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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Silk nightgown available in almost any two colors you can imagine.

It’s no coincidence that when a woman dumps a man or becomes a dumpee, she often heads straight for the hairdresser. A new look is in order. Self esteem is at stake and confidence is the key to recovery. But there are times in life when confidence slips, just a little, and you’re not aware of it. Over time is gets worse, but slowly and insidiously so that when the problem finally becomes noticeable, there is no sign of the event that started it all. This hits a lot of women when they have their first child. Something changes, and even though you don’t have anything which could be described as post partum depression, you know you’re different, somehow softer, and that may not be something you feel comfortable with. I know in my own case that after my son was born I cried far more easily than I had before, and that’s something which has never really changed.The process of restoring lost confidence is a difficult one for anyone at any age, the best advice is to boost it regularly and make sure it never disappears completely. The days right after childbirth are an important time for many reasons, with so many changes in your life, feeling vulnerable and with a new baby to look after it’s easy to forget that husbands also go through a change, some begin to feel left out, others, though delighted with the child, feel slightly sad, they know the core relationship has changed and in some marriages cracks appear where in reality there is no need for them. This problem is not a trivial one in any way, and it is not my intention to trivialise it here, but I know of cases where the problem was solved, not by drugs or counseling or divorce, but by a nightgown.

I first heard from Julia when she bought a nightgown from me as a present from her daughter. It was a lovely long nightgown of lace and satin with a pretty matching robe in a beautiful shade of blue. She wanted the nightgown made so her daughter could feed her brand new baby, and we were happy to comply. I later got an email showing Marie, Julia’s daughter in the nightgown with her baby and I thought no more about it, till a few months later I actually met Julia at a business woman’s conference in Orlando and she told me the story behind her gift.

As Marie’s planned and welcomed pregnancy drew to a close Julia felt sure she saw some signs of strain. The baby was Marie’s world and when Julia took her on a shopping spree she was only interested in baby clothes. Julia suggested buying a nightgown, but Marie could see no point, so Julia decided to take action and ordered the nightgown in Marie’s favorite color. Naturally it fitted perfectly so when Marie looked in the mirror there was no baggy T shirt over a soggy stomach. Her self confidence soared. Dressed in satin and outlined in lace Marie felt good and it began to show. In only a short time, nature took it’s course, Marie and her husband discovered each other again and Julia felt that potential disaster had been averted. And all because of a nightgown.

Of course it doesn’t have to be a nightgown. The important thing here was that Marie’s confidence received a boost when it was needed. Would a trip to a hairstylist have been just as effective? I have no idea. But I do know that nightgowns are more important than you think, and nightgown therapy, though it sounds silly, is very real.

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• How to Choose Lingerie – Cotton or Silk? (luxury-nightwear.com)

It’s an easy choice, or so most people think. Cotton is cheap, practical and every day. Silk is for special occasions, it’s delicate, sensuous and definitely dangerous. Almost opposites.  So you’d probably be surprised if I told you that cotton is often the more expensive of the two, and when it comes to strength, silk usually wins hands down.

Of course there are many kinds of cotton, some combined with polyester and some just left relatively course. I’m betting you’ve had the experience of owning something crisp and cotton only to find the crispness gone when the fabric was washed. That’s because left to it’s own devices cotton is, or at least can be, very very soft. When it’s crisp it’s often because it has been sprayed with chemicals in manufacture. Washing removes the chemicals.

Cotton is derived from the fiber boll of the cotton plant and it the most common natural fiber in use in the fashion industry. It has been spun into thread, woven into cloth and dyed since before records began, but the Greeks only learned about it around the time of Alexander the Great and cotton didn’t become common in the UK until the 15th Century. In contrast the plant was cultivated in the Americas and has been found in Peruvian tombs.

