nightwear – one should be aware of this. But at the same time the development to a stylish, everyday version reflects to a certain extent the emancipation of women. The fact that they are not translated as particularly playful and sweet dresses in the current spring / summer 2020 collections, testifies to another step forward.
The trend dresses for spring, combined with casual, simple sandals like those of Cecilie Bahnsen, seem so contemporary that they represent a new strength of women who do not rely on clear and puristic lines to illustrate their role and their self-confidence . Rather, the simplicity of the dress trend now gives them the opportunity to turn a supposedly girlish dress into something that corresponds to their individual personality and style. Whether in an empire cut with knee-highs and black boots like in Self-Portrait or a little more feminine with sandals and gold-plated jewelry as with Valentino for spring / summer 2020, an outfit in these styling variations is definitely not reminiscent of the look of a baby doll.
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