Nightgown in hand painted silk with short gold satin robe.

The best way to choose a see-through nightgown online is to pay little attention to the picture.  The name of the textile used is generally more useful. Chiffon is one of the most commonly used sheer fabrics, as are georgette, tulle, double georgette and organza. Lace can be quite revealing depending on the pattern, and the sheer sex appeal of bare skin behind rare black lace can not be over-stated. Avoid charmeuse and satin when looking for something transparent, but don’t reject silk and cotton, both have transparent versions.

Cotton voile and cotton lawn can both be revealing and are by no means opaque. When unprinted, voile is especially revealing. The delicacy of cotton lawn makes it ideal for undergarments. For day wear lawn garments will need underclothes or a lining, but for a nightgown it may be the ideal fabric, especially when lace trimmed.

Often used to create wedding veils, tulle is a soft transparent fabric. Tulle was most fashionable during the 20s and 30s when it was often used to make delicate peignoir and wraps. Silk tulle is very luxurious and available in a great many colors. Tulle is extremely transparent and can often be left unfinished as the edges do not fray.

Chiffon is the fabric most often used to make see through nightgowns and lingerie. Acetate chiffon can be quite harsh, polyester chiffon is practical and washable, and silk chiffon is very luxurious. A certainly wont want to answer your front door in a chiffon nightgown as a single layer of chiffon is very revealing. Chiffon garments are usually more expensive because they take longer to make. Each seam has to be doubled to prevent the fabric from fraying and reducing the lifetime of the garment.

There is one type of chiffon which is a little more subtle, pleasantly transparent rather than glaringly see-through, and this is printed or painted chiffon. The best effect comes from hand-painted silk chiffon; wonderfully sensuous and delightfully subtle, it oozes sex-appeal especially in animal print designs which are so very different from the more common printed satins. Printed chiffon is also ideal for nightgowns. Depending on the design it can vary from transparent to almost completely opaque, but still soft and feminine.

Georgette is slightly more opaque than chiffon, but also a soft drapey fabric, double georgette is almost opaque, which in some ways makes it the ideal fabric for lingerie. It gives only a hint of the body beneath. Double silk georgette has the most glorious feel. If your aim is to be subtly seductive then this is the fabric for you.

Organza is rarely used in nightgowns as it a stiff fabric, though still transparent. Quite the opposite of chiffon, organza fabric is still and will stand out from the body, but this can be stunning when designed well.

Most women like to take a subtle approach to sex. For this reason printed silks, cotton lawn and georgette are the best fabrics to choose.

Nightgown in hand painted silk with short gold satin robe.

In a word, yes.  A nightgown can be anything, from a simple cotton shift to a few patches of lace, a wisp of lace and a ribbon.  It can be modest or revealing, sophisticated or sluttish, silk or cotton, long or short. The word nightgown covers a huge spectrum of very different garments, but there’s no doubting the truth, the right nightgown can improve not only your sex life but also your sleep and your self-esteem. Nightgowns are important, not just because of the way they look, but because of the way they make you feel.

For many women, bedtime is the only time of day where they get time for themselves. Time to brush hair, remove makeup, add face cream and the all important tiny dab of perfume which helps you sleep just that little bit better.  So bedtime is a time when you don’t haev to settle for anyone else’s view of that you should wear, you can be the essential you and somewhere in the worlds huge collection of nightgowns, is one which will help you.

Nothing has such a romantic feel to it as a long sweeping nightgown, especially when it feel good against your skin and has an all important lace trim. Once of the joys of my job is reading  the emails we receive where our wonderful clients share why they decided to buy a special nightgown and how it helped them.

We recently received on from a new Mom who found she had no energy, her life was so wrapped up in her baby, and she felt so tired and unable to cope she was shutting the rest of the world out. Fortunately her own Mom bought her one of our maternity nightgowns, a practical design but in luxury fabric. It brightened her life and helped her start to take care of herself again, not just just her baby.

Another client bought her nightgown after getting divorced, and having been there myself, I understood how she felt. She knew she was better off without her ex, but the sense of betrayal, of waste, of genuine grief had left her unsteady, not sure what direction her life should take. She bought a wonderful silk nightgown in a color she loved and told us ‘I knew that if I was ever going to find love again this time it would be on my terms; somehow a nightgown says that in a way day clothes don’t. ‘  Some months later she bought a fabulous short, sexy babydoll. I didn’t ask, but something tells me her life was back on track!

So I can say with certainty from the emails I receive that nightgowns improve your sex life, and they do it in more ways than I think I can mention.

• Choose the right color and style for you, not what’s in fashion, and you know you’ll look especially fabulous.We make more styles in more colors than anyone else.
• Made to measure makes the most of your figure, emphasizing the good and glossing over the bad.It doesn’t matter what size you are, the nightgown will be made to fit.
• Mo more worries about straps that fall down or boobs that fall out. Our designs are created for real women, who actually move AND have boobs.
• No sweaty nylon or cheap chiffon, only fabric which feels wonderful against your skin. Our favorite fabrics are silks, satins and cotton lawn.
• No cheap construction, frayed hems or bows that fall off. Every item hand made just for you, and made in the USA.
• Long sweeping designs with extravagant lace trim for when you enjoy feeling every inch the romantic heroine.
• Short sexy styles for when you’d rather be the hunter than the hunted.
• Historically based styles to pander to all your fantasies.

