Clothing Definitions — definitions of garments and clothing terms from Apparel Search
A nightshirt is a special kind of shirt used in sleeping. As a purely bedtime garment, the nightshirt is the successor of an undergarment used by Europeans through the 19th century: the day shirt, worn under clothes by day, doubled as sleepwear, and the dedicated nightshirt kept its cut. Nightshirts are loose, usually knee-length or longer, with a short buttoned placket, and are still made in the flannel and cotton of the tradition. This page explains the nightshirt's form and history, in plain product terms.
As a purely bedtime garment, the nightshirt is the successor of an undergarment used by Europeans through the 19th Century. This undergarment was worn all day under outer clothing. At night the outer clothing was removed, and men and women slept in the long shirt-like garment. This smock was longer for women than for men. Upon arising in the morning, the outer garments were again put on.
The major difference in the use of the nightshirt is that it replaces all clothing worn during the day. It is removed after arising and put away for use during the next sleeping period.
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For most of European history, wardrobes were small and the shirt was the washable layer next to the skin, changed and laundered far more often than outer clothes. Sleeping in the shirt, or in a longer version of it, cost nothing extra and kept bedding cleaner, which is why the nightshirt's form is simply the shirt lengthened: a body falling from the shoulders to the knees or ankles, sleeves to the wrist, and a placket opening so it can be pulled over the head. In the 19th century the garment became a distinct product, cut with more room, sometimes with a collar, in white cotton for summer and striped or checked flannel for winter, and it is drawn this way in a century of illustrations, complete with the separate nightcap.
Pyjamas displaced the nightshirt for most men in the early 20th century because trousers suited colder houses, travel and shared accommodation better, but the nightshirt never disappeared. It remains in production as traditional nightwear, is worn by women as well as men in its modern versions, and has practical advantages its fans cite: no waistband, easy washing as a single piece, and warmth graded by choosing flannel or cotton. In the nightwear family it stands as the shirt-form garment, against the nightgown's dress form and pyjamas' two-piece form.
A nightshirt is a long, loose shirt worn for sleeping, usually reaching the knees or below, with a short buttoned placket at the neck. It is worn by men and women.
The nightshirt is the successor of the undergarment used by Europeans through the 19th century. Shirts were worn under day clothes and slept in as well, and the separate nightshirt kept that shirt form for bed.
Pyjamas are a two-piece set of jacket and trousers. A nightshirt is a single garment cut like a long shirt, the older European form of nightwear.