Bedgown
Clothing Definitions — definitions of garments and clothing terms from Apparel Search
A bedgown — sometimes called a bedjacket or shortgown — is an article of women's clothing for the upper body, usually thigh-length and wrapping or tying in front. Bedgowns of lightweight printed cotton were fashionable at-home morning wear in the 18th century, and over time they became the staple upper garment of British and American working-class women from the 18th to the early 19th centuries. This page explains the garment's simple T-shaped cut, its fabrics from cotton and linen to linsey-woolsey, its Welsh form, and its later life as the bedjacket worn over a nightgown.
|
|
A bedgown (sometimes bedjacket or shortgown) is an article of women's clothing for the upper body, usually thigh-length and wrapping or tying in front.
Bedgowns of lightweight printed cotton 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 and American female working-class street wear from the 18th to early 19th centuries, worn over petticoats and often topped with an apron. Made of sturdy cotton, linen, wool or linsey-woolsey, these bedgowns were simply cut to a T-shaped pattern, and were worn overlappped in front or with the front skirts cutaway.In the Welsh spelling betgwn, the bedgown is part of Welsh national dress.
Bedgowns lingered as fashion garments into the mid-20th century, usually under the newer name bedjackets, in the form of short robes or wrappers worn over a nightgown or negligee for warmth and modesty while sitting up in bed for breakfast, reading, or similar pursuits They had mostly fallen out of fashion by the 1960s.
| The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/bedgown ) 1/17/06 |
Photos
A Garment of Two Lives
The bedgown's history runs in two directions at once. As printed-cotton morning wear it belonged to fashionable domestic life in the 18th century, an informal at-home garment for the start of the day. At the same time, in sturdier fabrics, it became working dress: the staple upper garment of British and American working-class women from the 18th into the early 19th century, worn over petticoats and often topped with an apron. The same simple pattern served both lives because the pattern asked so little — a T-shaped cut, wrapped or overlapped in front, tied or fastened without elaborate tailoring. A garment that could be cut from cotton, linen, wool or the mixed linsey-woolsey, made at home and mended easily, was always going to spread further than a fashionable shape that required a dressmaker.
The Welsh Betgwn and the Bedjacket
Two survivals kept the bedgown visible after its working life faded. In Wales, under the spelling betgwn, it became part of Welsh national dress, preserved as a marker of national identity long after it ceased to be ordinary clothing elsewhere. In mainstream fashion it survived by changing rooms: as the bedjacket, a short robe or wrapper worn over a nightgown or negligee, it moved from morning wear and street wear into the bedroom, providing warmth and modesty for sitting up in bed to take breakfast or read. That form lasted into the mid-20th century before mostly falling out of fashion by the 1960s, closing a run of roughly two centuries for one of the simplest garments in women's dress.
How the Bedgown Was Made and Worn
The bedgown's T-shaped pattern is the whole secret of its spread. Cut with the body and sleeves in a simple T, overlapped in front or with the front skirts cut away, it needed no complex fitting, wasted little cloth, and could be made at home from whatever sturdy fabric was in reach — cotton or linen for ordinary wear, wool or linsey-woolsey where warmth mattered. Worn over petticoats and often topped with an apron, it formed a complete working outfit: washable, mendable and free-moving. The same simplicity made the lightweight printed cotton version so suitable as morning wear, since a garment that wraps and ties in front dresses quickly and adjusts easily. Few garments demonstrate as clearly how a pattern's economy, more than any fashion decree, decides what ordinary people actually wear.
Common Questions
What is a bedgown?
A bedgown is a women's upper-body garment, usually thigh-length, that wraps or ties in front. Also called a shortgown, it was simply cut to a T-shaped pattern and worn overlapped in front, or with the front skirts cut away, over petticoats and often topped with an apron.
Who wore bedgowns?
In the 18th century, bedgowns of lightweight printed cotton were fashionable at-home morning wear. They then became the staple upper garment of British and American female working-class street wear from the 18th to the early 19th centuries, made of sturdy cotton, linen, wool or linsey-woolsey.
Does the bedgown still exist?
Bedgowns lingered as fashion garments into the mid-20th century under the newer name bedjackets — short robes or wrappers worn over a nightgown or negligee for warmth and modesty while sitting up in bed — before mostly falling out of fashion by the 1960s. In the Welsh spelling betgwn, the bedgown remains part of Welsh national dress.