Baby Doll

Baby Doll was a symbol of feminine seduction par excellence, worn by film stars since the 1950s, but also sketched on the silhouettes of cartoon heroines like Betty Boop. Its name comes from the title of a 1956 film directed by Elia Kazan starring Carrol Baker in the role of a baby-wife who wore a short nightgown and sucked her thumb. At the time the film caused a great scandal, provoking the terrible anger of Cardinal Spellman and stirring up the Legion of Decency. Short length and transparency were the key attributes of this garment born in the 1950s at a historical moment in which women again felt the desire to be attractive at any time of day. Half-way between underwear and sleepwear, of a charmingly childish shape, it consists of a sleeveless low-necked blouse short enough to allow a glimpse of panties decorated with bows and lace also used to embellish the neckline and hem of the blouse itself.