During her interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Alix Earle was all business in a gray, CEO-coded shift dress. She was promoting the launch of her skincare line, Reale Actives, after all. But before making her Tonight Show debut, Earle let loose in Gen Z's flirtiest style fixation: the babydoll dress trend.
Mere hours after the TikTok star's latest business venture dropped, she strolled into Rockefeller Plaza like she owned the place. She did—if only for a moment—in Look 43 from Gucci's Pre-Fall 2026 line: a micro-mini, little black dress. Sheer long-sleeves made quintessential babydoll features feel sultry, including a ruffle-trimmed, plunge neckline, a high empire waist, and a thigh-grazing hem. The sheen on her partially-transparent tights really drove the "babydoll, but make it mature" point home. To finish, Earle traded the model's knee-high boots for Gucci's $1,220 Donna Pump. Pairing each toe's elongated point and horsebit appliqués to the LBD was a noughties-inspired move Demna would approve.
Last spring (and into summer), babydolls were the lingerie-inspired dresses uniting the styles of pop stars, supermodels, CEOs, and even Jenners. Babydoll-led Spring 2025 shows from Chloé, Valentino, Loewe, and more likely inspired Hollywood's best.
By September, Olivia Rodrigo picked up where Sabrina Carpenter, Kaia Gerber, Addison Rae, and Kylie Jenner left off. She wore a vintage Vivienne Westwood version to an Emmys after-party. A few weeks later, a white version from My Mum Made It graced her Instagram grid.
Fast forward to earlier this month, and Rodrigo endorsed the silhouette's revival at Paris Fashion Week. She posed in front of the Eiffel Tower, automatically giving her vintage Anna Sui mini a French girl flair. The Grammy winner isn't alone in her pro-babydoll dress stance: Shushu/Tong, Ann Demeulemeester, Cecilie Bahnsen, and more brought the shape back for Spring 2026.
Alix Earle is all in on Reale Actives right now, but why not endorse a Spring 2026 dress trend while she's at it? Plus, it's a relatively new style for her, given her affinity for skintight cocktail dresses and cut-out-heavy slips. If you, like Earle, are just boarding the babydoll dress bandwagon, shop the curated edit below.
