Plus Size House Dresses Are Back – With a Twist
Posted by Jen Anderson on
We all remember grandma (or mom) walking around in a house dress. And cool, hip, rebellious little ladies that we were, we swore never to wear such a garment. But those house dresses were a holdover from the time when women wore dresses and skirts exclusively. Women didn't have the option of slipping into leggings the moment they arrived home. But they also didn't want to wear their nice clothes while doing the dishes.
Hence, the house dress. Sure, women's clothing options expanded in the 1960s and 70s, but the plus size clothing options at the time were...well, given the choices even I would've gone with a frumpy cotton house dress instead of frumpy polyester bell bottoms.
So we all decided that house dresses were for boring old ladies. Because our mothers and grandmothers were everything that we didn't want to be. In reality, those women were just choosing the best of their limited options.
With the growing availability of sweatpants and leggings, women turned their back on the house dress. As society in general became more casual, we kept our worn out sweats in regular rotation. And then the whole global pandemic/lockdown thing meant that we were wearing our sloppy around-the-house clothing all day, every day. It got to the point where women were putting on ball gowns to take out the trash just to break the monotony.
Suddenly, we all wanted loungewear that looked nice. We still wanted to be comfortable, but we also wanted to look fabulous while video chatting with our friends. (Longtime customers know that Vikki Vi Classics are office-appropriate and comfy as PJs. Everyone else had to play catch up.) Caftan-mania swept the land, but that wasn't all.
House Dresses are Back, Baby
And better than ever. The La Cera dresses we carry can all be categorized as house dresses, even though you can absolutely wear some of them when you go out and about.
The modern twist is that these dresses come in a variety of styles, colors, and prints. They're exciting and fun. They're anything but blah.
One thing I love about these dresses is that they work with any body shape. They're roomy and swingy so they'll never pull across your hips or tummy. Since they're designed to fit that way, they look and feel so much better than something equally roomy but shapeless.
Um, OK, but...chafing.
One big reason we turned our collective backs on dresses in general is that if you don't wear them with pantyhose (ugh) or tights, then your thighs will rub painfully. I've written before about various products that can help with that including slip shorts and silicone that you can apply to the skin to prevent friction. Those can all help here.
I've found, however, that I don't do so much walking (and sweating) around the house that I can comfortably wear dresses without any extra protection. Your mileage may vary.
But the name...
I know. You have a mental block, or you don't want to disappoint your teenaged self, or whatever. So don't call them house dresses if it bothers you that much. But don't let that keep you from wearing them. They're just too comfortable and cute to pass up.