A babydoll is a short, sleeveless, loose-fitting nightgown or negligee , intended as nightwear for women. It sometimes has formed cups called a bralette for cleavage with an attached, loose-fitting skirt falling in length usually between the belly button and upper thigh. The garment is often trimmed with lace , ruffles, appliques , marabou , bows, and ribbons, optionally with spaghetti straps . Sometimes it is made of sheer or translucent fabric such as nylon or chiffon or silk .
59-508: The creation of the super-short nightgown is attributed to the American lingerie designer Sylvia Pedlar , who produced them in 1942 in response to fabric shortages during World War II . Although her designs became known as "babydolls", Pedlar disliked the name and did not use it. In 1957 and 1958, the Spanish designer Cristóbal Balenciaga introduced his renditions of the babydoll. Balenciaga chose
118-454: A 75% interest in the magazine with the remaining 25% held by Miller. Both men retained their holdings until their deaths. Miller served as secretary-treasurer of the magazine and managed the business side of the operation. Mitchell, a 37-year-old illustrator who used a $ 10,000 inheritance to invest in the weekly magazine, served as its publisher. He also created the first Life name-plate with cupids as mascots and later on, drew its masthead of
177-581: A campaign to push the U.S. into the war. Gibson drew the Kaiser as a bloody madman, insulting Uncle Sam , sneering at crippled soldiers, and shooting Red Cross nurses. Following Mitchell's death in 1918, Gibson bought the magazine for $ 1 million. A little more than three years after purchasing Life , Gibson quit and turned the property over to publisher Clair Maxwell and treasurer Henry Richter. In 1920, Gibson had selected former Vanity Fair staffer Robert E. Sherwood as editor. A WWI veteran and member of
236-455: A distracted world that does not know which way to turn nor what will happen to it next. A wonderful time for a new voice to make a noise that needs to be heard! In 1936, publisher Henry Luce purchased Life magazine for US$ 92,000 ($ 2.02 million in 2023) because he wanted the name for his company, Time Inc. , to use. Time Inc. sold Life 's subscription list, features, and goodwill to Judge . Convinced that pictures could tell
295-558: A dog outside his kennel howling at the Moon. Encouraged by a publisher, also an artist, Gibson was joined at Life by illustrators Palmer Cox , creator of the Brownie , A. B. Frost , Oliver Herford , and E. W. Kemble . Life ' s literary roster included John Kendrick Bangs , James Whitcomb Riley , and Brander Matthews . Mitchell was accused of anti-Semitism at a time of high rates of immigration to New York of Eastern European Jews . When
354-447: A general-interest and humour publication, it featured contributions from many important writers, illustrators and cartoonists of its time including Charles Dana Gibson and Norman Rockwell . Henry Luce purchased the magazine in 1936 and with this the publication was relaunched, becoming the first all-photographic American news magazine. Its role in the history of photojournalism is considered one of its most important contributions to
413-451: A knight leveling his lance at the posterior of a fleeing devil. Then he took advantage of a new printing process using zinc-coated plates, which improved the reproduction of his illustrations and artwork. This edge helped because Life faced stiff competition from the best-selling humor magazines Judge and Puck , which were already established and successful. Edward Sandford Martin was brought on as Life ' s first literary editor;
472-402: A minimum of promotion, these issues sold between 500,000 and 1 million copies at cover prices of up to $ 2. Beginning with an October 1978 issue, Life was published as a monthly, with a new, modified logo. Although it remained a familiar red rectangle with the white type, the new version was larger, the lettering was closer together and the box surrounding it was smaller. Life continued for
531-528: A story instead of just illustrating text, Luce launched the new Life on November 23, 1936, with John Shaw Billings and Daniel Longwell as founding editors. The third magazine published by Luce, after Time in 1923 and Fortune in 1930, Life developed as the definitive photo magazine in the U.S., giving as much space and importance to images as to words. The first issue of this version of Life , which sold for ten cents (worth $ 2.2 in 2023), had five pages of Alfred Eisenstaedt's photographs. In planning
