DRESSING (GOWN) TO IMPRESS The pleasures of proper nightwear – Stephen Doig on Hugh Hefner’s come-to-bed style
For all Noël Coward’s efforts in championing the louche allure of a plush dressing gown, that mantle was firmly taken up – in the latter half of the 20th century and beyond – by Hugh Hefner, whose death at the age of 91 was announced yesterday. When he arrives at those pearly gates (or fiery depths, depending on your morality codes) you can be sure he’ll be doing so in the silk and velvet crimson robes, trimmed in black, that he made his daily uniform. Whatever you think of his Playboy empire (which today looks positively quaint next to what the internet offers), there’s a lot to be said for a publishing magnate and CEO who spent his days in silken eveningwear. The Silicon Valley tribe might think they bucked the corporate wardrobe trend in their trainers and polo shirts; think again.
While most men relegate their nightwear to boxers and a T-shirt, investing in proper, sumptuous nightwear is one of a man’s great sartorial pleasures. It’s particularly pertinent as we head into autumn, a season of hunkering down and enjoying hearth and home. There’s a reason pyjama specialist Derek Rose offers a silk jacquard dressing gown, trimmed in butter-soft velvet, for £1,000, and that
St James’s institution New & Lingwood’s exuberant robes – crafted hand-dyed silks in peacock palettes – sell for three times that. Away from the four-figure prices, there’s a whole roster of beautiful PJS that will elevate your bedtime routine somewhat.
And it doesn’t have to just be for the bedroom; Hef ’s louche spirit has wound its way on to the catwalks in recent years, with shirts adopting pyjama collars and piping for a laid-back, raffish air. At Dolce & Gabbana’s Alta Sartoria, a bi-annual spectacle whereby the Italian duo offer incredible “couture for men”, pyjamas and silk robes have become a mainstay, in wild patterns and sumptuous Chinoiserie prints.
Of course, we’re not suggesting you take to the streets in a dressing gown like an eccentric great-uncle – although Winston Churchill looked brilliantly rakish when he greeted the US air force in 1944 in a Turnbull & Asser velvet dressing gown and siren suit – but it’s worth relaxing the rules a touch.
There’s something ceremonial about really great night attire that – like a good suit – can’t fail to alter your stance, from cashmere gowns with a shawl collar that mimic the cut of an evening jacket to a cropped silk smoking jacket that calls for a crackling fire and a warming brandy.
So even if you don’t live or approve of the Playboy mansion lifestyle, it’s worth adopting the tropes of Hefner’s wardrobe; whether you choose to retire with a hot cocoa or indulge in activities more in keeping with his legacy is entirely up to you.