Nightgowns can improve your sex life by making you feel glamorous and sexy and filling you with confidence in a way only a made to measure garment can.  So when you think of the word nightgown, don’t think of something your grandmother wore, think instead of nightgowns which have a certain style.

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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.

Style AND substance, our hand painted silk robe, ideal for Spring

Silk is the most romantic fiber in the world. Used for wedding and evening dresses as well as high end nightgowns and lingerie, silk is highly prized, but did you know that techniques of silk manufacture were at one time regarded as state secrets? To find out more about silk and it’s unique history, read on.

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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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Anyway, I digress. If I were going ski-ing then here’s a new expensive toy to ski with.  Bentley ahs partnered with Swiss firm ZAI to create a ‘supersports’ set of handmade ski’s – a limited edition of only 250 pairs. They are made from carbon fibre with a natural rubber core and at $9,800 for a pair are the most expensive skis available. (see the top pair, pictured)

So, there you have it. Cosy and warm by the fire in your nightgown and fur trimmed robe, or out adventuring on the peaks in your Bentley Skis? What I love about it is the fact that it makes the nightgown and robe option look so economical!

But not just any hobby. It has to be a beautiful, luxurious hobby, something worthy of your lifestyle and surroundings. Could it be collecting? Let’s face it you’re probably into that already, and while it may be elegant and cerebral, it’s not exactly an active pass time.  How about yoga? A little too physical perhaps.  Pottery? Too messy. Embroidery? Maybe a little old fashioned.

Worry not, we have the ideal hobby for you. It’s traditional but trendy, sedate but sophisticated, common, but creative. What is it? Knitting!

Once upon a time hand knitted items were reasonably common, grandmothers made them in order to save money. But time has passed and very few of us listened to grandma, there aren’t many people left who can knit, so suddenly it’s trendy, hand knitted items cost a small fortune and knitting wool has become reassuringly expensive.

‘String’ luxury yarn is made from 100% cashmere, costs $180 per ball and comes in a whole seven colors.   But if you’d prefer something even more interesting, try knitting with Quivut. Available from Windy Valley Muskox in Palmer, Alaska, this yarn is made from the undercoat of the muscox and is one of the most luxurious fibres in the world. The same company also provide my personal favorite, Alpaca, in a wonderful range of colors including pastel and jewel tones.

So it’s OK. We can knit to our hearts content knowing that, at $180 a ball, knitting with ‘string’   is a genuinely jet set hobby.

The choice, must of course be Earl Grey, drunk in the English fashion with sugar to taste and a splash of milk. (though with tea with honey and lemon might also be possible).  Imagine my joy then when I found the perfect tea pot, the ideal accompaniment not only for my morning cup of Earl Grey, but for my robe.  Happy Aladdin is only one an amazing range of stunning hand blown glass teapots from french tea specialist Mariage Freres. The names, as well as the designs and descriptions, and completely irresistible, and an absolute must have for the serious robe owner!

Paul Allens No 2 yacht - Octopus

My husband and I were having a discussion the other day. If for some reason we want to go somewhere and the Rolls isn’t available, there’s no real problem, we can always use the Aston, the Ferrari or even the Bugatti. But what do we do when the yacht’s not available? I can hardly be expected to transport my nightgowns in some cramped suitcase, or navigate the vulgarities of a commercial airline.

So the solution is of course, buy another yacht. I have to admit, I thought that would be quite an unusual idea, at $100 million or so each, luxury yachts don’t’ exactly grow on trees, but it seems that Paul Allen had the idea before us. In addition to Tatoosh, the 301 foot yacht he purchased in 2001, the Microsoft founder also owns ‘Octopus’  the worlds eighth largest superyacht. Clearly Mr Allen agrees with us that luxury needs backup. Octopus has two helicopters as well as two submarines, so no-ones going to spoil his fun anytime soon.

Of course the good thing about having two is that while you’re using one, the other can be earning. The eldest son of the President of Equitorial Guinea reportedly paid $600,000 to rent Tatoosh for a Christmas cruise.  Just enough to fill up Octopus fuel tanks.

My current favourite, 'Josephine' our Empire style nightgown. Why feel like a queen when you could feel like an Empress?

I recently realised that my closet was simply not luxurious enough for my nightgowns, but what to do? Some valuable paintings for the wall? There’s no wall space left between the hanging rails. It’s a difficult problem, I finally had to choose between a mural for the ceiling, or a brand new gold floor. Or aluminium. Or copper, or (heaven forbid) imitation gold leaf. And the best thing about all these choices is that each is available on sustainable and renewable hardwood, bamboo or engineered wood floors from ecolux.

Sounds good, and should look good too, but I’m wondering if gold is a little vulgar, or maybe too down market? Perhaps I’ll wait until the platinum version is available.