I must admit that I am a rather indolent fellow on the weekends, at least when it comes to getting dressed. I regularly spend mornings in my study dressed in my pajamas, which would be fine except that I somehow misplaced my one and only dressing gown after I put it aside to be altered at the end of the winter before this one. And the room is cold, particularly with the windows open to let out the cigar smoke, itself a necessary state that keeps me out of divorce court.
So, notwithstanding my declaration of two years ago that the dressing gown is dead, that chill has led me to think again about robes and their uses, which include a bit of extra modesty for those times when a man stumbles out into the kitchen to make coffee and discovers that his houseguests have been awake for an hour.
Now robes come in three basic types: cotton, which has modesty without warmth and is likely to wrinkle when you look at it; silk, which would be ideal if any of the cloth merchants of my acquaintance offered the paisley stuff that would let one delude himself into thinking he looked like a contemporary version of Noel Coward; and wool, or preferably cashmere, like the Derek Rose made-to-order-only robe in the photo. Unfortunately, there is a considerable price £1,999.99 ($3,000 now that the pound has dropped a little) attached to the Derek Rose version.
Fortunately, robes are the province of the shirtmaker and mine has his workshop in Hong Kong, which offers the potential for some considerable savings. And, sure enough, when asked for a general cost for a cashmere robe Joe Hemrajani of MyTailor quoted $1,800 (£1,200) and sent several cashmere books along to illustrate the fabric choices. The remaining dilemma is whether to choose ten ounce/300 gram cloth or the considerably heavier 15 ounce/450 gram stuff (camel colored of course), and that is much less stressful than the question of how to squeeze Derek Rose level prices out of a clothing budget that is already completely committed into 2012 or thereabouts.
This may signal the rebirth of the dressing gown in at least one household.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
The Rebirth of the Dressing Gown?
Photo: Derek Rose
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13 comments:
This is a cool robe but it's very royal. I would be truly honored if you gave your poetic advice on my blogs of poetry and follow them.
Grant Guda
The Wannabe Poet
http://thehumanicana.blogspot.com/
http://humanicanagold.blogspot.com/
I have a dressing gown, similar to the one pictured, that I purchased from Bullock and Jones years ago.
Oddly, its mainly worn on the weekends as well.
But my question is- being a cigar smoker myself, how did you a) ever convince Mrs. B to let you smoke in the house? and b)how do deal with the never ending comments about smell?
Frustrated in Alabama (but smoking),
ML
I have a terry-cloth robe -- frankly, it is more than my in-laws deserve ... ;-)
Make sure they do the intricate braiding and tasselling on the ends of the belt and that they like the robe the way that Charvet and Sulka did.
Hmm. I have a terrycloth cotton robe that goes on top of pajamas, and a vintage unlined silk (and rayon?) smoking jacket that functions as a dressing gown (or lightweight sweater, depending on one's point of view).
I'm a Fred Astaire fan, and he wears dressing gowns in some of his movies. Whenever he takes one off, he's fully dressed, except perhaps for a tie. Dashing, dapper, and debonair all come to mind when I see him in those gowns.
I, for one, would love a proper dressing gown, and am looking forward to seeing what you get.
The dressing gown dead? Such an indolent thought.
Thanks for highlighting the the use of worsted cashmere for dressing gowns. Maybe I'll get to making one (considering I can get the fabrics for £20/m-ish) once the storm of academic demands pass in the next few weeks.
I currently use is a friend's hand-me-down knitted sportsweight long cashmere jacket/cardigan as a dressing gown-cum-bed jacket. The knitted structure sheds any wrinkles. Luckily the yarn is high quality as it has not pilled for the past two years despite the daily trashing. So, maybe consider knit dressing gowns as well?
The dressing gown is most definitely not dead.....I wear one most days (wool in winter, cotton in summer) for my early morning tea. The problem is finding heavy wool versions for the winter rather like those tartan numbers Sherlock Holmes used to wear....they seem to have disappeared. I bought an expensive (about $750)wool dressing gown from Paul Stuart about two years ago and the back gave out this winter developing a 6" rent.....I'm sure Dr Watson didn't have this happen to him.
At least for the colder weather, a Pendleton wool robe (made in USA, washable, available in black or black watch plaid, $198. plus shipping) will last for generations and fulfill most of the needs expressed. While I'd love to consider myself a Fred Astaire or Will Boehlke type, it is especially hard to maintain that illusion on a Saturday morning. So, the robe rather than the dressing gown for me.
I saw a couple of paisley silk robes when I was visiting Bergdorf Goodman in New York this fall.
About the cigar smoke, I find that if you put out a bowl with a few drops of spirit vinegar in it, the smell of smoke disappears. Then I just open the window for a few minutes and the smell of spirit vinegar is gone as well.
Looking forward to your next post!
/M
"Mikael said...
I saw a couple of paisley silk robes when I was visiting Bergdorf Goodman in New York this fall."
.....I saw one on a stand in there yesterday....very 221B Baker Street....but I think Sherlock would have sticker shock
" Ludovico said...
At least for the colder weather, a Pendleton wool robe (made in USA, washable, available in black or black watch plaid, $198. plus shipping)"
.....I'll look it up
The Pendleton will last forever. Brooks Brothers used to do a nice one, too. Navy with piping or grey chalk if I remember.
Go with the lighter weight. If I'm that cold, I throw on my full-length camel hair polo coat. Just a comfortable as any robe.
The best robe I've seen recently is the gray one worn by the central character in the final scene of the Tom Ford movie "A Single Man"
For myself I wear a cheap one I picked up on Chinese New Year. It's red and kind of vulgar version of an Asian boxer's robe, but it will do.
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