The dressing gown you slip into each morning carries a rich history spanning centuries and continents. What began as exotic Eastern garments admired by European traders evolved through aristocratic drawing rooms and Hollywood glamour to become the everyday comfort essential we know today. Understanding this history adds a layer of appreciation to this humble garment and illuminates how fashion, trade, and changing social customs have shaped the way we dress even in our most private moments.
Eastern Origins: The Kimono and Its Influence
The story of the Western dressing gown begins not in Europe, but in the East. Japanese kimonos, Chinese robes, and similar garments from across Asia captivated European traders who arrived in the region during the 16th and 17th centuries. These flowing, cross-front garments were unlike anything in European wardrobes, where tailored, fitted clothing was the norm.
The kimono, with its elegant simplicity and luxurious silk construction, particularly fascinated European visitors. Unlike the corseted, structured garments of European fashion, kimonos allowed freedom of movement while projecting effortless sophistication. Traders and diplomats returning from Japan and China brought these garments home as exotic treasures, sparking a fascination that would profoundly influence Western fashion.
The dressing gown's story is one of cultural exchange—Eastern garments captivated Western eyes, inspiring a new category of loungewear that blended exotic influences with European tastes.
The Banyan: When Exotic Became Fashionable
By the late 17th century, European craftsmen began producing their own versions of these Eastern robes. The banyan—named somewhat inaccurately after Hindu traders called banyans—became the fashionable at-home garment for European gentlemen. Made from imported Indian cotton, silk, or later from domestically produced fabrics in Asian-inspired patterns, the banyan represented worldliness and sophistication.
Wearing a banyan was a statement of cultured refinement. Portraits from this era frequently depicted gentlemen in their banyans, often paired with a soft cap called a turban or nightcap. Far from being hidden garments of privacy, these robes were suitable for receiving guests at home, conducting business in one's study, or sitting for one's portrait. They projected an image of a man at leisure, yet still impeccably dressed.
The banyan remained fashionable throughout the 18th century, evolving in style while maintaining its essential character as a loose, comfortable alternative to formal dress. Benjamin Franklin famously wore his fur-trimmed banyan while serving as American ambassador to France, presenting himself as a simple philosopher in contrast to the elaborate court dress of Versailles.
Victorian Era: The Emergence of the Modern Dressing Gown
The 19th century saw the banyan gradually transform into what we would recognise as the modern dressing gown. Victorian sensibilities about propriety and the increasing separation of public and private life changed how these garments were perceived and used. No longer appropriate for receiving visitors, the dressing gown became firmly associated with private, domestic spaces.
For Victorian gentlemen, the dressing gown was essential for the ritual of dressing. Men would don their robes upon rising, wear them during their morning toilette, and change into proper day clothes before appearing publicly. The garments themselves became more structured, often featuring quilted fabrics for warmth and distinctive shawl collars that remain popular today.
Victorian society had strict rules about dressing gown propriety. A gentleman might receive his valet or other male servants while in his dressing gown, but no respectable woman except his wife would see him so attired. The dressing gown occupied a liminal space—proper clothing for the private sphere but entirely inappropriate for public view.
Women's dressing gowns also emerged during this period, though they were typically called wrappers or morning gowns. These garments served similar functions, providing comfortable, modest coverage during morning routines before changing into the structured, corseted garments that proper Victorian dress required.
The Terry Cloth Revolution
The development of terry cloth—that looped, absorbent fabric we associate with bathrobes today—represented a significant evolution in dressing gown history. Though the weaving technique originated in France in the 18th century, it was the industrial production of terry cloth in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that made absorbent robes widely accessible.
Terry cloth transformed the dressing gown from a garment purely for covering up while dressing into a functional item for after bathing. The fabric's exceptional absorbency meant that one could wrap themselves immediately after a bath or shower, drying and warming simultaneously. This practical evolution broadened the dressing gown's role in daily routines.
Turkish and Egyptian cotton emerged as premium materials for terry cloth production, with their long-staple fibres creating particularly soft, durable, absorbent fabric. These origins remain reflected in today's luxury bathrobe market, where Turkish and Egyptian cotton robes command premium prices.
Hollywood Glamour and the Smoking Jacket Era
The early to mid-20th century represents perhaps the peak of dressing gown glamour. Hollywood's golden age depicted suave leading men in sumptuous robes, creating an association between dressing gowns and sophisticated masculinity that persists today. The image of a debonair gentleman in a silk dressing gown, perhaps with a cigarette and cocktail in hand, became an enduring symbol of refined leisure.
The smoking jacket, a close cousin of the dressing gown, enjoyed particular popularity during this era. Originally designed to protect clothing from tobacco smoke and ash, the smoking jacket evolved into an elegant evening-at-home garment. Made from velvet, silk, or fine wool, often in deep burgundy or midnight blue with quilted lapels, the smoking jacket represented a formal approach to informal dressing.
For women, silk and satin robes became associated with Hollywood glamour. Movie stars like Jean Harlow and later Marilyn Monroe were frequently photographed in elegant robes, creating an aspirational image that influenced how ordinary women thought about their own loungewear.
Post-War Practicality and Democratisation
The post-World War II era saw dressing gowns become increasingly practical and accessible. Synthetic fabrics developed during the war found their way into consumer goods, making affordable robes available to households that might previously have considered such garments a luxury.
The rise of casual living in the latter 20th century further transformed dressing gown culture. Where previous generations had strict distinctions between dressed and undressed states, increasingly relaxed social norms blurred these boundaries. Dressing gowns became acceptable attire for longer periods—for weekend lounging, sick days, or lazy mornings rather than merely the brief interval between rising and dressing.
Today, we're experiencing a renewed appreciation for quality loungewear. The work-from-home revolution has made comfortable yet presentable robes more relevant than ever, echoing the 18th-century banyan's role as appropriate attire for conducting business at home.
Contemporary Dressing Gown Culture
Today's dressing gown market reflects our diverse attitudes toward home and comfort. Luxury hotels compete to offer the most sumptuous robes, knowing guests judge their entire experience partly on how good the robe feels. High-end retailers sell Egyptian cotton and cashmere robes at prices that would seem absurd for such a domestic garment a few generations ago, yet demand remains strong.
Simultaneously, dressing gowns have become more casual than ever. Fleece robes, virtually unknown before the late 20th century, now dominate the affordable robe market with their unmatched warmth-to-weight ratio. The distinction between robes, loungewear, and athleisure has blurred, with many people transitioning seamlessly between categories throughout the day.
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated trends toward comfortable home clothing, with dressing gown sales surging as people spent more time at home. Video conferencing culture created a new fashion category—presentable from the waist up, comfortable below—that dressing gowns accidentally helped pioneer centuries earlier when gentlemen wore their banyans for portrait sittings.
Looking Forward
As we look to the future, the dressing gown seems poised for continued relevance. Sustainable materials like bamboo and organic cotton address contemporary environmental concerns while offering genuine comfort advantages. Smart textiles that regulate temperature or provide health monitoring may eventually find their way into loungewear.
What remains constant is the fundamental appeal that made dressing gowns fashionable three centuries ago: the desire for comfortable, elegant garments that allow us to feel properly attired even in our most private moments. From the exotic banyans of 18th-century gentlemen to the plush bathrobes of modern spas, the dressing gown continues to fulfil our need for a transitional garment between dressed and undressed states—a small luxury that makes daily life a little more civilised.