Thursday, August 02, 2007

Nightgowns

This photo was taken in 1969 in the little house in Provo that we lived in after the House of Do Chung. I'm not sure why Harry took it - I think we were clowning around. The nightgown in this picture has nothing to do with the story that follows - but it's the only photo I had of me in a night gown - at least that I could find!

(And this nightgown was pink tricot - it came from Barbizon. Roseann used to work there, and so I got nightgowns from her as gifts. And they were lovely nightgowns too.)

But I thought about it when I got home last week. I took a clean nightgown out of the drawer and realized how old and shabby it was. I have considered tossing it many times.

I remembered then that it was bought when Hannah was a year old - so it's over 20 years old now. But it has a history.

We were in St. George - it's the year I missed Hannah's first birthday - we celebrated it a day early, because I was leaving on the Greyhound for Provo and a mini-reunion with my old BYU roommates. It bothered the other kids, but I don't think Hannah cared!

Anyway, for Mother's Day, Harry and the kids had gotten me a beautiful Eileen Fisher white cotton nightgown. Eileen Fisher is expensive, but this had been on sale. I loved it!! I was sure I would wow my old roomies with my exquisite taste in nightwear - as opposed to the way we used to dress in the dorms!

They did indeed admire it - we met and stayed at a fairly new hotel in Provo - had a wonderful all-night gab-fest. Then we parted company again the next a.m. (It was indeed a "mini" reunion in all ways!)

When I got back to St. George and got ready for bed that night, I discovered that I did not have my beautiful Eileen Fisher gown! Yikes! Horrors!

I promptly called the hotel, but to no avail. The gown was gone! (Obviously some savvy co-ed, working as a maid at the hotel, knew a find when she found one! At least I hope it just didn't end up in the D.I. bin!)

The biggest problem was getting a new nightgown - I'm not a pajama wearer - as all who have lived with me will attest - and we couldn't find a summer nightgown anywhere in St. George! (20 years ago they didn't have the outlets there or malls.)

We had K-mart and Christensen's! We finally found the one I pulled out of the drawer last Saturday - it's white with lavender flowers and a Henley-type neckline and lavender binding on the cap sleeves and bottom. It's getting pretty thin and threadbare.

But it sure is comfy to sleep in!

I could tell a lot of nightgown stories now that I think about it. Do you have a favorite nightgown? Does anyone but me still wear nightgowns? (They must, they still sell them!)

Enquiring minds want to know!

7 comments:

hanner said...

I don't know that anyone wears nightgowns any more. But I sure do like to joke about yours. Life would be turned upside down if you started wearing pants to bed.

Eliza said...

Theo wears nightgowns occasionally--maybe once or twice a week. Bonny sent him a couple from Baby Gap that I really love and that still fit him.

When he was teeny and couldn't move his legs much (and we changed his diaper at least once a night), he wore nightgowns every night. Now he usually wears blanket sleepers, because our AC has 2 settings: off (and then the whole place is hot and stuffy), or freezing.

I love nightgowns, but not especially for sleeping in. They get all tangly.

grannybabs said...

And what I like about nightgowns is being able to curl up your legs inside them. Pajamas, believe it or not, make me feel exposed!

Phoebe said...

Too bunchy for me, but my babies don't seem to mind!
I remember wearing nightgowns as a kid and when I would get in bed they would spark because of the static electricity.

bonny with a Y said...

I like the IDEA of nightgowns, but I'm not so into the practicality of them.

I did like them as a child - very Little House on the Prairie

And all my babies wore them the first couple months of life.

But you should always wear a nightgown , Mom, as Dad should continue wearing nightshirts (it's so Bill Cosby!)- you two are quite a magnificent pair.

Miss Five said...

I do believe that the Terrills are the only people on the face of the planet that can make nightgowns and nightshirts work, style-wise.

Hooray for you and your nightgown!

Donna said...

Barbara your pose reminds me of something out of an old movie. Love it. This is Mary blogging under Donna's
name.