Speaking of dressing gowns, I immediately think of my grandmother. She always wore a cotton robe at home, tied up her hair with a handkerchief, cooked pies and constantly kept things clean. There are countless such mothers and grandmothers throughout the country! Where did this tradition come to us?
Excursion into history
When trying to find the causes of any phenomenon, I always look for the origins. Each thing has its own story, sometimes so amazing that it can only be learned through careful study. Robes came to us from Eastern culture.
This is an Arabic word that means a robe of honor. It was a full-fledged outerwear that became firmly established in the everyday life of an entire people.
Long-skirted wraparound robes were divided according to their purpose:
- for holidays;
- on every day;
- imperial clothing;
- vestments for officials or peasants;
- option for men and women.
A beautiful long-skirted version with embroidery and jewelry became an honorary reward for merit.
In Asian countries, peasants wore it to protect their bodies from the sun and overheating during hard work in the fields.Chic outfits were sewn for the nobility, emphasizing their status in society.
It is believed that they came from Turkey to Europe around the 17th century, becoming home clothing. They were worn over trousers and a shirt, and not on the naked body. Here you can see the practical side of the issue: the robe is easy to remove if necessary, and long sleeves and a wrap will help protect clothes from accidental heelsn. This item of clothing came to the Russian Empire thanks to Peter the Great. The first emperor loved all foreign wonders, welcoming innovations. Interestingly, the robe gained popularity among the Russian nobility only in the 19th century. On the one hand, it meant comfort and coziness, and from another point of view, it became a symbol of idleness and laziness.
Soviet times
After the October Revolution, life changed dramatically. The communists proclaimed a new way of life, making the attributes of lordly life anathema, which even included luxurious robes. Previously, they were sewn for nobles, wealthy merchants and kulaks, so expensive fabrics, fine embroidery and various decorations were used. Such clothing was not suitable for a workers' and peasants' country, so it temporarily went out of use.
But these are very comfortable and practical clothes for the home, so robes found a second wind when the idea came that they could be sewn from cheap chintz or flannel! Women liked the decision, and for the following reasons:
- It's easy to take off and put on.
- It is convenient to do homework in it.
- Things to go out wear out and wear out less.
- According to the philosophy of that time, there is no one to show off at home; this is not a workplace where you need to be in full dress.
Looking at old photographs, you pay attention to communal apartments, barracks and small houses with courtyards.People lived more crowded, were in full view of each other, and dressing gowns solved the issue of not only convenience, but also decency. It’s easier to go out to the common kitchen in a robe covering your body than to dress up in a dress and stand at the stove in it!
In the home wardrobe of a Soviet woman there were several dressing gowns for different occasions: for cleaning, holidays or guests. In some ways it even resembles oriental traditions.
Modern look
Practical, convenient and beautiful - this is how you can briefly describe this thing. That is why it has become so firmly established in everyday life. You can use it to open the door for guests or neighbors, cook food and clean the apartment. It does not interfere with movements, and the choice of colors has always allowed us to select beautiful options. Our grandmothers also knew a lot about fashion and beauty. Remember what amazing patterns were used on simple chintz, all kinds of flowers or leaves, polka dots or checkered patterns.
After 1991, Western values became firmly entrenched in our lives. We watch American films and TV series where women wear beautiful suits, comfortable pants and blouses of all colors at home. This tradition has not yet taken root. The older generation still wears robes, and growing daughters follow the example of their mothers and grandmothers. Although, observing Halloween celebrations, a total copying of Western standards, it is likely that robes will gradually fade into the background, remaining only for trips to the bath and back.
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Our generation of the 60s no longer wore a robe at home - we wore tracksuits or jeans at home. But both my grandmother and mother never put on a robe when they greeted guests, and especially on holidays. When leaving the apartment on the street, they left their robe at home and dressed in decent clothes. An exception could be a beautiful robe dress; they wore it when they went to the beach in the summer. Today there are almost no grandmothers left who would walk in the yard in dressing gowns.
And not so many modern women wear dressing gowns at home. A dressing gown means getting out of bed, getting out of the bath, and wearing a dressing gown all day, and even meeting guests is not beautiful, no matter how beautiful the dressing gown is.