590-503: A world still friendly." For Life 's final issue in its original format, 80-year-old Edward Sandford Martin was recalled from editorial retirement to compose its obituary. He wrote: That Life should be passing into the hands of new owners and directors is of the liveliest interest to the sole survivor of the little group that saw it born in January 1883 ... As for me, I wish it all good fortune; grace, mercy and peace and usefulness to
649-412: Is short enough that diapers may be easily changed. An alternative origin for the style may be the lace-trimmed shortie bedjackets and bed-capes of the 1930s and 1940s. In the 21st century, babydolls have become popular as bridal lingerie . They are more affordable than a bridal corset and often offer a greater choice of designs and colours. Sylvia Pedlar Sylvia Pedlar (1900–1972)
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#1732909147155708-708: The Algonquin Round Table , Sherwood tried to inject sophisticated humor onto the pages. Life published Ivy League jokes, cartoons, flapper sayings and all-burlesque issues. Beginning in 1920, Life undertook a crusade against Prohibition . It also tapped the humorous writings of Frank Sullivan , Robert Benchley , Dorothy Parker , Franklin Pierce Adams and Corey Ford . Among the illustrators and cartoonists were Ralph Barton , Percy Crosby , Don Herold , Ellison Hoover , H. T. Webster , Art Young and John Held, Jr. Life had 250,000 readers in 1920, but as
767-737: The Costume Institute , and archival material dating from 1946-1967 is held by the Fashion Institute of Technology . Pedlar died in New York on the February 26, 1972. Life (magazine) Life is an American magazine originally launched in 1883 as a weekly publication. In 1972 it transitioned to publishing "special" issues before running as a monthly from 1978, until 2000. Since 2000 Life has transitioned to irregularly publishing "special" issues. Originally published from 1883 to 1936 as
826-525: The Fort Peck Dam in Montana , a Works Progress Administration project, photographed by Margaret Bourke-White . The format of Life in 1936 was a success: the text was condensed into captions for 50 pages of photographs. The magazine was printed on heavily coated paper and cost readers only a dime ($ 2.20 in 2023). The magazine's circulation was beyond the company's predictions, going from 380,000 copies of
885-564: The Jazz Age rolled into the Great Depression , the magazine lost money and subscribers. By the time editor George Eggleston took over, Life had switched from publishing weekly to monthly. Maxwell and Eggleston went to work revamping its editorial style to meet the times, which resulted in improved readership. However, Life had passed its prime and was sliding toward financial ruin. The New Yorker , debuting in February 1925, copied many of
944-529: The United States Army Art Program . Each week during World War II, the magazine brought photographs of the war to Americans; it had photographers from all theaters of war. The magazine was imitated in enemy propaganda using contrasting images of Life and Death . In August 1942, writing about labor and racial unrest in Detroit , Life warned that "the morale situation is perhaps the worst in
1003-419: The " kinderwhore " look during the early-to-mid-1990s, due to the popularity of Riot Grrrl and grunge performers such as Courtney Love and Kat Bjelland . Babydolls are now considered an eroticized item of adult apparel, often classified as a form of lingerie . Adult babydolls are quite different from the infant babydolls; they fully expose the woman's legs, and some styles emphasize or deliberately expose
1062-411: The 1950s through the 1960s consisted of a top and a loose-fitting short bloomer bottom with elasticized waist and legs. In the 1970s through the 1990s, the bloomer bottom was replaced by closer fitting briefs with elastic waist and legs. The most recent versions of babydoll pajamas have eliminated the elastic on the legs, the bottoms being either shorts or tap pants . Babydolls became a prominent part of
1121-560: The 1967 National Magazine Award , chosen by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism . Despite the industry's accolades and its coverage of the U.S. mission to the Moon in 1969, the magazine continued to lose circulation. Time Inc. announced in January 1971 its decision to reduce circulation from 8.5 million to 7 million, in an effort to offset shrinking advertising revenues. The following year, Life cut its circulation further, to 5.5 million beginning with
