I’ve Found My Babydoll!

This last week has all been a bit crazy what with getting to the final stages of buying my new house, someone crashing into my car and my cat falling ill, so I’ve been a bit slow in posting recently. I’m hoping things will sort themselves out pretty soon and I’ll get back to writing more often, but in the meantime I wanted to show you my latest vintage find.

You may remember a little while ago I did a post about my fantasy of doing a babydoll pinup photo shoot. Well, I have finally managed to find, and purchase, exactly the sort of babydoll I was after and it’s not a reproduction. After several months of searching I found this beautiful pale yellow one on Etsy from a seller in America called PARASOL Vintage. It was a great price of just £24 including postage to the UK.

lemon-babydoll-front

The babydoll itself is made from two layers of bright lemon nylon, one sheer and one not, (the photos don’t do it justice but it was really hard to capture) and is in mint condition. I’ve been over it and over it but can’t find any holes or stains anywhere. It’s almost as if it has never been worn.

1950s Lemon Babydoll

It has the bib neckline that I love on both the front and the back which reminds me very much of the Betty Blue’s Loungerie one on my previous post. I adore this style because it then allows a plume of fabric to gather over the bustline and then give the frothiness around the torso.

lemon-babydoll-close-up

The front has a vertical line of lace running down the centre of it which is finished at the neckline with a sweet little matching ribbon bow. The yellow and bluey-green flowers are embroidered onto the middle of the lace creating a cute floral trail which leads the eye down to the hem which has a matching lace trim all the way around the top layer.

lemon-babydoll-hem

It was produced by Shadowline, an American lingerie company originally founded in 1946 by Sherrod Salsbury, Jr. It remained with the Salsbury family until it closed it’s doors in 2009. However, it was bought out the same year and is still in production today. From the label I would estimate the date of this babydoll as being late 1950s to early 1960s before the label changed to a black and white printed version.

1950s babydoll label

I haven’t taken any photos of myself in it because I still live in hope that I can pluck up enough courage to actually book myself into a professional photography studio and live out my fantasy, rollers and all. And if I do I will definitely post the results on here!

Cate

Just a vintage gal suffering from the Golden Age syndrome. A lover of all things old, especially the 1930s, seamstress, crocheter, maker of hats and enjoys rummaging at flea markets.

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