I completely agree with Lyusya! I don’t have a single friend who wears bathrobes at home (in the sense implied in the article). Everyone dresses beautifully both at home and on the street.
The author is so strange, everyone has the same brush: “This tradition hasn’t really caught on yet. The older generation still wears robes, and the growing daughters follow the example of their mothers and grandmothers.”
Firstly, growing daughters have their own heads on their shoulders. Secondly, this tradition is really catching on. Thirdly, this is not even a Western tradition, but a voice of reason: why wear ugly dressing gowns at home when you can spend exactly the same money and wear beautiful and comfortable dresses?
Firstly, to each his own, and secondly, a robe made of good or expensive fabric, pastel colors and even a fashionable style and looks great on the figure. In my opinion, the robe is very convenient for home use. But it is not suitable for receiving guests, as well as for the beach and for traveling in a train compartment over long distances.
There is no need to confuse the concepts: a robe that goes “to the bathroom and back” is that pale blue thing with a hood, without a fastener and a belt. And what is buttoned from top to bottom is a robe dress. Normal and comfortable loungewear, however, there are also options for going out. Or, if the dress has a fastener not to the chest or waist, but to the very hem - then everything: regardless of the fabric, cut and finishing - scoop, collective farm and eww?
But I love a robe, and it doesn’t matter who says anything to me... I only wear it at home.. and yes, I’m 22
I always asked the question why people commented on statements, both positive and negative. This looks like women's talk or a conversation about nothing, because everyone will remain with their own opinion...
I'm 45 and I've been wearing a robe at home all my life.
I love robes. I have a lot of them: a terry one after a bath, complete with a peignoir, a dirty one for cleaning, beautiful and cheerful... I love it when I come home from work, take off everything and put on a cozy robe. Or a tunic. I can't stand sportswear or knitted loungewear.
I don't wear bathrobes. bicycle shorts and tunic. comfortable than a robe with parts that are always coming off
Back in 2004, my husband gave me a short terry robe, pale blue with white feathers. 15 years have passed, at home I wear comfortable T-shirts with jeans, a sundress, and shorts, but there is nothing cuter and more comfortable than this robe. I put it on in the evening and feel so good, calm, relaxed, just at home, at home, where you can be yourself. For guests and neighbors I am always in uniform, but for my family I can be simply cozy.
I never wear a robe at home. only suit
In Russia, the overwhelming majority of women are men from young to old in tight-fitting sports uniforms both on the street and at home. Ha ha ha!
Grandmother is 83 years old, there is not a single robe, how she lives without robe and moral teachings like this author is not clear
What's so comfortable about a robe? Sleeves, if wide, fall into plates and pans. It is inconvenient to wash the floors in it. Squatting on the floor or kneeling is the same. In short, there is nothing more uncomfortable for homework than a robe!
my grandmother always wore national dress.
And I walk around the house in my nightie. Well, I can’t relax in anything anymore! There are plenty of dressing gowns, but I wear nighties...
Complete nonsense! Whoever is comfortable, let him go that way. The main thing is to keep it clean. Is it normal to wear jeans around the house?
In all likelihood, everyone who left comments is residents of the city. In villages, most women and grandmothers wear dressing gowns both at home and on the street and to the store and manage the household.This is comfortable clothing, and the apron has also taken root in villages, though it is worn less and less often, but the fact remains.
Absolutely right! Villagers on the Internet don’t discuss the convenience and practicality of robes, they just wear them!
Wear dressing gowns, it is very comfortable, cozy, practical and homely.
I live in the city, in a private house! I tried to wear breeches made of knitted fabric, but in a robe, it’s still more comfortable around the house.
It’s generally not convenient to do anything around the house in a robe, but bicycle shorts and T-shirts, T-shirts are a completely different matter!!
Sweatpants, shorts, jeans and any pants in general must be washed daily, as they come into contact with this. At home there should be a dress, a skirt, a robe.
What if you wash it?
My grandmother always wore a white blouse and a dark skirt at home; If she was cooking or cleaning, she wore a long apron.
