Bridal Nightgown and Robe

Barefoot Bride photo by Polina Osherov

The big thing about the web is supposed to be the opportunity for dialogue with customers. Rather than simply developing products and telling customers why they should want them, you get an opportunity to find out what the customers actually want.

I’ve come to the conclusion that many companies are paying lip service to this. They appear to be asking, but the truth is it’s business as usual, and it’s something I’ve been trying to avoid with Certain Style.

It’s my personal belief that many of the nightgowns for sale are  all about men, and not about the women who wear them. I like to feel good in a nightgown and that doesn’t usually mean exposing bits I’d rather were covered. I know a lo of your agree, but over the last few months as we strove to introduce a Bridal range, Ive also heard from women who want who have pointed out to me that sometimes their purpose in donning a nightgown is to be/feel/appear sexy, so we listened. Today we’ve just finished adding our new ‘sunshine’ collection to the website, and part of that is a our new bridal nightgown set, Barefoot Bride.  Consisting of a chiffon nightgown with tiny lace underlay, the chiffon is layered but still very revealing, fluttering, feminine but very sexy and designed for the bride who knows what she wants, and how to get it.

Of course we didn’t stop there. I like animal prints, but when it comes to lingerie they can look cheap and nasty. A great deal depends on the fabric design. As a result I was overjoyed to find a gorgeous giraffe print for our new babydoll nightgown the fabric is ultra light pure silk chiffon and probably the most gorgeous fabric in our growing collection, but we don’t have a lot, so head on over to our website a grab one while you can!

Please let us know what you think of the new collection by adding a comment below.

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Bridal Robe by Certain Style

It’s spring again and time for bridal season. You might imagine that at Certain Style we’d be wading in white chiffon and lace from the little wisps of nothing ordered by brides. Actually, no. We love brides and are happy to make whatever they want, but recently Bridal nightgowns and robes have become a lot more interesting.

Even weddings are affected by the state of the economy. While brides may spend a fortune on their wedding gown and wear it only once, their bridal nightgown is a different story. The nighttime ensemble a bride chooses for her honeymoon can be worn many times. It can easily be a more lasting memento of the wedding than the dress itself, if chosen well.

For most brides the whole of the wedding day is the realization of a fantasy, so why not use sleepwear to extend the romantic fantasy of a wedding to cover the honeymoon and beyond?  Actually it’s quite difficult to do. When you talk about ‘fantasy’ and nightwear in the same sentence, it all seems to be about men.  Fantasy nightgown? No. Think fantasy costume, french maids, schoolgirls etc.   Now there’s nothing wrong with indulging male fantasy (which is usually what it is) but what about female fantasy? Sadly many brides choose honeymoon nightgowns that end up stuffed at the back of a drawer, usually because their owners feel embarrassed or uncomfortable when wearing them. But there’s no need.

Where sex is power, romance is vulnerability. The ideal marriage is of course a mixture of both; interestingly we find that it’s the second time brides who come to us looking for a romantic nightgown, but this could well be because second time brides are often a little older, and as a result more in touch with themselves. As one lady put it to me the other day, ‘Feeling romantic is

Empire Style silk nightgown, designed for a bride and inspired by the Empress Josephine.

what makes me feel really sexy’.   We’ve been asked for is a regency style nightgown for a bride who had found her Mr Darcy, and a fur trimmed robe for a fan of Anna Karenina.  Many tall women long for the romance of a full length nightgown as those in the shops only reach mid-calf. Despite our best efforts, we’ve not been able to distill romance into a single nightgown design, but then, would we want to?

What is the ideal bridal nightgown? It’s all to do with the way you want to feel. If your romantic fantasy is very ‘Gone With The Wind’, look for a nightgown and robe in the great Gothic style, Scarlet really new how to wear a robe! If you are more tended to ‘Pride and Prejudice‘ something in silk with a high waist and small cap sleeves will give you that ‘waiting for Mr Darcy’ feeling, and if Gothic romance is your thing, a full length, handkerchief linen chemise with a deep neckline, long sleeves and lavish lace trim should do the job admirably. Brocade, trimmed with frills and lace can be very regal depending on the style, while silk velvet cut with wide medieval sleeves and a beautiful trim will make you feel like a character in the ‘Lord of The Rings’ . The fantasy really doesn’t have to stop with the dress and you’ll wear the nightgown and robe far more often!

I love my job because every garment we make is unique, just like the woman who eventually wears it. Keeping romance alive is a major part of making a marriage successful. I can’t think of many things more important that that.

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Hurray! Romance is not dead! It seems the trend to super translucent nightgowns has suffered a reverse and full length nightgowns are once again ‘in’. It’s an interesting observation. Many brides, unable to find the sort of romantic lingerie they were looking for for a honeymoon have in recent times resorted to vintage lingerie, reveling in the sort of nylon and lace which, while certainly feminine and romantic to look at is not very comfortable to wear.

Tina wearing our bloomer pajamas in pure white eyelet cotton. Can be trimmed with ribbons!

Tina wearing our bloomer pajamas in pure white eyelet cotton. Can be trimmed with ribbons!


This is Tina, from our latest photo shoot, showing off our bloomer pajamas, in pure, bridal white.
What’s interesting is that we find that although all Certain Style nightwear is customizable, so you can trim your white bloomer pajamas with the colors of your wedding scheme, most brides opt for white. Looking at this dreamy picture, you can certainly see why!

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balconyoutsftglow0256fltHelen Brown heard about Certain Style when she attended a bridal exhibition in Washington D.C. Although we didn’t have an exhibit there we had donated a gorgeous bridal nightgown and robe to a silent auction in aid of breast cancer.  Helen wasn’t successful in winning our bridal robe, but she had set her heart on it, so a week or so after she attended the show Helen visited our internet site. Although she liked what she saw, the specific item she had seen at the show wasn’t on the site (we hadn’t had a chance to photograph it before sending it out) but Helen was determined. She noticed that we had a live chat facility and she used it. On the other end of the chat, as luck would have it was Steven Charles, our principal designer.
Steven quickly reassured Helen that we would be delighted to make her the bridal robe she’d seen and what’s more as Helen had settled on a white and lilac theme for her wedding, we would line and edge the robe with lilac, or would she perhaps prefer the robe to be made in lilac brocade?
As Helen began to understand the possiblities, that the garments would be made for her and and in the color and fabrics of her choice, she began to plan, and working closely with Steven designed a trousseau including not only of nightwear and loungewear for her honeymoon, but also the formal dress for her wedding rehearsal dinner, an outfit for her mother, and matching pajamas for the attendants as a lasting reminder of the wedding.
Helen’s Choices.
For her wedding night Helen chose a white version of ‘Siren’s Call’ trimmed with lilac ribbon teamed with our ‘golden bride’ robe in lilac brocade.
For her trousseau she chose a lilac version of our ‘coral breeze’ boudoir bra and skirted pants and for her rehearsal dinner wore a version of ‘Helen of Sparta’ in lilac and gold.
Helen added a full length, white Moonlit bride with lilac ribbons and a lilac silk ’Persephone’ nightgown trimmed with white Nottingham lace.  She completed her trousseau with a lilac camisole and satin boxers set and wide georgette pants to create a pair of lounging pajamas.
Helen’s bridal attendants, her sister and friend June have each received a pair of ‘Marina’s Bloomers’ in pansy as a memento of their very special day.
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