Silk on the other hand is not grown, but farmed, as it comes from the cocoon of the silk moth. Legend has it that the fabric was discovered by the Empress of China when the cocoon of a moth feel into her tea as she sat below a mulberry tree. When she went to remove the cocoon she found that it unraveled and asked her servants to pull the thread out. They were amazed at the length of it and experimented with the creation of fiber and cloth. The fiber the cocoon is made from has a very odd triangular cross section, and this results in the wonderful sheen which has made silk fabric so famous and sought after that for centuries it’s production was regarded as a state secret.

But this does not answer the question. Which is better? As usual the answer depends. Silk and cotton absorb dyes differently. Silk accepts color well and can give great vivid colors which gleam in the light. Cotton on the other hand is matte and and although it dyes fairly well, never seems to become as vibrant. Printed cotton can be stunning, but hand painted silk may once again have the edge, since it manages to achieve a degree of subtlety and shading cotton lacks.

Both are ‘natural’ fibers which allow the body to breath, an important point when choosing nightwear or lingerie and both can feel wonderful next to the skin, depending on the type of fabric chosen. Cotton mixed with polyester for example can be very crisp, while cotton voile or cotton lawn are luxuriously soft. The same can be said for silk, where silk dupioni has a crisp texture while silk  charmeuse is wonderfully soft and light.

But in the 21st century women are all about practicality and for that reason silk will always be reserved for special occasions because as we all know, only cotton is a practical fabric.

But is that really true? There is a popular conception that silk is not washable. It is true that silk can shrink when washed, but actually so can cotton, and the shrinkage is usually very small. In fact most silks wash well even in a washing machine as long as they are treated fairly gently, the water temperature is low and no harsh chemicals are applied. Even silk dupioni can be washed, though it may loose some of it’s luster. Silk is actually a stronger fiber than cotton, and since it absorbs dye you can wash silk without seeing the same level of color fade as from printed cotton.

So choose you priority and choose your fabric. If you love silk but have always chosen cotton because it’s more practical, you might like to think again.  Take a look at our latest, soft lawn cotton nightgown and see what you think.

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!

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.

The stone is a vivid pink which is fine, if you like that sort of thing, but only potentially flawless.  Worse still it does not appear to be steeped in historical mystery or intrigue, being simply the centre stone of a rather boring looking ring.  Nearly 11 million dollars for that? I don’t think so.

So what if it is the most expensive pink diamond in the world? Pink is just so not ‘in’ this year.

Siren's Call, an ideal choice if you have bue eyes!

Today we have our very first ‘Guest Post’, an article from Pat Gray. I met Pat on Facebook where she’d written some information about makeup. I’ve been a big fan of mineral makeup for a while, but there seemed to be indications in the press that maybe there were some kinds to be avoided, so I asked Pat to cover that in her Blog and she did – so now I am informed!  Sadly we are on different coasts of the USA, but I hope that one day we will meet in person, in the meantime my belief is that color is a vital part of like, my own experience is that being able to choose the colors you wear and the colors around you makes a huge difference to how you feel, and many doctors agree that the way you feel has a huge influence on your health, so I recommend color – and where better to learn about color, than from an expert?

Choosing Lingerie Colors

Nothing speaks to the emotions more than color. We feel beautiful and romantic in a gorgeous, flowing nightgown. And we feel feminine with pretty lingerie under our professional clothes. When it’s time to choose lingerie, there’s more than black and white.

Black is bold, sexy and sophisticated. But black can be intimidating; and not everyone looks good in black. White symbolizes purity. White is often shown for wedding gowns and honeymoon trousseaus. However, stark white can make you look washed out and tired. Better to wear a softer white in a color temperature that matches your personal coloring. Pastels in the correct color temperature are also great choices for lingerie.

Red is a passionate and romantic color. Remember that there are many shades of red. If you have warm skin, you might want to look for a warm, coral red. If you are very fair with cool personal coloring, then a rose red will be great for you.

Good choices for lingerie are related to your personal coloring. A color related to your eye color will be fantastic. It will draw attention to your eyes. That might be a good thing if you’re a little older and you don’t want full attention on other parts of your body.

Colors based upon your skin tones are great choices for lingerie. These lovely pinks and beiges make you look friendly and approachable. Men are particularly intrigued by these colors, since it looks like you are wearing nothing at all. These are also good choices for bras and panties since these colors won’t show through your clothing.