1180-484: The January 14, 1972 issue. Life was reportedly not losing money, but its costs were rising faster than its profits. Life lost credibility with many readers when it supported author Clifford Irving , whose fraudulent autobiography of Howard Hughes was revealed as a hoax in January 1972. The magazine had purchased serialization rights to Irving's manuscript. Industry figures showed that some 96% of Life' s circulation went to mail subscribers, with only 4% coming from
1239-454: The U.S. ... It is time for the rest of the country to sit up and take notice. For Detroit can either blow up Hitler or it can blow up the U.S." Mayor Edward Jeffries was outraged: "I'll match Detroit's patriotism against any other city's in the country. The whole story in Life is scurrilous ... I'd just call it a yellow magazine and let it go at that." The article was considered so dangerous to
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#17329091471551298-411: The U.S. entered World War II in 1941, Life covered the war closely. By 1944, of the 40 Time and Life war correspondents, seven were women: Americans Mary Welsh Hemingway , Margaret Bourke-White , Lael Tucker, Peggy Durdin, Shelley Smith Mydans , Annalee Jacoby, and Jacqueline Saix, an Englishwoman. (Saix's name is often omitted from the list, but she and Welsh are the only women listed as part of
1357-558: The best offer. Beginning in 1953, a Spanish-language edition was published, titled Life en español. It had a circulation of over 300,000 in Latin America. For his 1955 Museum of Modern Art traveling exhibition The Family of Man , which was to be seen by nine million visitors worldwide, curator Edward Steichen relied heavily on photographs from Life; 111 of the 503 pictures shown, constituting more than 20% as counted by Abigail Solomon-Godeau . His assistant Wayne Miller entered
1416-452: The breasts as well. The gown is often sold as a set with matching panties , as a typical babydoll is short enough that underwear is visible if worn. Styles of the same general length but not intended to emphasize sex appeal are sometimes called shortie nightgowns . Babydolls are available in a sufficiently wide variety of styles that many lingerie retailers consider babydolls a distinct department. Modern babydolls often vary considerably from
1475-463: The captions that the photos were fuzzy because Capa's hands were shaking. He denied it, claiming that the darkroom had ruined his negatives. Later he poked fun at Life by titling his war memoir Slightly Out of Focus (1947). In 1954, Capa was killed after stepping on a land mine , while working for the magazine covering the First Indochina War . Life photographer Bob Landry also went in with
1534-486: The country. Life in the 1950s earned a measure of respect by commissioning work from top authors. After Life 's publication in 1952 of Ernest Hemingway 's The Old Man and the Sea , the magazine contracted with the author for a 4,000-word piece on bullfighting. Hemingway sent the editors a 10,000-word article, following his last visit to Spain in 1959 to cover a series of contests between two top matadors . The article
1593-599: The election. Dewey was expected to win the election, and this mistake was also made by the Chicago Tribune . On May 10, 1950, the council of ministers in Cairo banned Life from Egypt forever. All issues on sale were confiscated. No reason was given, but Egyptian officials expressed indignation over the April 10, 1950 story about King Farouk of Egypt, entitled the "Problem King of Egypt". The government considered it insulting to
1652-564: The features and styles of Life ; it recruited staff from its editorial and art departments. Another blow to Life 's circulation came from raunchy humor periodicals such as Ballyhoo and Hooey , which ran what can be termed " outhouse " gags. In 1933, Esquire joined Life 's competitors. In its final years, Life struggled to make a profit. Announcing the end of Life , Maxwell stated: "We cannot claim, like Mr. Gene Tunney , that we resigned our championship undefeated in our prime. But at least we hope to retire gracefully from
1711-494: The first issue to more than one million a week four months later. It soon challenged The Saturday Evening Post , then the largest-circulation weekly in the country. The magazine's success stimulated many imitators, such as Look , which was founded a year later in 1937 and ran until 1971. Luce moved Life into its own building at 19 West 31st Street, a Beaux-Arts building constructed in 1894. Later Life moved its editorial offices to 9 Rockefeller Plaza . A co-founder of
