Its a housecoat

[Helplessandheartbroke]

Dressing gowns are silky and posh like Hugh hefner style. Warm fluffy housecoats are housecoats not dressing gowns.....

I am sure I have seen some lunchtime assistants wearing these in the last few years. I love the word tabard.

Pinnies don't have arms - they're more like a dress version of a tabard.

housecoats have arms and poppers/buttons - padded for over your night things, or thin for over day clothes for cleaning.

I had these when working in a school kitchen about 10 years ago. Very useful things. I may have borrowed one to use at my cleaning job handy for keys and things.

I should have done a breakfast dinner and tea thread too 😂

Start WW3 why dontcha 😂😂

I'm southern (mentioned as I suspect some terms including housecoat have different regional uses/meanings). If someone said "housecoat" I would think of as a thin long sleeved dress with poppers up the front worn over clothes to protect them during housework, a bit old fashioned now. I'd also use the term "overalls" rather than housecoat although my 11 year old daughter refers to dungarees as "overalls" so it's all a bit confusing.

I would use dressing gown to refer to any sort of robe worn over nightwear/swimwear or to clothe oneself between showering and dressing (either for the day or for bed). A towelling dressing gown I may also refer to as a bathrobe. A silky dressing gown I might also call a kimono although not technically correct. Fluffy or waffle fabric gown is always a dressing gown although I note in hotels and spas these are "robes".

My mum used to wear housecoat/overalls for housework and cooking (she also worked as a podiatrist from home and had white versions for work) until the early 80s but after that preferred an apron or a double sided apron she called a "tabard" (patterned for housework and white for podiatry).

Thanks for that trip down memory lane!

Ooo I can see tabards have already been mentioned. When we were little and had outgrown pelican bibs but too young and squirmy to keep napkins on our laps, we would wear tabards at mealtimes to keep our clothes clean. My mum made them herself out of brightly coloured tea towels (one front, one back) with fabric tape ties on the sides.

Housecoats were flowery nylon coat style indoor garments with poppers usually that you could wear for housework

My mum used to wear a pinny though, all day

I love a good debate. You've not changed my mind its still a housecoat to me and funnily enough on the phone to my DM this morning I mentioned being cold in the night and her response was 'you should have put your housecoat on' loved it. Im glad its taken people down memory lane remembering their childhood and people that may no longer he here. Turned out a nice thread and nice to read the posts.

In summary- its a housecoat and I eat breakfast, dinner then tea 😂

A housecoat is with over clothes in the daytime. Like an overall to protect your good stuff. I don't think there's much call for them these days.

It is now and always has been and will be a dressing gown.

Housecoat makes my teeth itch.

No, it's definitely a dressing gown!

It’s been fun to read of the variations here. One grandmother used housecoat to refer to her floral, quilted nylon, button up number. Worn over her nightgown. She wore a pinny for housework. She would say pinafore for a sleeveless item of clothing worn over a jumper or blouse.

Other grandmother used housecoat to refer to her coverup, worn over her clothes whilst doing housework. Sometimes this was just a tabard. A waist length pinny was an apron to her. Dressing gown for over her nightdress.

Bathrobes were towelling, for obvious reasons.
Silky, lacy, glamorous dressing gowns/housecoats were negligees.
Bed jackets for having morning tea in bed.

I seem to have landed on dressing gown as the word for my fleecy one, worn over my pyjamas. All aprons should have pockets, as where would you put all those odd little things that you come across/need whilst cleaning or gardening?

I disagree, it's a dressing gown in our house.

Next ye will be wearing house shoes instead of slippers.

spot on

I quite fancy a silk kimono. Red I think with dragons on.

And a pouch pocket for your fags. 😀

Very Del Boy

Thanks everyone for joining in. My minds still set on housecoat as im 36 and its always been a housecoat (rightly or wrongly) but some interesting posts :)

Yes that is what I think of as a housecoat. My cosy hooded fluffy thing is definitely a dressing gown. A thinner silky thing I would call a robe.

I'm smiling here, OP. Loads of people I know (Glasgow) call it a housecoat, but I've always called it a dressing gown. My mammy called it a dressing gown, & she was from Govan born in 1940, so certainly not posh.

Interestingly, my SIL (and hence DN & DNe) call it their goonie (Scots for gown) whereas a goonie my house was an affectionate term for your nightie. These days I wear neither- no nightie or PJs in bed, & not a fan of dressing gowns/ house coats - I'm more of a loungy tracksuit/ leggings & oversized hoodie kind of a girl!