It is said the head was popularized by the 1956 movie Baby Doll starring Carroll Baker in the Sexy Lingerie title role, which around considerable the beginning of the enduring popularity of the style for adults.
Some styles are similar to what is worn by dolls in the die of infants, and by some infants; the gown is short enough that diapers are easily changed. However, there may be an alternative origin for the style, if we consider the lineage of lace-trimmed shortie bedjackets and bed-capes of the 1930s and 1940s.