1770-454: The first wave at D-Day, "but all of Landry's film was lost, and his shoes to boot." In a notable mistake, in its final edition just before the 1948 U.S. presidential election , the magazine printed a large photo showing U.S. presidential candidate Thomas E. Dewey and his staff riding across San Francisco , California harbor entitled "Our Next President Rides by Ferryboat over San Francisco Bay ". Incumbent President Harry S. Truman won
1829-452: The gestures of the proud; to see strange things—machines, armies, multitudes, shadows in the jungle and on the moon; to see man's work—his paintings, towers and discoveries; to see things thousands of miles away, things hidden behind walls and within rooms, things dangerous to come to; the women that men love and many children; to see and take pleasure in seeing; to see and be amazed; to see and be instructed... Luce's first issue cover depicted
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1888-419: The high quality of her product rather than employing salesmen or purchasing advertising. She is credited with creating super-short babydoll nighties in the early 1940s as a response to fabric shortages during World War II , although she hated the term "baby doll" and refused to use it. One of her most famous innovations was the easily removable toga -inspired négligée specially designed for women who slept in
1947-461: The history of the Russian Revolution. As the 1950s drew to a close and television became more popular, the magazine was losing readers. In May 1959 it announced plans to reduce its regular news-stand price from 25 cents a copy to 20. With the increase in television sales and viewership, interest in news magazines was waning. Life had to try to create a new form. In the 1960s, the magazine
2006-643: The magazine blamed the theatrical team of Klaw & Erlanger for Chicago 's Iroquois Theater Fire in 1903, many people complained. Life 's drama critic, James Stetson Metcalfe , was barred from the 47 Manhattan theatres controlled by the Theatrical Syndicate . Life published caricatures of Jews with large noses. Several individuals would publish their first major works in Life . In 1908 Robert Ripley published his first cartoon in Life , 20 years before his Believe It or Not! fame. Norman Rockwell 's first cover for Life magazine, Tain't You ,
2065-410: The magazine's archive in late 1953 and spent an estimated nine months there. He searched through 3.5 million images, most in the form of original negatives (only in the last years of the war did the picture department start to print contact sheets of all assignments) and submitted to Steichen for selection many that had not been published in the magazine. In November 1954, the actress Dorothy Dandridge
2124-526: The magazine's team in a Times 's publisher's letter, dated May 8, 1944.) Life backed the war effort each week. In July 1942, Life launched its first art contest for soldiers and drew more than 1,500 entries, submitted by all ranks. Judges sorted out the best and awarded $ 1,000 in prizes. Life picked 16 for reproduction in the magazine. The National Gallery in Washington, D.C. agreed to put 117 entries on exhibition that summer. Life , also supported
2183-555: The military's efforts to use artists to document the war. When Congress forbade the armed forces from using government money to fund artists in the field, Life privatized the programs, hiring many of the artists being let go by the Department of War (which would later become the Department of Defense ). On December 7, 1960, Life managers later donated many of the works by such artists to the Department of War and its art programs, such as
2242-489: The more profitable newsstand sales. Gary Valk was publisher when, on December 8, 1972, the magazine announced it would cease publication by the end of the year and lay off hundreds of staff. The weekly Life magazine published its last issue on December 29, 1972. From 1972 to 1978, Time Inc. published ten Life Special Reports on such themes as "The Spirit of Israel", "Remarkable American Women" and "The Year in Pictures". With
2301-403: The mural of life-size leathermen in the bar, which had been painted by Chuck Arnett in 1962. The article described San Francisco as "The Gay Capital of America" and inspired many gay leathermen to move there. On March 25, 1966, Life featured the drug LSD as its cover story. The drug had attracted attention among the counterculture and was not yet criminalized. In March 1967, Life won
