FASHION

The luxury of a great dressing gown

Comforting, cosy and decadent — a good robe never lets you down, so make sure you invest in the right one

Marilyn Monroe at the Ambassador Hotel in New York, 1955
ED FEINGERSH/MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES

Kate Reardon

Monday March 27 2023, 12.03am, The Times

I have a blue towelling dressing gown. It’s not particularly swanky but it is long, thick, soft, somehow generous, and it has a hood. It never, ever lets me down. It brings me joy every single time I put it on. It’s something entirely alone and apart, the experience of which can’t be sullied by a bad day, loss of wi-fi, a cold, a sulking child or a disappointing mortgage rate.

If you want your life to improve it’s marvellous to think big picture, big events — lose a stone, win the lottery, meet the love of your life who thrillingly loves all the same TV shows as you do and can sleep through snoring. On the other hand, the aggregation of marginal gains is more often where the magic lies. The practice was made famous by Dave Brailsford, the coach who took the British cycling team from depressingly average to spectacularly successful: look for tiny, incremental improvements in every aspect of your daily life. First of all they’re easier to achieve and when you add them together the effect can be almighty.

A truly great dressing gown brings active pleasure at least twice a day, so make sure you love yours. Don’t just mindlessly tolerate the one you happen to have always had. On a pure, practical, cost-per-wear basis there is nothing else in your whole life of clothes that will earn its keep like it. They usually last for many decades, often a lifetime — mine’s older than Harry Styles.

Why not go seasonal and get one for winter and one for summer? You can really dig into this. Even the most Cromwellian would find it hard to self-flagellate over a nice dressing gown or two. And yet… and yet, the mere thought of one feels decadent and wonderfully louche. A good dressing gown is a great luxury.