Pat Gray, Ph.D., AICI FLC
www.patgrayincolor.com
pat@patgrayincolor.com

Thanks to Pat for her article, please remember that unlike most companies Certain Style can provide nightgowns etc in a very large range of colors. You only need to choose!

Pure, butter colored silk nightgown with a halter neck and drawstring bodice.

What sort of hairstyle gos best with a nightgown? Not surprisingly it depends on the woman, the hair and the gown. I have a lot of hair. I consider myself lucky. It’s very thick, pretty straight and these days quite a lot grey, but you wouldn’t know that to look at me because my hair, like that of pretty well every other woman over forty, is dyed.

This weekend was pretty momentous for me because the color has changed quite a lot, from a reasonably modest red (which I’ve been for as long as I can remember, with occasional highlights) to a similar red but with additional, cold black and a shock of blond. The combination is quite striking. Note the choice of words. I’m not convinced it’s flattering, but it’s definetly striking! You would notice my hair.

But the whole thing got me thinking about the role of hair in a woman’s life. Hair is so closely tied to self-esteem, there’s no greater disaster than a terrible ‘do’ on a special occasion and no greater necessity than a new ‘do’ when life goes through one of those drastic changes. If you’ve recently become a resident of dumpsville,  a hair stylist is likely to be one of your first ports of call.

I’ve had my hair done all over the world, small shops, posh salons, cruise ships, 5 star hotels, and I’ve come to the conclusion that on a really special cocasion I’d rather do my hair myself. It’s not that I don;t want to have it professionally cut and professionally colored, but I’ve never yet had my hair done for a special occasion and actually liked the result.

I’ve tried to analyse the reason for this and come to the conclusion that it’s because of my weight. Hairdressers are trained to create styles which change your face to be as close to the idea of perfection as possible. That shape has always been the oval. Fat people of course all have round faces (no of course we don’t all have round faces, but bear with me), so the ideal hairstyle for us is one which lengthens the face – perhaps just long straight hair would be best?

OK. You guessed it, I wasn’t being completely serious. While some women do suit long straight hair, it’s certainly not the ideal for a large round face, yet look around and you’ll find it being recommended to plus sizes. I was once told it was ideal  because the long sides help to  ‘cover up’ the width of the face. Thanks. Why not suggest a paper bag? That would have the same effect, we could cut out eyeholes just to be sure I didn’t trip over my plus size feet.  I once asked a hairdresser for a bright copper shade. She ummed and awed for a while until she finally blurted out that it wouldn’t be a good idea because it would draw attention to me.  Apparently that was something to be avoided. I wonder why?

So I have met a very charming man who is a hairdresser in St Cloud, Florida. I am sure that when he looks at me he can, like everyone else, see that I am overweight. However he does realise that I do not walk around in a paper bag and has done what I wanted, let me have fun with my hair. Guess where I’ll be going in future?

Am I fat? Yes.

Would I like to be thinner? Yes.

Do I feel bad  and hate the way I am? NO!

Am I putting my life on hold until I am thinner? Definetly not.

These are not contradictions. I would also like to be taller. I’ve decided not wait for that to happen either.

Apparently one of the great things about the USA is the choice of property, there are even a few bargains to be had right now. According to forbes.com some properties are going for less last years asking price: it’s now possible to pick up a 21,897 square foot Jacobean manor for only $60 million, not the $125 million it was valued at last year!

So what to choose?  A Beverly Hills estate modeled after the Palace of Versailles for only $125 million, but who wants an imitation?  Albermarle House in West Virginia is on the market for only $100 million and looks charming, but 300 acres might be quite a lot to maintain, so my vote would have to go to Aaron Spelling’s home in Los Angeles. At $150 million it’s the most expensive home in the USA, but since it’s coming up the Christmas I think the dedicated present wrapping room is pretty essential, don’t you? The entire floor which is given over to closet space should just about be enough for all the nightgowns.