2360-425: The mushrooms, which were used in traditional religious rituals. Life ' s motto became "To see Life; to see the world." The magazine produced many popular science serials, such as The World We Live In and The Epic of Man in the early 1950s. The magazine continued to showcase the work of notable illustrators, such as Alton S. Tobey , whose contributions included the cover for a 1958 series of articles on
2419-410: The new Life magazine, Longwell served as managing editor from 1944 to 1946 and chairman of the board of editors until his retirement in 1954. He was credited for publishing Winston Churchill 's The Second World War and Ernest Hemingway 's The Old Man and the Sea . Luce also selected Edward Kramer Thompson , a stringer for Time , as assistant picture editor in 1937. From 1949 to 1961 he
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2478-468: The next 22 years as general-interest, news features magazine. In 1986, it marked its 50th anniversary under the Time Inc. umbrella with a special issue showing every Life cover starting from 1936, which included the issues published during the six-year hiatus in the 1970s. The circulation in this era hovered around 1.5 million. The cover price in 1986 was $ 2.50 (equivalent to $ 6.95 in 2023). The publisher
2537-490: The nude. She used the toga theme throughout her career, with one négligée prominently featured in 1962 by both Life and Harper's Bazaar . She also reworked Victorian styles such as the traditional modest flannel Mother Hubbard nightgown , which she produced in sheer flowing cotton, and reproduced nineteenth-century whitework embroidery by machine to such a high standard that her work rivalled luxurious handmade French lingerie. Examples of Pedlar lingerie are held by
2596-522: The people," he said. A June 1964 Paul Welch Life article, "Homosexuality In America", was the first time a national mainstream publication reported on gay issues. Life 's photographer was referred to the gay leather bar in San Francisco called the Tool Box for the article by Hal Call , who had long worked to dispel the myth that all gay men were effeminate. The article opened with a two-page spread of
2655-551: The recent Harvard University graduate was a founder of the Harvard Lampoon . The motto of the first issue of Life was: "While there's Life, there's hope." The new magazine set forth its principles and policies to its readers: We wish to have some fun in this paper...We shall try to domesticate as much as possible of the casual cheerfulness that is drifting about in an unfriendly world...We shall have something to say about religion, about politics, fashion, society, literature,
2714-404: The scarlet woman because of my rather puritanical upbringing and beliefs. I couldn't just have a romance. It had to be a marriage." In the 1960s, the magazine printed photographs by Gordon Parks . "The camera is my weapon against the things I dislike about the universe and how I show the beautiful things about the universe," Parks recalled in 2000. "I didn't care about Life magazine. I cared about
2773-522: The screen star. "I'm not a 'sex queen' or a 'sex symbol,' " Taylor said. "I don't think I want to be one. Sex symbol kind of suggests bathrooms in hotels or something. I do know I'm a movie star and I like being a woman, and I think sex is absolutely gorgeous. But as far as a sex goddess, I don't worry myself that way... Richard is a very sexy man. He's got that sort of jungle essence that one can sense... When we look at each other, it's like our eyes have fingers and they grab ahold.... I think I ended up being
2832-412: The silhouette as it already often featured an obscured waist; the exaggeration of this feature perfectly complimented his wish to experiment with proportions and blur the waistline. The name was popularized by the 1956 movie Baby Doll , starring Carroll Baker in the title role as a 19-year-old nymphet . This marked the beginning of the enduring popularity of the style for adults. Babydoll pajamas in
2891-457: The stage, the stock exchange, and the police station, and we will speak out what is in our mind as fairly, as truthfully, and as decently as we know how. The magazine was a success and soon attracted the industry's leading contributors, of which the most important was Charles Dana Gibson . Three years after the magazine was founded, the Massachusetts native first sold Life a drawing for $ 4:
