The conversation and discourse began when the pop star shared the video for recent single ‘Drop Dead’, which will appear on her third album ‘You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love’.
In the clip, we see Rodrigo take over the Palace of Versailles in Paris while wearing an outfit from Chloé’s pre-fall 2026 collection. She has since replicated the look at her live shows, with some people deeming it to be “childlike”.
Teen Vogue characterises a babydoll dress as “a mini-length dress with a loose, body-skimming fit”, adding: “Babydolls are typically sleeveless or have short cap sleeves, and are short in length, generally hitting the mid-thigh or slightly higher.”
Another fan asked: “Why are people losing their minds over this?! Even without context it’s clearly a ’90s throwback look. It’s also an interesting play on her girlie rebel rock aesthetic. Men are disgusting and she shouldn’t be blamed for that. If this was a different artist maybe a discussion could be had but we know Olivia’s artistic POV.”
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The Guardian:The babydoll is back – and so is the moral panic
Now, Rodrigo has addressed the backlash during an appearance on The New York Times’ Popcast. “That’s been making me so upset. Not even for me – like, I don’t care. People can say whatever they want,” she began.
“What’s really, like, disturbing is I feel like I have worn outfits that are maybe revealing on stage. I’ve been on stage in a sparkly bra, 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 deem to be, like, childlike was ‘inappropriate’. And I just think it shows how we really normalise pedophilia in our culture.”
Rodrigo continued: “And also it’s just this rhetoric that we’re fed as girls since we’re so little, which is, ‘Don’t wear that because then a man is going to sexualize your body and it’s your fault’. Like it’s so weird. And I didn’t think I looked sexy in that at all.
“I was like, ‘This is so cool. I feel like 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, ‘Oh, I don’t want some freak to think that I am sexy like a baby’, or some crazy thing like that. I just think it’s like losing the plot a little bit.”
She concluded: “I’m just very protective of like younger women and girls, and I don’t ever want them to be fed that rhetoric, I guess. You shouldn’t be responsible for some guy sexualising you in a way that was never your intention.”
Rodrigo isn’t the only pop star embracing the baby doll aesthetic right now. Sabrina Carpenter has worn a sheer version, leaning towards a retro-lingerie aesthetic; Addison Rae posed coyly in an understated, plain white minidress on her Instagram – then there’s gen Z’s favourite indie-sleaze icon Alexa Chung who has worn these dresses for years.
