Olivia Rodrigo is pushing back against criticism surrounding the babydoll dress aesthetic tied to her upcoming third studio album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love. In a new Popcast interview, the singer addressed accusations that her wardrobe choices promote “childlike” imagery, calling the backlash a reflection of deeper cultural issues around the sexualization of young women.
Speaking directly about the online discourse, Rodrigo rejected the notion that her fashion choices should be interpreted through a sexualized lens. “I have worn outfits that are maybe revealing on stage, like, I’ve worn a sparkly bra and little shorts, which is my right — that wasn’t inappropriate, but me fully covered up in a dress that people deem to be like childlike was inappropriate,” she said. “It’s like how we normalize pedophilia in our culture. It’s this rhetoric that we’re fed as girls since we’re so little, which is like, ‘Don’t wear that because then a man is going to sexualize your body and it’s your fault.’”
Her comments arrive after weeks of social media debate over the visual identity she has embraced for the new era. Backlash intensified following Rodrigo’s May 8 performance at Spotify’s Billions Club Live in Barcelona, where she wore a short floral babydoll dress with puff sleeves, bloomers, and black Doc Martens. Images from the show quickly circulated, with some critics accusing the look of infantilization or describing it as “toddler-coded.” Others pushed the criticism further, claiming the styling leaned into “pedo-bait” imagery or evoked “sexy baby” aesthetics.
Rodrigo forcefully dismissed that framing during the interview, emphasizing that assigning sexual intent to fully covered clothing reveals a troubling social instinct to police women’s bodies rather than challenge the perspective doing the sexualizing. “I didn’t think I looked sexy in that at all,” she said. “I just think that if we start dressing in a way that’s like, ‘Oh, I don’t want some [f**king] freak to think that I am sexy, like, a baby,’ it’s just losing the plot a little bit.”
The Grammy winner also connected the criticism to broader messages young women absorb from an early age. “I’m very protective of younger women and girls, and I just don’t want them to be fed that rhetoric,” Rodrigo added. “You shouldn’t be responsible for some guy sexualizing you in a way that was never your intention.”
Meanwhile, the 23-year-old singer is gearing up to release her third album You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love. Last week, she dropped “The Cure” as the second single, which became an instant hit, debuting at No. 1 on the Daily Global Spotify Chart.
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