Night Gown to Day Dress: 7 Ways to Style a White Night Gown for Day
We've all heard of day-to-night, but what about night-to-day? The night gown, once a staple piece for at-home style, is now my perfect summer outfit.
As the sub-caption says, we have all heard of day-to-night, but have we thought about night-to-day? I often mention how much I love a juxtaposition in style, so it should be no surprise to you all that I love the idea of taking one of the most night-time pieces and wearing it as a day-time look. In the recent surge of coquettish style, we have seen more lace, puffs, bows, embroidery, etc., and to an extant I enjoy this ode to girlhood. But what translates the most for me in that world of style, is the subdued, more intimate version of that category: A White Night Gown. Taking something we as women would have been mortified to be caught outside of our home in recent decades, and styling it to wear out and about is the perfect example of style juxtaposition. A white night gown makes me feel clean and light and feminine during the hottest summer days (a feat to accomplish at 100 degrees). Accessorizing is very key here, because the every-day accessories are what ground this otherwise light and airy look- specifically leather sandals, oversized bags, and layering jewelry, these all create more “hardware” for the soft center piece (the night gown).
Prada is a perfect example of styling night gowns and house coats for day time. She notes that for the below collection, it was all about creating different ideas of what reality is. Theres a little surrealism to seeing someone wearing a night gown confidently out and about. I love whimsy and that’s exactly why I’m so drawn to this type of look.
Notice the leather handbags and shoes, they add a “harshness” to all of the floaty sheer fabrics-so perfect and contradictory!
Below is the first night gown I bought with the intention to wear out and about. I found it at a vintage shop here in Atlanta a couple of years ago and it’s from the 70’s. I have worn this dress so much because its red embroidery feels so special, but mostly because the airiness of the silhouette feels so romantic in style.
I love wearing this with strappy leather sandals, either a “naked” thin sandal or these new fisherman ones. They quite literally ground the look. You’ll see in the next looks that this is a common styling thread for this style of dress and is key to making me feel like its a balanced enough look to wear out.
We stopped in a well-recommended vintage/second-hand shop in Copenhagen last year and I scored big with this little embroidered night gown. The night after we flew back I actually wore it out with knee high cowboy boots and an immense feeling of jet lag! Since this night gown is more of a “mini” I really like wearing it with my flat sandals, specifically my jelly fisherman sandals (from the same shop in CPH). Wearing this dress makes me think of this well-referenced photo of Jane Birkin in an embroidered mini dress. As for jewelry, some seed pearls and beach-style beads help finish the summery out-and-about look.
A “night-gown” of the more store-bought variety- I picked up this dress from Ganni last year. It makes me feel like I could be a Jane Austen character.
This look checks all of the key accessorizing points, leather sandals, large tote bag, layered jewelry (and bonus for my self-made bag jewelry too) - plus cute thrifted bucket hat.
In the case of the dress, I also enjoy styling it back to a night time look (not of the slippers and robe style though). I love this for a hot summer evening headed out to dinner. Minimalist black accessories really elevate the white night gown-esque dress to something more chic.
Now one in the slip dress variety of night-gowns. I picked up this dress this spring from designer liquidation boutique (big score) and was immediately in love with the 30’s/40’s house dress style details. I really have started to enjoy a bit of a drop-waist detail and this dress is a great example of that. I felt like some sandal clogs and little more structured bag would be a great foil to the daintiness of this dress. Just for added measure I wanted to stack up some of my brighter beaded necklaces and add a little pop with the yellow sweater.
More chunky clogs with a dainty night dress. They’re the perfect antagonist to this dress- along with the big suede and leather saddle bag. This made me feel a little connected to days when I dressed more boho. Thanks to CHLOE’S most recent runway show I’m re-inspired to lean into my bohemian style again- as seen above!
One more look for good measure. I had to do one with a hair scarf and I thought it was only fitting to do so with my liberty of London scarf, another whimsical detail with the embroidered night dress (which is from Salterhouse). With all of the whimsy I wanted to even out the look with my dark brown studded fisherman sandals and gold jewelry, the necessary hardware.
In sum, don’t be afraid to add a little whimsy to getting dressed. Trying new things can be fun and can keep you feeling inspired. I hope to see you all floating around in your white night gowns this spring and summer.
Cheers,
xx Taylor
another great post.