Girlhood is a period of freedom and wonder. It is a magical thing. 

I started my research with Balenciaga’s babydoll dress. I wanted to explore girlhood and the dresses’ silhouettes and styles are quintessentially girly. I then began researching babydoll dress wear from the 1960s for further garment inspiration. 

I was inspired by Rei Kawakubo’s design philosophy and her use of contrast in her work. I plan on starting with the archetype of the babydoll dress, a very girl garment. I wanted to lean into the whimsical nature of girlhood with an abstract silhouette as well as using a very thick denim for my final garment as it is a traditionally masculine fabric that is associated with workwear to create some contrast. 

I wanted to express both the freedom and vulnerability that comes with girlhood, and chose to do this by bringing anatomical references into the shapes of the outer shell of my garment. I built an armor-like structure out of organic shapes to better express the (raw existence) of a young girl. For years I have been fascinated with the idea of using anatomical shapes and structures on garments. To me it puts the wearer in an extremely vulnerable position (wearing your heart on your sleeve but in a literal sense).