And my mother never wore a robe, only after a bath, to go to her room and change into a beautiful, clean house dress (not written off as a “day off” because of old age and not fashionable).
And I also never wear a robe, I don’t find it comfortable. She came home from work, took a quick shower and wore light trousers with a beautiful T-shirt or a blouse-skirt. She raised twin sons and never allowed herself to stoop to a robe at home. You need to love and respect yourself, dress in such a way that your family will like you and set the right example for your children and not raise them to be sloppy pigs.
A woman wearing a robe every day in everyday life at home (except for a short time after a bath) is disrespect for herself, mainly, and then for her husband and the whole family.
It is from such women that husbands run away, first to lie on the sofa and do not help around the house, because they see a shabby woman at home in a dressing gown, often in a washed-out one, worn out and torn slippers, often shaggy and unkempt, smelling unpleasant.
I don’t associate these “ladies” in dressing gowns in any other way. Regardless of the price of the robe.
And if they also “embroider” around the house in front of the family in a peignoir, not knowing that the peignoir is intended for the bedroom and bathroom, sometimes for meeting a man, but not for a family breakfast with children - this is already too much for a woman who has at least a rudimentary concept of good manners.
Walk around the house in nice, comfortable and clean clothes, then a man’s attitude towards you will change dramatically: they will help around the house, cook, and take care of the children. Believe me, they will have time and desire for all this.
Both Tatars and Ukrainians walk like this, why only Russians?
But French women wear a bra and pants at home.
And I wear a robe at home. I hate underwear! I only wear panties and bras when going outside under my clothes. At home I take off everything and only my robe, and at night a shirt over my naked body. Cheap and practical. I don’t understand how you can sleep in pajamas? Pants or shorts... especially some people pull them over their underpants and sleep(((
And I have a robe in the kitchen instead of an apron. I wear it over my home clothes when I cook.
What difference does it make who wears what? Whichever is convenient for you. I’m 62, in a robe it’s convenient for me to go out with a bath, sit in front of the TV in a chair, and get dressed in the morning. And all household chores are more comfortable in leggings and a T-shirt.
Our Russian grandmothers need to erect a monument already! They are our irreplaceable helpers. They give us warmth, care and warmth!
Strange dispute. It is more convenient to do cleaning and cooking in a tracksuit, and cosmetic procedures, especially after a bath, are much better done in a robe. Each activity has its own clothing. It’s stupid to say: I will never stoop to a robe. What if, excuse me, you get up to go to the toilet at night? Are you wearing a dress? I do not believe. Or do you pull on your jeans after a relaxing bubble bath? And How? Do they fit? Or the jeans are old and wrinkled, or the bath is not very good... And in the bathhouse, too, without a robe? Are you putting a suit directly on your naked wet body? With a pencil skirt and stiletto heels...
It's so funny)) Why did everyone walk and walk? My mother and I only put on a robe (peignoir) to wash ourselves and brush our teeth. Even at breakfast we sat in trousers, jeans, and a T-shirt. I am writing in the past tense because my mother is no longer here. I only wear a peignoir in the morning or a robe before bed. And during the day, if I’m at home, I wear a T-shirt or shirt with jeans.
I completely agree with you! And in general, a really strange argument.
A robe is always easier and faster to put on, but all T-shirts, pants, etc. etc. require more time and body movements. Life is simply easier.
In my opinion, robes have already faded into the background, remaining only as a bath accessory. I haven't seen people walking around the house in a bathrobe for a long time. Except for grandmothers, of course.
I ask the author, Victoria Pyzhova, to tell me where and when the photograph of the women for this article was taken? Isn’t it in the Altai region and isn’t it in the city of Aleysk?! The fact is that one of the women in the picture is my mother, but maybe I'm wrong? I'm seeing the photo for the first time. I was amazed!
Hello Nadezhda! Can you please clarify which photo you are talking about?
I don’t like dressing gowns, I just look like a woman in them and my men don’t like dressing gowns either. But I wear cotton lounge pants with a T-shirt, and pajamas at night. For me it is comfortable, beautiful and stylish.
