Pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo is back and promoting her new album, but it is not the music that has caused a stir—it is her clothes. The 23-year-old singer sparked controversy when she wore a babydoll dress in a music video and later performed in it at her Spotify Billion's Club show in Barcelona. She paired knee-high black Doc Martens with a floral pink and white dress, emulating legends like Courtney Love with her punk-inspired outfit.
Backlash Over Babydoll Dress
Olivia faced significant backlash, with critics claiming she was 'dressing like a toddler' and adopting a hyper-sexualised but childish aesthetic. In response, she addressed the controversy on The New York Times podcast, Popcast. 'What's really disturbing is I feel like I have worn outfits that are maybe revealing on stage,' she said. 'I've been on stage in a sparkly bra and little shorts, which is my right. That's fun. I felt cool and comfortable in that. And that wasn't inappropriate, but me fully covered up in a dress that people deemed to be childlike was inappropriate.'
Her previous tour featured glittering skirts and bra combinations, as well as hot pants and crop tops, without major controversy. 'It just shows how we really normalise pedophilia in our culture,' she added. 'Also it's just this rhetoric we're fed as girls since we're so little, which is, don't wear that because then a man is going to sexualise your body and it's your fault. It's so weird.'
Historical Context of the Babydoll Dress
Although around since the 1910s, the babydoll dress was popularised in the 1940s by lingerie designer Sylvia Pedlar to tackle wartime fabric shortages while still making women's nightwear. In her music video for Drop Dead, Olivia ran around the empty Palace of Versailles in a blue and pink babydoll dress, with visible matching bloomers and knee socks.
Olivia joins the likes of Ariana Grande and Sydney Sweeney, whose looks have been accused of leaning into this 'sexy baby' aesthetic. Grande, known for her hyper-feminine style, has faced criticisms of wearing 'infantilising' outfits—all paired with high heels and a cheeky wink. Meanwhile, Sweeney was criticised for a 'vulgar' scene in Euphoria in which she was dressed as a baby for explicit content. The 28-year-old actress has previously said she pushed back on scenes where her character Cassie is shirtless, but in the latest season, she posed on a couch with her legs spread, wearing pigtails, a dummy in her mouth, and showing her breasts in a sheer top. Viewers slammed the show's creators for 'crossing a line', 'sexualising children', and 'degrading' Sweeney, with many calling for a mass boycott.
Defending Her Style as Feminist Protest
Fans of Olivia might feel she is tiptoeing into this type of branding, especially with Euphoria still fresh in minds. However, she insisted her look was an homage to her inspirations, including Hole's Courtney Love and Bikini Kill frontwoman Kathleen Hanna. They led the riot grrrl aesthetic with ripped tights, chunky boots, smeared makeup, knee-high socks, and babydoll dresses—a form of feminist protest in the 1990s.
'I didn't think that I looked sexy in that at all,' the Driver's License singer said. 'I was like, this is so cool. I feel I look like Kathleen Hanna or Courtney Love, all these people who are my heroes, and I felt cool and comfortable in it. I just think if we start dressing in a way that's like, "I don't want some freak to think that I'm sexy like a baby" or some crazy thing like that, I think it's losing the plot a little bit.'
She added, 'I'm just very protective of younger women, girls, and I don't ever want them to be fed that rhetoric.'
Upcoming Album and New Music
Olivia's third album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, is due for release on 12 June, and the music may lean into the riot grrrl genre. So far, she has released two tracks, Drop Dead and The Cure, with the former peaking at number one on the UK charts.
