What we keep wearing: the babydoll

There is something about the first week of school that makes everyone want to dress like the best version of themselves.

Suddenly, campus is full of freshly washed hair, new shoes, jeans without any coffee stains and outfits that have clearly been planned at least three days in advance. Everyone looks a little more put together than usual. Maybe it is the promise of a new quarter, or maybe we just like having an excuse to wear the new shirt we have been saving.

Lately, I keep noticing the same silhouette: the babydoll.

Fitted through the chest and flaring out from a high empire waist, the babydoll top has a way of making even the most ordinary outfit feel intentional. Pair a patterned one with low-rise jeans and ballet flats, throw on some tiny sunglasses and a huge bag, and suddenly you look like you have somewhere important to be — even if that somewhere is your 9 a.m. lecture.

The babydoll dress does the same thing. Short, floaty and undeniably girly, it can be worn with Mary Janes, tall brown boots or worn-in sneakers. Add a Peter Pan collar and some puffed sleeves and you could rock a more vintage look.

Maybe that is why the silhouette keeps coming back.

The babydoll has been associated with youth and femininity for decades, but its history is more complicated than its sweet appearance suggests. The silhouette became particularly popular in the 1960s alongside the rise of the mini dress, when changing ideas about women’s fashion and independence were reshaping what could be worn in public. It could look innocent, but could also feel rebellious because it was so different from the structured clothing that came before it.

By the 2000s, the babydoll had become something much more familiar: the girl-at-school uniform. It appeared on cotton tees, lacy camisoles and little dresses, usually paired with some form of low-rise denim. Think “Lizzie McGuire,” “The Vampire Diaries” or an old Hollister catalog.

Now, the runway is giving the silhouette another life.

For spring 2026, babydoll shapes have appeared alongside the season’s fascination with romantic, youthful dressing. Miu Miu has played with embellished versions of the silhouette, while Cecilie Bahnsen continues to explore voluminous feminine dresses with schoolgirl details. Peter Pan collars — another detail almost inseparable from the babydoll’s Lolita aesthetic — have also appeared at Prada and Chanel.

And then there are the iconic girls actually wearing them.

Olivia Rodrigo has become one of the most recognizable faces in the current babydoll revival, repeatedly appearing on stage in floaty tops and dresses that lean into a hazy, teenage femininity. Sabrina Carpenter has taken the silhouette in a more glamorous direction, performing in sheer and embellished versions that feel closer to vintage lingerie.

The appeal is not about recreating the 2000s exactly. It is about taking the visuality of girlhood and making it feel current.

Which is exactly what makes the babydoll so fun to wear now.

You do not have to style it head-to-toe sweet. In fact, it’s probably more interesting when you don’t.

A babydoll top with bootcut jeans feels unmistakably Y2K. With a pleated mini skirt, it leans schoolgirl. With tiny shorts, it becomes playful and summery. A pair of work slacks or a longer skirt makes it feel more grown-up. And layering a few necklaces adds just enough messiness to keep the outfit from looking too precious.

Layering is half the fun. Wear a white lace camisole underneath. Throw a cardigan over a flowy dress. Let the hem of a tank or slip peek out. Pair something frilly with chunky boots or stacks of bangles. These additions can add the contrast which makes an outfit feel modern and fresh.

That might be why the silhouette has survived so many versions of femininity. It can be romantic or rebellious, polished or messy, nostalgic or completely current. The same basic shape can look entirely different depending on how you style it.

And there is something especially fitting about that at the beginning of a school year.

Getting dressed for the first day is inherently performative. You want people to notice, but you definitely do not want them to know how long you spent deciding what to wear. I, like most other people, want to look effortlessly put together, and I believe the babydoll achieves just that.

It says cute without requiring much effort. It gives an outfit shape without making it feel formal. Most importantly, it carries just enough nostalgia to make you feel like you are stepping into a version of yourself you remember — or maybe one you wish you had been.

Because every fall quarter comes with the possibility of reinvention.

New classes. New friends. New routines. New clothes. We clean out our bags and we reorganize our closets. We put together an outfit that makes us feel like the person we want to be this school year.

The babydoll practically goes hand in hand with trying to reach Rory Gilmore levels of academia: a stack of books, an iced coffee and the delusion that this quarter you will actually romanticize every reading assignment. Somehow, the outfit makes studying in the library feel less like schoolwork and more like participating in your own fall coming-of-age movie.

If we are going to spend another quarter pretending we have our lives together, we might as well dress the part.

Arna Churiwala believes the start of the school year deserves a little sweetness.