Why do we call it a “dressing gown”?

Why do we call a garment that men also wear a dressing gown, and which looks nothing like a dress in the modern sense of the word? The expression seems awkward as soon as you stop to think about it for a moment, yet it has endured for centuries without changing a single syllable. Its logic becomes perfectly clear once you restore each of the two words to the meaning it once had. Here is a detour into the history of language and loungewear in France, before taking a slightly different look at all dressing gowns.

Why do we call it a dressing gown: the old meaning of the word "robe"

When you ask yourself "why do we call it a dressing gown?", you first come across the word "robe". Today it evokes a feminine garment, but it long designated any long, loose garment worn by both men and women. The language still bears very visible traces of this: we still speak of a lawyer's or magistrate's robe, and the phrase "men in robes" designated for centuries those who held these offices. Etymological dictionaries generally link the term to an old Germanic word related to booty, that is, to clothing taken from the enemy. The word is still used to name a covering: we speak of a horse's coat, or the body of a wine. So there is nothing surprising about finding it in a garment found both in the men's dressing gowns section and the women's section.

Why do we call it a dressing gown when it is not only worn in bed

The second word does the rest of the work. To answer "why do we call it a dressing gown?", you must temporarily forget the bedroom: the term long designated a living space in general, the private area where one lived, worked, and received close friends and family. French has preserved a whole family of expressions based on this meaning: the lady's maid and the valet were domestic servants, chamber music was played in a living room rather than before a crowd, and a chamber of commerce remains an assembly that meets among its members. The specification "of the chamber" therefore does not say where one sleeps: it says that the garment does not go outside. It is the attire of the home, as opposed to the one you put on to face the street, and it is still the spirit of the flowing styles in the satin collection.

Why do we call it a dressing gown when the garment itself has changed

An expression often outlives the object it describes by a long time, and the discrepancy eventually becomes amusing. This is exactly what happened here: the cut, the fabrics, the way the garment is fastened, and the occasions for wearing it have all evolved, but the name itself has not moved an inch. Two detours allow us to measure this gap, one on the side of costume history, the other on the side of the rival word.

Why do we call it a dressing gown: what we used to wear at home

Costume historians describe, for the classical centuries, a loose-fitting indoor garment, often crossed and held by a belt, which one wore at home over light clothing. It was nothing like a neglected outfit: it was worn for reading, writing, or receiving guests without ceremony, and many old portraits show men posing dressed this way. Diderot even dedicated a famous text to it, "Regrets on My Old Dressing Gown", where he recounts his attachment to a worn-out garment. Asking the question "why do we call it a dressing gown?" therefore also means describing an art of living at home. Furthermore, trade with Asia nourished European fashion during these periods, and loose garments from abroad marked a part of these indoor outfits, the spirit of which can be found in today's fleece.

Why do we call it a dressing gown when others say dressing gown

The other way to answer "why do we call it a dressing gown?" is to observe the neighboring word. "Dressing gown" describes neither a shape nor a place: it comes from the verb to comb and originally designated the cloth or garment one wore to comb one's hair without messing up one's outfit. The two terms thus rest on two opposing logics: one names the room in the house, the other names the action. This explains why they have crossed paths in common usage without ever completely merging, and why French has kept both where several neighboring languages have retained only one word. No one complains about it: having two labels allows, in practice, to nuance what we are talking about. If the vocabulary of a product page leaves you hesitant, our FAQ brings together the questions that come up most often.

Conclusion

The answer to "why do we call it a dressing gown?" does not change the comfort of the garment, but it sheds light on an expression we use without thinking about it. "Robe" first meant a long garment, without distinction of gender; "of the chamber" meant "which stays at home" long before it referred to the room where one sleeps. Put together, these two old meanings give a surprisingly accurate definition of the garment: a long piece that you do not wear outside. The fabrics, meanwhile, have gained a lot in softness and ease of care since then. The next time the question "why do we call it a dressing gown?" pops up in a conversation, you will have something to say in response. In the meantime, browse all dressing gowns and choose the material that will best accompany your evenings.

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