A bedgown (sometimes bedjacket or shortgown) is an article of women's clothing for the upper body, usually thigh-length and wrapping or tying in front.

Bedgowns of lightweight printed cotton fabric were fashionable at-home morning wear in the 18th century. Over time, bedgowns (also called in this context shortgowns) became the staple upper garment of British and American female working-class street wear from the 18th to early 19th centuries, worn over petticoats and often topped with an apron. Made of sturdy cotton, linen, wool or linsey-woolsey, these bedgowns were simply cut to a T-shaped pattern, and were worn overlappped in front or with the front skirts cutaway.

In the Welsh spelling betgwn, the bedgown is part of Welsh national dress.

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Bedgowns lingered as fashion garments into the mid-20th century, usually under the newer name bedjackets, in the form of short robes or wrappers worn over a nightgown or negligee for warmth and modesty while sitting up in bed for breakfast, reading, or similar pursuits They had mostly fallen out of fashion by the 1960s.

References

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Jane Ashelford: The Art of Dress: Clothes and Society 1500-1914, Abrams, 1996. (ISBN 0810963175)

External links

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• Fishwives' costume at the Tyne & Wear Museums
• Making an 18th century bedgown
• Clothes for Work at the Manchester Galleries

History of clothing (Western fashion) | History of clothing (Europe) | Jackets