The History Of The Robe

Well it all began with dressing gowns in the western world somewhere around the early 1700s.  How it actually came about ie who decided it would be a fab idea to don a robe isn’t really clear.  However the actual garment itself was derived from a banyan, some say out of Armenia, some say the Far East and some the Middle East. 

What we do know is the chaps got them first, a robe was an item of clothing made typically of a rich brocade or silk and was used during their morning ablutions or in the evening when relaxing when their typical coats were just too restricting.

By the mid 1800s the ladies got a respite and began to wear dressing gowns and robes too, a break from their tightly laced corsets and suchlike.  They wore robes and dressing gowns with undergarments for breakfast, for sewing and generally relaxing, whilst of course maintaining propriety around the servants.  These were again brocade or silk quite richly adorned.

However as the industrial revolution took hold, it began to appear unseemly for the upper-classes to be seen as the idle-rich although undoubtedly some of them were.  And the dressing gown or robe were confined to morning and evening toilette.  The fabric was becoming less decorous too and more cotton robes were introduced.

This made way for the early 20th century advent of bathing robes.  A new found freedom between the wars, bathing in the sea was more commonplace amongst everybody and yet covering one’s body was still considered appropriate.  By the 1950s bathing robes were considered the only decent thing to wear on the beach.

We all know what happened after that in western civilization with the acceptance of anything goes and that period of waking, washing and working became more and more harried.  Evenings became dominated with commuting, cooking and collapsing and the cooking often reduced to eating out.

Today we have a choice of bath robes, dressing gowns and spa robes, some cotton toweling, some luxury silk robes, some very nice and others not so much.

At SoffiaB we believe in trying to regain a little of that time and wearing a robe or dressing gown even for a few minutes helps to heal the soul a little from life’s daily trials and tribulations.

Look Gorgeous, Feel Fabulous - Sophie

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