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The baby tee might seem simple, but it’s surprisingly complex. This snug-fitting t-shirt rose to fame in the ’90s, when young women embraced—and sometimes subverted—symbols of traditional femininity, whether for rebellion or just because they felt good in them. Linda Meltzer, often credited with “inventing” the baby tee, was a stylist who scoured thrift stores for vintage French kids’ tees before deciding to make her own. Her designs became iconic, worn by everyone from Clueless’s Cher Horowitz to Beverly Hills, 90210’s Brenda Walsh and Friends’ Rachel Green.

Drew Barrymore in a long-sleeve baby tee on The Late Show with David Letterman, 1995.
Photo: CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images

For some, the baby tee never went out of style—but lately, it’s been everywhere, from runways to trendsetting It-girls. Surprisingly, its comeback wasn’t sealed by a model or influencer but by Lorde.

In late June, the pop star released Virgin, an album filled with raw, introspective lyrics about growing into her power. One garment takes center stage across its 11 tracks: the baby tee. On the chorus of GRWM, which reflects on a fleeting romantic encounter, she sings: “Maybe you’ll finally know who you wanna be / A grown woman in a baby tee / A grown woman / Girl’s a grown woman.” Pitchfork called it “an objectively dumb lyric that she’s just confident enough to pull off.” But really, it’s genius—sometimes the two are hard to tell apart.

I was a die-hard baby tee fan in my teens and early 20s, but like so many, I eventually swapped them for oversized shirts. A few seasons ago, when The Row released a ridiculously thin baby tee printed with fried eggs and bacon, my ’90s-raised self had to have it. But when I tried it on, it just didn’t work on my 40-something body. Sure, I’d just had a baby, and yes, oversized everything was in—but I couldn’t shake the question: Who would respect a grown woman in a baby tee?

Then I heard GRWM, and it clicked. Being a grown woman in a baby tee is about embracing contradictions—knowing that while growth sometimes means leaving parts of yourself behind, other times, you bring them along for the ride. And if you’re not sure which is which? That’s fine too. As Lorde sings on the album’s opener: “I might’ve been born again / I’m ready to feel like I don’t have all the answers / There’s peace in the madness over our heads / Let me carry it up, up, up.”

Pamela Anderson in the iconic GIRL baby tee, 1996…
Photo: Steve Granitz/WireImage

…and modeling her jeweled remake for her Re/Done collab, 2024.
Photo: Lea Colombo / Courtesy of Re/Done

Back in 1996, Pamela Anderson stepped out in a baby tee with GIRL stretched across her chest—a playful twist on the Gulf Oil logo. I remember seeing it in a teen magazine with a snarky caption like Thanks for the reminder, as if we could forget. Last year, she recreated the iconic look for her Re/Done collaboration, this time with—Pamela, 57, rocked a bedazzled logo with effortless cool. Makeup-free and with tousled hair, she wore her sparkly “GIRL” tee like a ’90s teen dream—a grown woman in a baby tee, looking even cooler now than she did back then.