{{short description|Women's informal garment for the upper body}} thumb|Woman's Bed Gown and Petticoat, France or England 1750–1775. A '''bedgown''' (sometimes '''bed gown''', '''bedjacket''' or '''shortgown''') is an article of women's clothing for the upper body, usually thigh-length and wrapping or tying in front. Bedgowns of lightweight printed cotton fabric were fashionable at-home morning wear in the 18th century. Over time, bedgowns (also called in this context '''shortgowns''') became the staple upper garment of British and American female working-class street wear from the 18th to early 19th centuries, worn over petticoats and often topped with an apron. Made of sturdy cotton, linen, wool or linsey-woolsey, these bedgowns were simply cut to a T-shaped pattern, and were worn overlapped in front or with the front skirts cutaway.{{Sfn|Baumgarten|2002|p=116-119}} The term "bed gown" to describe this item of clothing was used as late as 1876.{{Sfn|Baumgarten|2002|p=116}}
In the Welsh spelling ''betgwn'', the bedgown is part of traditional Welsh costume.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.peoplescollection.wales/items/8882|title=Welsh costume: flannel 'betgwn' or bedgown, 19th century (front view) [image 1 of 3]|website=People's Collection Wales|access-date=2018-01-26}}</ref>
Bedgowns lingered as fashion garments into the mid-20th century, usually under the newer name ''bedjackets'', in the form of short robes or wrappers worn over a nightgown or negligee for warmth and modesty while sitting up in bed for breakfast, reading, or similar pursuits. They had mostly fallen out of fashion by the 1960s.
==See also== * 1750–75 in Western fashion
==References== {{Reflist}}<!--added under references heading by script-assisted edit--> * Ashelford, Jane: ''The Art of Dress: Clothes and Society 1500–1914'', Abrams, 1996. ({{ISBN|0-8109-6317-5}}) *{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jSBDlSw_VtMC&pg=PP1|title=What Clothes Reveal: The Language of Clothing in Colonial and Federal America|last=Baumgarten|first=Linda|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2002|isbn=9780300095807|location=New Haven}}
==External links== *[http://www.marquise.de/en/1700/howto/frauen/18mdelit.shtml Making an 18th-century bedgown] *[http://www.manchestergalleries.org/costume/narrative.php?irn=55&themeback=1&CostumeTheme=Clothes%20for%20Work Clothes for Work at the Manchester Galleries] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20101227201808/http://larsdatter.com/18c/bedgowns.html 18th century bedgowns]
{{Historical clothing|state=expanded}}
Category:18th-century fashion Category:19th-century fashion Category:20th-century fashion Category:Jackets Category:Coats (clothing) Category:Women's clothing