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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Sinéad Campbell

The babydoll is back – and so is the moral panic

The singer Olivia Rodrigo stands on stage at her Spotify Billions Club Live performance in Barcelona, Spain. She is holding a microphone that is in a stand and is wearing a pink, floral babydoll dress.
Olivia Rodrigo, who has worn babydoll outfits on stage and in her music videos, has been accused of infantilising herself. Photograph: Xavi Torrent/Getty Images for Spotify

In the music video for her recent single Drop Dead, pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo saunters beguilingly through the ornate rooms of the Palace of Versailles, her eyes fixed on the camera. It is an all round soft-girl production, shot by Petra Collins who captures a hazy teenage aesthetic close to a carbon copy of Sofia Coppola’s 2006 film, Marie Antoinette. But when the video aired last month, it was met with instant backlash online – not for her halting tourists from visiting the world heritage site for the day, but for Rodrigo’s Pinterest-inspired, pastel blue, babydoll ensemble.

The outfit – a floaty off-the-shoulder Chloé pre-fall 2026 babydoll top, styled with silky bloomers peeking out underneath and white pointelle knee socks – did not impress the keyboard warriors (likely, bots), who accused the singer of infantilising herself and invoking a ‘Lolita’ aesthetic. A few weeks later, Rodrigo donned a similar look (pictured top) on stage in Barcelona for Spotify’s Billions Club Live concert: a pink and white floral puff-sleeve babydoll top with matching ruffled bloomers from the small brand Génération78, offset by chunky black knee-high Dr Marten boots, equal parts soft and severe.

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