Bedgown
Encyclopedia
Clothing
Clothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...
for the upper body, usually thigh-length and wrapping or tying in front.
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
fabric were fashionable at-home morning wear in the 18th century. Over time, bedgowns (also called in this context shortgowns) became the staple upper garment of British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
female working-class street wear from the 18th to early 19th centuries, worn over petticoats and often topped with an apron
Apron
An apron is an outer protective garment that covers primarily the front of the body. It may be worn for hygienic reasons as well as in order to protect clothes from wear and tear. The apron is commonly part of the uniform of several work categories, including waitresses, nurses, and domestic...
. Made of sturdy cotton, linen
Linen
Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
, wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
or linsey-woolsey
Linsey-woolsey
Linsey-woolsey is a coarse twill or plain-woven fabric woven with a linen warp and a woollen weft. Similar fabrics woven with a cotton warp and woollen weft in Colonial America were also called linsey-woolsey or wincey. The name derives form a combination of linen and woollen...
, these bedgowns were simply cut to a T-shaped pattern
Pattern (sewing)
In sewing and fashion design, a pattern is an original garment from which other garments of a similar style are copied, or the paper or cardboard templates from which the parts of a garment are traced onto fabric before cutting out and assembling .Patternmaking, pattern making or pattern cutting is...
, and were worn overlapped in front or with the front skirts cutaway.
In the Welsh spelling betgwn, the bedgown is part of Welsh national dress.
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Bedgowns lingered as fashion garments into the mid-20th century, usually under the newer name bedjackets, in the form of short robe
Robe
A robe is a loose-fitting outer garment. A robe is distinguished from a cape or cloak by the fact that it usually has sleeves. The English word robe derives from Middle English robe , borrowed from Old French robe , itself taken from the Frankish word *rouba , and is related to the word rob...
s or wrappers
Wrapper (clothing)
The wrapper or pagne is a colorful women's garment widely worn in West Africa. It has formal and informal versions and varies from simple draped clothing to fully tailored ensembles. The formality of the wrapper depends on the fabric used to create it. The wrapper is called an Iro in the Yoruba...
worn over a nightgown
Nightgown
A nightgown is a loosely hanging item of nightwear. Nowadays the term is almost exclusively applied to women's nightwear. A nightgown is typically made from cotton, silk, satin, or nylon...
or negligee
Negligee
The negligee is a form of women's clothing consisting of a sheer usually long dressing gown. It is a form of nightgown intended for wear at night and in the bedroom...
for warmth and modesty
Modesty
Standards of modesty are aspects of the culture of a country or people, at a given point in time, and is a measure against which an individual in society may be judged....
while sitting up in bed for breakfast, reading, or similar pursuits They had mostly fallen out of fashion by the 1960s.