Clothing Definitions — definitions of garments and clothing terms from Apparel Search
A peignoir is a long nightgown, usually sheer and made of chiffon. Peignoirs are commonly sold as part of a matching nightwear set, paired with a nightgown of the same fabric and trim. The garment is repeatedly mentioned in the novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin, where its appearances mark moments in the heroine's story. This page explains what a peignoir is made of, how the set is constructed, and how peignoirs differ from the nightgowns and robes they are worn with.
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A peignoir is built to float rather than to fit. The cloth is cut full and falls from a soft yoke or gathered neckline to a long, sweeping hem, with wide sleeves gathered into a cuff or left open, so the sheer fabric moves over the nightgown beneath it. Fastenings are minimal by design, a tie belt, a ribbon at the neck or a single button, because the garment is an outer layer over the nightgown, dressing-gown style, rather than a closed dress. Lace is the standard finish: edging at the neckline, cuffs and hem, and appliqued lace on the yoke and sleeves, in a matching or contrasting tone. Sets coordinate the two garments exactly, the same chiffon, the same lace, the same colour, so the nightgown and peignoir read as one outfit.
Fabric choice decides both price and care. Silk chiffon is the luxury standard, soft and fluid but delicate; polyester and nylon chiffons and tricots copy the effect at lower cost and wash more easily; satin-backed and georgette versions trade some transparency for a denser drape. All sheer fabrics share the same handling rules: wash cool, by hand or in a mesh bag on a gentle cycle, keep away from rough fastenings and jewellery that snag fine yarns, dry away from direct heat, and store folded or on a padded hanger so the shoulders are not stretched. Lace trims should be pressed cool under a cloth if they need pressing at all.
Within nightwear, the peignoir occupies the formal end. The nightshirt is a plain, practical garment, the everyday nightgown covers the full range from cotton to silk, and the peignoir set is the dressed form, kept for its appearance rather than for warmth, since a single layer of chiffon insulates hardly at all. That decorative role is why the garment appears in literature as it does in The Awakening, where dress carries meaning, and why sets are sold by the standards of evening fabrics rather than of sleepwear basics: colour, lace quality and the fall of the cloth are the points to judge, in sizes that follow ordinary dress sizes with a deliberately easy fit through the body and sleeve.
A peignoir is a long nightgown, usually sheer and made of chiffon. It is a lightweight, flowing nightwear garment, commonly sold as part of a matching set with a coordinated nightgown in the same fabric and trim.
Chiffon is the characteristic fabric, a sheer, lightweight woven cloth. Peignoir sets are also made in silk, fine nylon tricot and other sheer or satin fabrics, usually finished with lace edging at the neck, cuffs and hem.
Peignoir is French, from peigner, to comb the hair. The garment began as a loose dressing gown worn while the hair was being combed and dressed, and the name stayed as the garment developed into a formal piece of nightwear.