Among the many types of lingerie available at department stores and women's apparel stores all over the world, the babydoll lingerie may intrigue you the most simply because of its short yet appealing design. The history of babydoll lingerie is equally short because the babydoll has been in existence for less than 100 years to date.

The first versions of the babydoll lingerie came into existence during the 1930s and the 1940s. The ancestors of the babydoll lingerie were the lace-trimmed bed jackets plus the frilly bed capes that women were known to use back then. The usual babydoll nightgown at that time sported a hemline ending at about six inches above the knee. That length is the usual one that babydoll lingerie have today.

The name "babydoll" for this type of lingerie is said to be derived from the nightgown worn by Carroll Baker in the 1956 movie entitled "Babydoll". The example shown by Baker in that movie led to the growth in popularity of the babydoll lingerie among the general public.

Eventually, the babydoll started to be used as a type of daywear. But soon they re-evolved into a bedroom-type of nightwear because the babydoll lingerie were re-designed to become more provocative in appearance. The lingerie started showing more of women's buttocks to entice the men to engage in sexual foreplay with their women.

Nowadays, modern babydoll lingerie are often sold with matching panties in the same color and style as the tops. If the tops have frilly lace at the edges, you can expect the panties to either have frilly lace as well or be designed as G-strings to further entice the menfolk. For the more conservative type of wearer, the babydoll lingerie may be more low-key in appearance, and used as a regular nightgown rather than look like sexy undergarments.

The range of designs of babydoll lingerie has grown in leaps and bounds over the years, so much so that some stores sell only babydoll lingerie and nothing else. Specializing this way helps stores focus on selling the best and most popular designs while also helping the more conservative designs get their fair share of attention from men and women buying lingerie.

The babydoll lingerie, as its name suggests, evokes an image of youthful innocence so it is no wonder that younger people tend to buy the babydoll lingerie for their partners and for themselves. Babydoll lingerie can be made from sheer delicate material like nylon, chiffon and even silk. The emphasis of babydoll designs is on comfort and appeal. Some designs focus on making the babydoll lingerie look elegant and classy without disregarding the sex appeal of the wearer. The cost of babydoll lingerie goes up based on the type of material used (with silk being a much-desired material), the intricacy of the design, and of course the demand for that type of babydoll lingerie.

Will babydoll lingerie ever go out of style? Not very likely. So long as women still take care of their figures and look great in babydoll lingerie, the prospects that babydoll lingerie will remain popular are still good even up to the distant future.