2950-468: The styles of the 1960s and 1970s. Babydoll negligees from the 1950s to the early 1980s are now collectible vintage items. Some babydolls open in front and resemble a robe or peignoir . Short daywear dresses of a similar style are sometimes called babydoll dresses ; the name is sometimes two words, baby doll , and sometimes hyphenated, baby-doll . Some styles are similar to what is worn by some infants; and by dolls designed like infants. The gown or top
3009-625: The war effort that it was censored from copies of the magazine sold outside North America. The magazine hired war photographer Robert Capa in July 1943 to cover the Sicilian and Italian campaigns. A veteran of Collier's magazine, Capa accompanied the first wave of the D-Day invasion in Normandy, France , on June 6, 1944, and returned with only a handful of images, many of them out of focus. The magazine wrote in
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#17329091471553068-400: The weekly news magazine, Luce circulated a confidential prospectus within Time Inc. in 1936, which described his vision for the new Life magazine, and what he viewed as its unique purpose. Life magazine was to be the first publication, with a focus on photographs, that enabled the American public, To see life; to see the world; to eyewitness great events; to watch the faces of the poor and
3127-527: The world of publishing. From 1936 to the 1960s, Life was a wide-ranging general-interest magazine known for its photojournalism . During this period it was one of the most popular magazines in the United States, its circulation regularly reaching a quarter of the American population. Life was founded on January 4, 1883, in a New York City artist's studio at 1155 Broadway , as a partnership between John Ames Mitchell and Andrew Miller . Mitchell held
3186-582: Was an American fashion designer specialising in lingerie. She is the only designer to have won the Special Coty Award more than once, in 1951 and 1964. Born Sylvia Schlang in 1900 in New York, she was an art student at Cooper Union and the Art Students League of New York before marrying William A. Pedlar. In 1929 she launched her own business, Iris Lingerie , which she headed through to its closure in 1970. For her success Pedlar relied on
3245-520: Was filled with color photos of movie stars, President John F. Kennedy and his family, the war in Vietnam , and the Apollo program . Typical of the magazine's editorial focus was a long 1964 feature on actress Elizabeth Taylor and her relationship with actor Richard Burton . Journalist Richard Meryman traveled with Taylor to New York , California , and Paris . Life ran a 6,000-word first-person article on
3304-453: Was published May 10, 1917. His paintings were featured on Life 's cover 28 times between 1917 and 1924. Rea Irvin , the first art director of The New Yorker and creator of the character " Eustace Tilley ", began his career by drawing covers for Life . This version of Life took sides in politics and international affairs, and published pro-American editorials. After Germany attacked Belgium in 1914, Mitchell and Gibson undertook
3363-500: Was republished in 1985 as the novella, The Dangerous Summer . In February 1953, just a few weeks after leaving office, President Harry S. Truman announced that Life magazine would handle all rights to his memoirs. Truman said it was his belief that by 1954 he would be able to speak more fully on subjects pertaining to the role his administration played in world affairs. Truman observed that Life editors had presented other memoirs with great dignity; he added that Life had also made
3422-513: Was the first African-American woman to be featured on the cover of the magazine. In 1957, R. Gordon Wasson , a vice president at J. P. Morgan , published an article in Life extolling the virtues of magic mushrooms . This prompted Albert Hofmann to isolate psilocybin in 1958 for distribution by Sandoz alongside LSD in the U.S., further raising interest in LSD in the mass media. Following Wasson's report, Timothy Leary visited Mexico to try out
3481-441: Was the managing editor, and served as editor-in-chief for nearly a decade, until his retirement in 1970. His influence was significant during the magazine's heyday, which was roughly from 1936 until the mid-1960s. Thompson was known for the free rein he gave his editors, particularly a "trio of formidable and colorful women: Sally Kirkland , fashion editor; Mary Letherbee, movie editor; and Mary Hamman , modern living editor." When
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