The
negligee (or
négligée, French:
négligé, literally meaning "neglected") is a form of womenswear intended for wear at night and in the bedroom. It is a form of
nightgownA nightgown is a loosely hanging item of nightwear. Nowadays the term is almost exclusively applied to women's nightwear. A nightgown is typically made from cotton, silk, satin, or nylon...
; first introduced in
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
in the 18th-century, where it mimicked the heavy head-to-toe style of woman's day dresses of the time.
By the 1920s it began to mimic woman's
satinSatin is a weave that typically has a glossy surface and a dull back. It is a warp-dominated weaving technique that forms a minimum number of interlacings in a fabric. If a fabric is formed with a satin weave using filament fibers such as silk, nylon, or polyester, the corresponding fabric is...
single-layer
evening dressThe term evening dress can refer to:* Full evening dress, or white tie, the most formal civilian dress code, especially in the United Kingdom* More generally, any of various types of formal wear, including black tie and mess dress...
es of the period.
The
negligee (or
négligée, French:
négligé, literally meaning "neglected") is a form of womenswear intended for wear at night and in the bedroom. It is a form of
nightgownA nightgown is a loosely hanging item of nightwear. Nowadays the term is almost exclusively applied to women's nightwear. A nightgown is typically made from cotton, silk, satin, or nylon...
; first introduced in
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
in the 18th-century, where it mimicked the heavy head-to-toe style of woman's day dresses of the time.
By the 1920s it began to mimic woman's
satinSatin is a weave that typically has a glossy surface and a dull back. It is a warp-dominated weaving technique that forms a minimum number of interlacings in a fabric. If a fabric is formed with a satin weave using filament fibers such as silk, nylon, or polyester, the corresponding fabric is...
single-layer
evening dressThe term evening dress can refer to:* Full evening dress, or white tie, the most formal civilian dress code, especially in the United Kingdom* More generally, any of various types of formal wear, including black tie and mess dress...
es of the period. The term "negligee" was used of a
Royal DoultonThe Royal Doulton Company is one of the most renowned English companies producing tableware and collectables, with a history dating back to 1815. Operating originally in London, its reputation grew in the area known as The Potteries, where it was a relative latecomer compared to other leading names...
run of ceramic figurines in 1927, showing women wearing what appears to be a one-piece knee-length
silkSilk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from cocoons made by the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
or
rayonRayon is a manufactured regenerated cellulose fiber. Because it is produced from naturally occurring polymers, it is neither a truly synthetic fiber nor a natural fiber; it is a semi-synthetic fiber. Rayon is known by the names viscose rayon and art silk in the textile industry. It usually has a...
slipA slip is a woman's undergarment worn beneath a dress or skirt to help it hang smoothly and to prevent chafing of the skin from coarse fabrics such as wool...
, trimmed with
laceLace is an openwork fabric, patterned with open holes in the work, made by machine or by hand. The holes can be formed via removal of threads or cloth from a previously woven fabric, but more often open spaces are created as part of the lace fabric. Lace-making is an ancient craft. True lace was...
. Although the evening-dresses style of
nightwearNightwear, also called "sleepwear", "sleeping suit", "nightclothes", or "nightdress", is clothing designed to be worn while sleeping. The style of nightwear worn may vary with the seasons, with eg. warmer styles being worn in colder conditions...
made moves towards the modern negligee style (translucent
bodiceA bodice is an article of clothing for women, covering the body from the neck to the waist.The term comes from pair of bodies ....
s,
laceLace is an openwork fabric, patterned with open holes in the work, made by machine or by hand. The holes can be formed via removal of threads or cloth from a previously woven fabric, but more often open spaces are created as part of the lace fabric. Lace-making is an ancient craft. True lace was...
trimming, bows - exemplified in 1941 by a photo of
Rita HayworthRita Hayworth was an American film actress and dancer who attained fame during the 1940s not only as one of the era's top stars, but also as the era's greatest sex symbol, most notably in Gilda...
in
Life), it was only after
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
that nightwear changed from being primarily utilitarian to being primarily sensual or even erotic; the negligee emerged strongly as a form of
lingerieLingerie is a term for fashionable and notionally alluring undergarments. It derives from the French word linge, "washables" — as in faire le linge, "do the laundry" — and ultimately from lin for washable linen, the fabric from which European undergarments were made before the general introduction...
.
Modern negligees are often much looser and made of sheer and semi-translucent fabrics and trimmed with
laceLace is an openwork fabric, patterned with open holes in the work, made by machine or by hand. The holes can be formed via removal of threads or cloth from a previously woven fabric, but more often open spaces are created as part of the lace fabric. Lace-making is an ancient craft. True lace was...
or other fine material, and bows. Multiple layers of fabric are often used. The modern negligee thus perhaps owes more to woman's fine bedjackets or bed-capes, and up-market slips than to the
nightgownA nightgown is a loosely hanging item of nightwear. Nowadays the term is almost exclusively applied to women's nightwear. A nightgown is typically made from cotton, silk, satin, or nylon...
. It spread to a mass market, benefiting from the introduction of cheap
syntheticSynthetic fibers are the result of extensive research by scientists to improve upon naturally occurring animal and plant fibers. In general, synthetic fibers are created by forcing, usually through extrusion, fiber forming materials through holes into the air, forming a thread...
fabricA textile is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw wool fibres, linen, cotton, or other material on a spinning wheel to produce long strands...
s such as
nylonNylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers known generically as polyamides and first produced on February 28, 1935 by Wallace Carothers at DuPont...
and its finer successors. From the 1940s to the 1970s, the trend was for negligees to become shorter in length (e.g. the
babydollA babydoll is a short, sometimes sleeveless, loose fitting nightgown or negligee intended as nightwear for women. It sometimes has formed cups called a Bralette for cleavage with an attached loose fitting skirt falling in length between the hips and the belly button...
of the 1970s). Negligees made from the 1940s to the 1970s are now collectible
vintageVintage clothing is a generic term for new or second hand garments originating from a previous era. The phrase is also used in connection with a retail outlet, e.g...
items.
In the
UKThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
in 2004, negligees accounted for only four percent of woman's
nightwearNightwear, also called "sleepwear", "sleeping suit", "nightclothes", or "nightdress", is clothing designed to be worn while sleeping. The style of nightwear worn may vary with the seasons, with eg. warmer styles being worn in colder conditions...
sales, woman's
pajamas"Pyjama" redirects here; for cartoon character, see Vasco Pyjama; for Google Web Toolkit, see Pyjamas ; for blog hosting company, see Pajamas Media
Image:Muslim girl india1844.jpg|Muslim girl, India, in paijama and kurti, 1844....
having dominated since the mid 1980s. However, UK negligee sales are said to have been the fastest increasing sector of the market since 1998.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4076433.stm.
The word comes from the
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
négliger, meaning to neglect, to disregard or to overlook.