For a full day of work, the “dress code” is exhausting. When changing clothes, you get the impression that you’ve taken off your calch. If you’re sitting at home, you can wear jeans and a skirt. But try slipping into skinny jeans after work and not getting out of them until nightfall.
WOMEN only wear a bathrobe to the bath and back. When no one is there, you can relax - watch TV and drink coffee. And old women and women always wear dressing gowns at home. That's the whole difference. And further. IN SOVIET times, NORMAL women did not wear a robe “for guests”. Perhaps in the village, but who looks up to whom... If I see a neighbor in a dressing gown during the day, it means she is sick. Because she is a WOMAN, not a woman
It’s a shame to say: I won’t stoop to a robe...Have you even seen the models of robe?! Such a variety... these are home dresses, with ruffles, frills, with sleeves, without, puff sleeves, wings... Lovely homemade WOMEN's images... And you can't lie down in a robe during the day - it will wrinkle, but your home panties do just that: from the table to the sofa...
When I enter the house, I immediately change into a dressing gown, taking off my formal clothes, relieving stress and fatigue. A dressing gown means relaxation and comfort. My husband and son wear shorts at home. And this is relaxation that no other clothing can give us.
When my teenage son got up to go to the toilet at night, he always put on trousers. We lived in a communal apartment then, and although I said that everyone was sleeping, run in your shorts. he still pulled on his trousers. And so all the time. And he never appeared in front of his mother without clothes. I think this is correct.
I scream loudly with stupid comments like: “I won’t stoop to dressing gowns”, “Only grandmas wear dressing gowns” co-co-co) Only soviet complexed women with wretched stereotypical thinking say this. If in your remote villages wearing dressing gowns at home is considered bad manners, then for us city dwellers it doesn’t matter who dresses how, we have completely different concerns.
In our family, for example, it is not customary to wear dresses and pants around the house; women wear dressing gowns, men wear sweatpants, and this has always been the case. Our relatives and friends also run around the apartment in bathrobes. When guests arrive, of course, we change into “dress clothes”. A normal, confident person will not care about how he looks in his home or what others might think of him.
And for the stupid women who cackle that only villagers wear dressing gowns - I am a tenth-generation Muscovite, my mother, grandmother, great-grandmother all wore dressing gowns at home and their husbands did not run away from anyone. But it’s customary for provincial women to dress up at home, in the store, for a walk, etc. The farther from civilization, the more show-off. It is a fact.
People, stop forcing yourself into boxes and living in stereotypes, be free from other people's opinions and stupid prejudices. If you feel comfortable in a robe, wear a robe; if you feel comfortable in a ball gown, then wear it. Love yourself for who you are and ignore other people's opinions.
When babies are small and you have to breastfeed, a robe is just right. Then only in the mornings and evenings. With age, only spacious nightgowns provide comfort, so that nothing is tight or in the way. When there is no one, I only wear them. I can’t sleep in nighties, they get in the way. But I have never worn aprons and never will. The most normal thing to do after preparing food is to change clothes, because the smells of the kitchen are very absorbed into the fabric. None of the normal people receive guests in bathrobes. And the most convenient thing (just a secret) is that I go almost naked when no one is there. In any season. And so I wait for these moments to feel the primitive freedom.)))
Right. who cares what you wear at home. in shorts, trousers or a robe. I abandoned the dressing gowns when I got tired of sewing on buttons. As soon as you bend down, one or two fly off. I'm wearing dresses right now. beauty. ordinary dress. no excess. You can go out to the store in it, fortunately it’s under the house. you don't have to go far. and looks neat.
I really like the robes.I have a lot of them.
Wow, how excited the topic was!
And I love robes. I have plenty of them. With buttons, zippers, ties. Thin and warm. And I bribe you from time to time - I update my home wardrobe. But I also have dresses and skirts for going out. This is how I feel like a woman. Trousers, breeches, shorts are available. But I rarely wear them.
I once asked my husband: Can I walk around the house dressed up and wearing high-heeled shoes? Also in films, people often click around the apartment. Wrinkled his face. I’m closer and dearer to him in a robe - soft, warm.
A woman in a robe is the same as a woman in pajamas...