Comments on: Homage to the humble house dress

By: Eva Girl

Eva Girl — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 03:11:07 +0000

I’ve just found your post and a house dress is what I’ve been trying to find, but an up-to-date style. I love that they’re comfortable around the house, but you can still feel feminine and pretty! I’ve just posted about my version of the shirtwaist dress: http://theopulentpoppy.blogspot.com/2010/02/shirtwaist-dress.html
if you check it out, let me know what you think. I think every SAHM would love to have some of these! Here’s to the new house dress fashion trend!!!!

By: Mary Ann Caret

Mary Ann Caret — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 03:41:47 +0000

Have been searching high and low for years for house dresses ala the 1940’s and 1950’s. I had a couple when I was first married in the 50’s from my grandmother and mother….loved them. Ran across similar types in a salvage store about 7 years ago and bought 4. Mostly much too large, but, that was fine since they were just for at home wear.
I came on line because I am now down to 2. The others just finally wore out. Even for house wear.
I have bought a couple of sundress types, and dusters, and patio styles on line. The quality and the designs are not great , but, the only things available, so far.
I hope you are successful…..I have thought for years that they would be a good seller. Women get tired of always wearing pants around the house….plus, the dresses are much more comfortable and cooler.

By: fred

fred — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 07:38:29 +0000

ladies – where housedresses…men love it

By: LizPf

LizPf — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 02:51:20 +0000

I’m a SAHM (also WAHM) who would not be caught in a house dress:

- My mom wore them, always over her nightgown and no underwear. In my mind, a house dress is a bathrobe, and looks sloppy. [I loved my mother dearly, but would not copy her personal style.] I prefer to look dressed, as if I could run outside any second.

- My tactile sensitivities, and our climate (New England) favor pants.

- My “house work” is very different from that of the 1950’s SAHM. My work includes repairing toilets. tracing Ethernet wires, shoveling snow and yesterday, I was up on a ladder stuffing rock wool into framing cavities. [Sweat equity on a house remodel.] None of that is housedress work.

My “at home” clothes are a shirt (l/s tee in cool months, camp shirt in summer) and pants: fleece, jeans, or summer weight. Though I’d love an outfit like Dosfashionistas mentioned:

“There was an article in Threads about a decade or so back. A young woman living in a rural area up North designed and made herself some functional clothes for working outside in cold weather. I remember some great looking form fitting overalls with almost molded shaping for the bust and rounded pockets, very futuristic looking. But all very functional. It was a winter issue, if anyone wants to go look.”

I’ll have to try to find a photo and make a pair … I love overalls.

By: Jinjer

Jinjer — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:39:08 +0000

My former coworker Elaine had a fabulous housedress made of a heavy cotton–maybe it was for curtains, but it had an awesome & very daring print. After several years of sewing in the interior dec industry, I can say that int. dec. cottons are much sturdier than quilting cottons & often really, really cute, but pretty expensive.

Anyway, Elaine’s dress was loose in the front, but had a fitted BACK waist, and for that reason, was plenty pretty enough to wear to work. The loose front/fitted back was accomplished with some clever pleats from the shoulder. very cute.

Someone mentioned new moms as a good target market, and I concur– I was dying for a dress after I had my kid. I ended up having to make one. And if new moms are a possible market, make it easy to nurse a baby! (That front closure thing…)

By: Christina

Christina — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:28:48 +0000

When I saw that you were interested in housedresses, I about gagged. The whole time I was growing up (in the 80s, believe it or not), my mother wore housedresses of the exact same style as those on the nursing home wear website. She has finally moved on to Tshirts & flannel pants & such. Dresses that are fitted only at the shoulder & big everywhere else are as frumpy as can be.

But I do think that those more fitted 50s housedresses are awesome, and I own the previously mentioned Vogue pattern with the big pockets. (I love, love, love pockets and I adore vintage style.)

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:56:43 +0000

Do you recommend the book? DH and I are on a book buying diet so I'd have to be sneaky... While going through my vintage pattern stash, I found a cute house dress pattern that I (wisely) set aside. I'm also thinking this yellow one would be cute if it were modified to be a bit looser, add pockets and with buttons down the front. Oh wait, and this apron that could be easily modified to become a house dress.

By: Donna

Donna — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:23:04 +0000

I read the book yesterday (The House Dress, etc. etc.) and can find no similarity between what she calls a house dress and the dusters that are being referred to here. Nor do I remember my mother of the 1950’s – 60’s ever owning a duster, though she had plenty of cotton dresses for daily wear. These were simple dresses – she made them usually with a scoop neck, a close-fitting bodice, waistline seam and gathered skirt. This was pretty much what all the moms wore and they could pick the kids up from school in it and make a trip to the grocery store. These dresses had shaping darts and pockets and some detailing, like your altered version, which I think is quite cute, btw.

Quilting cotton, I have found, is not as smooth and soft and comfortable as non-quilting cotton and therefore I don’t use it for clothing.

I think the wrap-around style of dress shown in The House Dress that has ties instead of zippers would catch on, especially if it had an appealing name.

By: Marie-Christine

Marie-Christine — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:14:01 +0000

I have 2 main occasions for house dresses: 1) doing the laundry when I’m in really desperate straights 2) hanging about the house when it’s too hot to be dressed. In winter, I usually wear flannel pjs at home and lots of woolies. In summer, the plunging view many neighbors have of almost my entire current apartment make some sort of attire desirable. But I also miss the kind of outrageous prints I could get away with, even at work, in California. So my best compromise is to use them for house dresses, which works in part because I otherwise never wear dresses (so I rarely stray outside with them on). Some sort of muu-muu approach is better for climate control, right now I’m doing Japanese zakka muu-muus, they’re a bit more chic.

By the time I was a child, house dresses were baggy nylon things with little flowery prints, worn only by the old ladies in my grandmother’s village. Eeuw! My sister and I often refer to them as the lowest point of sartorial degradation. To me, they’re strictly utilitarian things which you wear instead of dirtying your good clothes, and only in the movies are they cute little printed things you might consider being caught dead in. I agree totally with Allison that better laundry facilities made them unnecessary, and frankly when I’m going to get filthy I usually just wear something too worn to wear otherwise.

That said, considering the vogue for cute aprons I don’t see why the idea of cute housedresses might not be perfectly successful as the next wave of fashion…

By: Dani in NC

Dani in NC — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:08:15 +0000

I have been thinking about adding some housedresses to my wardrobe. They seem to be the perfect garment for being comfortable and presentable while at home doing chores.