A bedgown (sometimes bed gown, bedjacket or shortgown) is an article of women's

clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...

for the upper body, usually thigh-length and wrapping or tying in front. Bedgowns of lightweight printed

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

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 British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

female working-class street wear from the 18th to early 19th centuries, worn over

petticoats A petticoat or underskirt is an article of clothing, a type of undergarment worn under a skirt or a dress. Its precise meaning varies over centuries and between countries. According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', in current British Engl ...

and often topped with an

apron An apron is a garment that is worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body. The word comes from old French ''napron'' meaning a small piece of cloth, however over time "a napron" became "an apron", through a linguistics process cal ...

. Made of sturdy cotton,

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...

linsey-woolsey Linsey-woolsey (less often, woolsey-linsey or in Scots, ) 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-wo ...

, these bedgowns were simply cut to a T-shaped

pattern A pattern is a regularity in the world, in human-made design, or in abstract ideas. As such, the elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner. A geometric pattern is a kind of pattern formed of geometric shapes and typically repeated l ...

, and were worn overlapped in front or with the front skirts cutaway. The term "bed gown" to describe this item of clothing was used as late as 1876. In the Welsh spelling ''betgwn'', the bedgown is part of

traditional Welsh costume The Welsh traditional costume ( cy, Gwisg Gymreig draddodiadol) was worn by rural women in Wales. It was identified as being different from that worn by the rural women of England by many of the English visitors who toured Wales during the late ...

. Bedgowns lingered as fashion garments into the mid-20th century, usually under the newer name ''bedjackets'', in the form of short

robe A robe is a loose-fitting outer garment. Unlike garments described as capes or cloaks, robes usually have sleeves. The English word ''robe'' derives from Middle English ''robe'' ("garment"), borrowed from Old French ''robe'' ("booty, spoils" ...

s or wrappers worn over a

nightgown A nightgown, nightie or nightdress is a loosely hanging item of nightwear, and is commonly worn by women and girls. A nightgown is made from cotton, silk, satin, or nylon and may be decorated with lace appliqués or embroidery at the bust and hem ...

negligee The negligee or ''négligée'' (french: négligé ; ), also known in French as déshabillé (), is a form of see-through clothing for women consisting of a sheer, usually long, dressing gown. It is a form of nightgown intended for wear at night ...

for warmth and

modesty Modesty, sometimes known as demureness, is a mode of dress and deportment which intends to avoid the encouraging of sexual attraction in others. The word "modesty" comes from the Latin word ''wikt:modestus, modestus'' which means "keeping within ...

while sitting up in bed for breakfast, reading, or similar pursuits. They had mostly fallen out of fashion by the 1960s.

References

* Ashelford, Jane: ''The Art of Dress: Clothes and Society 1500–1914'', Abrams, 1996. () *

External links

Making an 18th-century bedgownClothes for Work at the Manchester Galleries
{{Historical clothing, state=expanded 18th-century fashion 19th-century fashion 20th-century fashion History of clothing (Western fashion) Jackets Coats (clothing)

See also

References

External links