So I know what a t-shirt is and (roughly) how it’s different from a dress. But what the heck is a baby doll, and how is it different from a halter-top or a camisole or a tank top?
Is there some sort of guide that women learn from? Do those terms actually mean anything or are they just fancy marketing terms for “women’s dress shirt”?
Is there an illustrated list somewhere explaining the differences?
-Clueless Guy
Use google image - type in “halter top” or “baby doll dress” - you soon get the concept.
It is what I do when my wife uses a clothing term I don’t quite get. Works for me.
I find it pretty funny that not one of the garments listed is actually a dress shirt - camisoles are underwear, babydolls are nightdresses, and halter tops and tank tops, while they can be dressy (or not), aren’t what would be called ‘dress shirts’ - which is more or less the same as what would be called a dress shirt for men, only tailored slightly differently.
That works if you already know the terms, but don’t know what they mean. If you just see a picture of something and want to know what it’s called, you’re sort of stuck.
Did you actually try that?
Halter tops are apparently: various types of shirts, bikinis, workout uniforms, and short dresses. I don’t really see how those pictures are related and I’m not sure which is right.
And I can’t really figure out what separates a baby doll from any other womanly dress, or how a camisole is different from regular underwear or an athletic workout suit.
Halter top actually refers to the neck line, not the whole garment. Bit like how you might describe a sweater as a crew neck, or a type of shirt as a button-down collar. Halter neck means the straps are tied behind your neck, so can apply to any garment.
Then you aren’t looking very closely, are you.
All these terms are ways of more accurately describing a garment, just like how a ‘dress shirt’ is different from a ‘t-shirt’. I mean, they’re all just shirts right? they’ve all got arms, a body and a hole for your neck?
Baby doll is a short (just below bum), fluffy, floaty style of dress that, funnily enough, is reminiscent of the type of dress an actual baby doll might wear.
A camisole is a vest: sleeveless top that extends over your whole torso, as opposed to other types of undergarments which do not, like bras and pants. It’s a type of underwear, I’m not sure what you’re thinking of when you say ‘regular underwear’.
Wikipedia would be your friend here. The halterneck (or halter top) is one where the front of the garment is held up by going up one side, around the back of the neck, and down the other side. Go to that image page again and imagine how they’d look from behind; a strap across the back of the neck and the shoulder blades bare.
That such a diverse vocabulary is needed is something of a testament to creativity, although whether that complexity is to be celebrated or cursed is an exercise best left to the reader. Just don’t even ask about shoes.
“Halter top” can describe the whole garment or part of it; specifically, it’s top part, which includes a halter: a built-in bra.
As for the camis (and image search in general), here’s a hint: when a piece looks different from everything else (this will vary with time, but when I clicked on your link the second piece was a bra, not a cami), it’s mislabeled. I don’t really have the terms to describe them properly in English, but pretty much every other item was a cami: “ribbon”-style shoulder straps (not part of the same cloth as the rest of the garment), inverted-W top line, loose body that reaches at least below the waist and more commonly below the hips, made of soft fabric (satin and silk are very popular). You don’t seem to have looked at a lot of athletic workout suits, if you haven’t noticed they’re body-hugging, may have sleeves or straps and any straps are part of the same cloth as the rest.
I did all those google searches, and could easily see common features.
If you look closely, all the Halterneck items fasten round the neck with an open back.
Babydolls are a bit more amorphous - descended from a floaty short nightdress, they are above the knee, straight triangle shape (with maybe a gather under the breasts, but not always). Yeah, it is a flexible definition.
A Camisole is pretty ill-defined. I would only use it for an item of underwear, but camisole-tops are now common.
The point is that there is no rigid definition for items of clothing - one persons vest top is a marketing mans camisole.
While this is an accurate definition of “babydoll”, there’s also the very popular “baby doll tee” which is a T-shirt cut in a more curvy way. Most places that sell T-shirts in “men’s” and “women’s” versions are selling a straight cut for men and a curvy “baby doll” cut for women.
