I discovered something about bathrobes the other day.
I am a person who owns three bathrobes. Two are warm and fuzzy - one white, one burgundy, and one is an incredible, retro, red with white polkadots, short polyester job that I got at a thrift store in Berkeley from a clerk who didn't want to sell it to me because she wanted it for herself. I love them all.
But I hardly ever wear them. I take the red one on trips (It packs well.), especially if I'm going to have a roommate.
But really, when you are just at home, who wears a bathrobe?
You see ads for bathrobes, with people wearing them and doing things like watching movies. But who wears a bathrobe to watch movies? Nobody. There are countless things that are less annoying to wear while watching movies. (See: recent Snuggie craze.)
The truth is that bathrobes are good for really one thing: wearing from wherever you've taken a bath to wherever you're going to get dressed, when there are people in the house whose presence requires your modesty.
I discovered this recently because the shower in our master bathroom died. And, of course, the plumber can't come to fix it till after this weekend when we're hosting overnight guests.
Which means that we're all sharing the main (guest) bathroom. And that is what a bathrobe is for. And that is why people hardly ever wear them anymore. Modern houses are built so that practically no one has to share a bathroom. There is no need for a garment for traipsing up and down the hallway in after your bath.
It's a little sad. But I think we could make bathrobes more useful again if we could get Congress to set aside some stimulus money for installing hot tubs in every American home.
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4 comments:
Dude, Mom wears a bathrobe every morning.
hmmm. I am going to have to disagree. I have two robes that I wear with great frequency. One if a thick, terrycloth robe that I use everyday when I get out of the bath/shower. I don't use a towel for my body, just put the robe on my dripping body and it dries me (I do use a towel for my hair). I keep the robe on until I get dressed. My second robe is a plush, velour robe. It is very warm and snuggly (though not absorbent like the terry robe), and I wear it on winter mornings when I don't have to shower and get dressed right away. For me, it's not about modesty; it's about drying off and/or staying warm.
Yeah, I wear my bathrobe alone in my apartment every day. Keeps me warm while I dry off the rest of the way - I hate going straight from shower to fully dressed.
Hmmm... Clearly I underestimate the degree to which I had my finger on the bathrobe pulse. I am happy someone wears them.
I have to say, however, that the idea of not drying off completely with a towel as soon as you get out of the shower (or even mostly before) makes me shudder. A lot. I believe strongly in complete drying. To the point that I use my hair dryer on my toes.
You can do what you like, of course, but please don't mention it here ever again.
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