What Do You Wear to Bed?

What do you wear to bed? Pajamas? Oversized tees? Nothing at all? Recently, it seems like every woman I know has been talking about nightgowns…

“I’m passionate about this topic,” laughed my friend Lucy P. “Nightgowns have flowy material, so nothing squeezes my skin while I sleep. They’re more romantic than other sleepwear. And if you need to go outside to get the newspaper, they pass as a dress. What CAN’T a nightgown do?”

I haven’t worn one since third grade, but Cup of Jo readers insist that nightgowns are the comfiest. For example, Lauren struggled with pajama sets: “I cultivated a wildly impractical men’s-vintage-smoking-robe aesthetic I thought of as What One Wears to Solve Murders on Trains.” But the loungewear that actually worked? “Turns out the only stuff I can actually fall asleep in is those spaghetti-strap plaid flannel nighties J.Crew stopped selling circa 2000 (J.CREW PLEASE BRING THEM BACK).”

As for go-to brands these days? I keep hearing the name Eileen West. “Their nightgowns are glorious,” says a reader named Claire. “Years ago, I wandered into a department store with a gift card from my mother. I couldn’t find anything I liked, so I grabbed an Eileen West cotton nightgown off the sale rack, wondering if I would ever wear it. Turns out I wear it all the time. Cotton fabric, light as a cloud, and pretty. Grandma schmamma! Nightgowns for the win!”

Here are nine lovely versions;

Do you ever wear nightgowns? I’m curious to try one. A few months ago, I accidentally ordered this instead of my usual pajamas, and I LOVE it. (Alex does, too!)

P.S. More dos or don’ts, and a case for men’s pajamas.

(Top photo by Dôen.)