Nightgowns and Nighties

As Dickens somewhere recounts with infinite zest, we have all had the mortifying experience in a dream of making a public appearance clad with woeful inadequacy in our nightdress. This is a situation interesting to consider in relation to the period in which the dreamer is caught out in her nightdress. For instance, in The Lady's Pictorial of August 30, 1922, there appears an illustration of a garment described as "a nightie carried out in the finest linen lawn trimmed with embroidery and lace." Entirely sleeveless, with a rather ample "V" neck, enfolding the body with an effect decidedly negligee-like in appearance. This nightie (or nightgown) is not calculated to make love appear ridiculous nor is it intended to make a fool of the wearer.



Quite the opposite in fact, dressed like that today, going through Grand Central Station in London, most women would draw attention as fashion icons rather than embarrassingly caught in public in their nightwear.

Nightgowns, traditionally have been works of art. Around 1926 nightgowns reached from shoulder to ankle. By then it had become the thing to use only silken threads as fine as gossamer for the upper part. The scantier the garment was over the shoulders the more beautiful it was considered. Even white muslin nightgowns, mill shipped in small lots to those sections of the country where steampower had not yet penetrated, had parted from one-time elaborate collars.

Nightgowns today are fashion items. Incredibly delicate, ranging from the painfully simple to the overtly elaborate, trimmed with lace, comprised of thin struts and delicate ties and bows they are designed to recreate a past that was arts-inspired, beautiful, daring and yet also iconoclastic and revolutionary.

Nightgowns, as we see them now are manufactured to resemble evening dresses; to copy the most flattering aspects of classic styles. They are fashioned to make the figure appear at its best. Since they have become formally decorative they are longer than before. Cut on bias lines, molded to the body. Many could almost be worn as evening gowns – not entirely out of place in something like the UK hit TV show ‘Come Dancing’.

Dickens may have correctly identified our fear of being caught outside in our nightwear, exposing a part of our innermost self, but with the nightgowns of today such a fear is mitigated by the fact that save for some slight consciousness of the thinness of the material, a lady need not be disturbed by dreaming that she appeared in any of today’s exceedingly graceful, sweeping creations in the dining room of the Savoy at High Tea time.

© Designer Lingerie.org.uk 2008


Aphrodites Pink Nightie 15ml by OPI
Aphrodites Pink Nightie 15ml by OPI
£10.50


NANETTE
NANETTE
£10.50


Frilled Nightie
Frilled Nightie
£10.50


Stretch Cotton Softly Draping Baby Doll Nightie
Stretch Cotton Softly Draping Baby Doll Nightie
£10.50


OPI G01 PINK NIGHTIE
OPI G01 PINK NIGHTIE
£10.95


Pure Cotton Shorties
Pure Cotton Shorties
£11.00


Nightie and Wrapover Top (Special Nursing Set)
Nightie and Wrapover Top (Special Nursing Set)
£11.40


Organic Cotton Nightie
Organic Cotton Nightie
£11.40


Me to You® balloons nightie
Me to You® balloons nightie
£12.00


John Lewis Girl Cat Nightdress, Pink
John Lewis Girl Cat Nightdress, Pink
£12.00


John Lewis Girl Patchwork Horse Nightdress, Violet
John Lewis Girl Patchwork Horse Nightdress, Violet
£12.00


John Lewis Girl Vintage Floral Nightdress, Cream
John Lewis Girl Vintage Floral Nightdress, Cream
£12.00


nightie
nightie
£13.00


Peppa Pig® nightie
Peppa Pig® nightie
£13.00


Violet moon nightie
Violet moon nightie
£13.00


ELLOS Nightie
ELLOS Nightie
£13.00


Shoestring Strap Nightie
Shoestring Strap Nightie
£13.30


Girls light pink feather nightdress
Girls light pink feather nightdress
£13.60


2 pack rabbit nightie
2 pack rabbit nightie
£14.00


Short Satin Baby Doll Nightie
Short Satin Baby Doll Nightie
£14.70


Dotted Tulle Nightie
Dotted Tulle Nightie
£14.70


Ivory satin spot chemise
Ivory satin spot chemise
£14.85


Disney nightie and shrug
Disney nightie and shrug
£15.00


ELLOS Nightie
ELLOS Nightie
£15.00


GIRLS BEST FRIEND NIGHT VEST
GIRLS BEST FRIEND NIGHT VEST
£15.00


I NEED MY BO-PEEP NIGHT VEST
I NEED MY BO-PEEP NIGHT VEST
£15.00


NAPS ALWAYS HELP NIGHT VEST
NAPS ALWAYS HELP NIGHT VEST
£15.00


Long-Sleeved Satin Negligee
Long-Sleeved Satin Negligee
£17.00


ELLOS Short-Sleeved Nightie
ELLOS Short-Sleeved Nightie
£17.00


Lace and Microfibre Nightie
Lace and Microfibre Nightie
£17.50


GIRLS BEST FRIEND NIGHTIE (6-13 YRS)
GIRLS BEST FRIEND NIGHTIE  (6-13 YRS)
£18.00


GIRLS BEST FRIEND NIGHTIE (6-13 YRS)
GIRLS BEST FRIEND NIGHTIE (6-13 YRS)
£18.00


WORK LESS SLEEP MORE NIGHTIE (2-6 YRS)
WORK LESS SLEEP MORE NIGHTIE (2-6 YRS)
£18.00


Pure Cotton Nightie
Pure Cotton Nightie
£19.00


ELLOS Nightie
ELLOS Nightie
£19.00


Shoestring Strap Nightie
Shoestring Strap Nightie
£19.00


Shoestring Strap Nightie
Shoestring Strap Nightie
£19.00


Printed Nightie
Printed Nightie
£20.00


"Julius Jersey Nightie"

£21.00


"Multi Julius Dom Nightie"

£21.00


Nightie with Lacy Inset
Nightie with Lacy Inset
£24.50


Silk Nightie
Silk Nightie
£25.00


Silk Nightie
Silk Nightie
£25.00


Nightie
Nightie
£25.00


Twin Pack Nightie
Twin Pack Nightie
£26.00


BLOWN AWAY NIGHTIE
BLOWN AWAY NIGHTIE
£29.95


STELLA NIGHTIE
STELLA NIGHTIE
£29.95


THORA NIGHTIE
THORA NIGHTIE
£29.95


Baby Doll Nightie
Baby Doll Nightie
£31.50


Honour H1154
Honour H1154
£32.99


Black Nightfall nursing nightie
Black Nightfall nursing nightie
£33.60


ELLOS Lace Nightie
ELLOS Lace Nightie
£35.00


Nightie
Nightie
£35.00


Underwired Nightie
Underwired Nightie
£45.00


Nightfall Nightie
Nightfall Nightie
£46.00


Wolf In Grandmas Clothes (Adult)
Wolf In Grandmas Clothes (Adult)
£46.99


Successful In Her Ruse Nightie
Successful In Her Ruse Nightie
£60.00


Effusion De Dentelle Nightie
Effusion De Dentelle Nightie
£101.00