The nightgown is the oldest form of nightwear, mentioned quite late by historians under the name 'nightgown' or 'camisole'. Until this nightgown, people apparently slept naked or in the clothes they wore during the day.

It is interesting how people's way of thinking changes with the passage of time. Before going to bed, most of the time the clothes were removed, simply staying and sleeping in the ones that were underneath them (underwear like a body blouse and a nightgown). These clothing elements that were usually found under clothing, were probably the only items that were washed regularly.

According to the 'Fairchild' fashion dictionary, these clothing items were used for sleeping by both men and women, their cut being specific to each sex.

This clothing item was most of the time cut below the knees and split on the sides. Even though men generally don't wear these items of clothing for sleep anymore, until the 19th century, nightgowns were worn by both men and boys.

Can you imagine what these nightgowns looked like at their beginning? Well, most of the time the front was decorated with embroidery, they were closed with buttons up to the middle and the sleeves were long and curly with a collar that was often turned up.

Even if it may seem a little out of place, nightgowns or nightgowns tailored with great care were also part of Henry VIII's wardrobe, this being mentioned even by Thomas Kyd in the play 'Spanish Tragedy' from 1954. As an accessory not to be neglected, there were also night caps, which if we consider that they were often mentioned even in wills, they had some value. Considering that we are talking about both men and women, we imagine that these night caps were designed in a certain way for men and with a different approach for women. Thus, the caps for men were made of velvet with a sophisticated cut, sometimes decorated with embroidery and very similar to those that were sometimes worn even during the day. Different from these were the 'night caps' for ladies and young ladies, which were most often made of cotton, embroidered with lace and other frills.

Over time we see that this clothing item has undergone some elaboration, starting with the 17th century until the beginning of the 18th century, men's night shirts began to be tailored with the same attention as day clothes, with lace inserts around the neck and on the sleeves. The neckline began to be cut deeper than day shirts, and during periods of detolieu, interestingly, night clothes were worn, including black. Night shirts began to be made, including wool, which we recall were also very fashionable in the 18th century, being longer than day shirts with a collar that could be rolled up.

Over time, the approach changed, so in the 19th century, night shirts with a rolled-up collar were replaced by those closed at the neck, with buttons and no longer knee-length this time. Night caps and bonnets in turn experienced a change in approach, so they began to be colored and often ended with a tassel or mottle, if not a simple knot. White cotton caps and wrinkled ones went out of fashion, and by the end of the 19th century they all became slightly obsolete.

Like all clothing items, including nightgowns, they began to be found under all materials, including those made of silk.

From silk and nightgowns, it was only a step until 18th century fashion brought to the fore the negligee, invented by the French. Emancipated French women began to use these items of clothing as an object through which they could freely express their sexuality in their intimate space. By the 1920s, this negligee was made of satin, according to the fashion of those years, a material that accentuates shapes and highlights female sexuality more than any other material. And since things never stop there, later, translucent materials began to be used to make these negligees, which revealed the body more than they covered it, an approach that became a fashion very well exploited by Rita Hayworth, Marilyn Monroe and other stars of the time.

These were the years (World War II) when nightwear slowly transformed from classic utilitarian garments into sensual, even erotic garments, the negligee itself becoming an object of underwear that accentuated the sexuality of any woman.

Once we crossed the threshold of the 1940s and 1970s, the tendency of the negligee and nightgowns to accentuate sexuality and highlight the feminine forms became more pronounced, thus they became