The difference between a bathrobe and a dressing gown

Someone recently asked me the difference between a dressing gown and a bathrobe. I though the difference between a dressing gown and a bathrobe was pretty self explanatory. A bathrobe is used when coming out of the bath or shower and is usually made from absorbant material. Whereas a dressing gown is used when getting dressed our lounging around the house, more of a useable garment. Obviously I could go into much deeper explanations, but I have no needto do that. The friend inquestion e-mailed me this explanation of the differences between a dressing gown and a bathrobe, I don’t totally agree with the explanations, but it makes interesting reading all the same.

A fine example of a dressing gown.

Bath robes & dressing gowns are usually worn before taking a shower to cover the body or after taking a shower to dry off the water. Bath robes and dressing gowns are mostly found in cotton fabric which makes it more comfortable. But now it has become a fashion and more trendy style with elegant looks are becoming popular. They come in more variety of fabric like, cotton chenille, candlewick, the terry and micro terry bathrobes, velour, waffle, microfiber, cotton, Turkish cotton or cotton and polyesters combinations, terry chenille, polyester fabrics, polyester-cotton chenille, fleece, 100% organic cotton, bamboo and the latest fashion incorporates the silk dressing gown. The silk dressing gown lacks the absorbing quality so it is merely used to cover the body and used as a secondary garment to cover the sleeping clothes.

With the huge variety offered in the market it is obvious to get confused while making a choice of dressing gown. The dressing gown should be of soft material which absorption of water and feels smooth to the skin. It should not be clingy and the person should feel comfortable and fresh in spite of the wrap. Always look for the style, fabric and colors of the robes while buying as Even the style meets the different purpose and demands of the buyer like the kimono style dressing gowns, shower wraps, ballerina style dressing gown, spa dressing gowns, hooded dressing gowns, and beach wraps.

Beach wraps: -The beach wraps are also called as shower wraps and as the name suggests are meant to wear on beach or pools. The beach wrap for children are usually short dressing gowns which is used to cover the body after swimming. The womens dressing gown or shower wraps are tied up under the arms and the rest and falls loosely along the body.

Kimono style dressing gown: – kimono style dressing gown usually come with looser fit and bigger shoulders with a raglan style of sleeve. The kimono style dressing gown is a good choice and it can be worn on any other clothing or pajamas.

Ballerina style dressing gown: -they are the short knee length dressing gowns , they are light weight in cotton and polyester combination with the quality of wash and wear. You can wear this dressing gown to cover your clothes while doing hair or applying make-up.

Hooded Dressing Gowns: – the hooded dressing gowns are made from terry cotton or velour. These styles of dressing gown are mostly made with the heavier weight terry cotton fabric. The dressing gowns come in full length with the hood attached that fully covers the head. Even the light weight bath dressing gowns are available that comes in three quarter length

Spa Style Dressing Gowns: – the spa dressing gowns are used in spas or in home spas and are made from light weight fabric. The spa dressing gowns are used in combination with the spa wraps as both can be removed easily if going for spa treatments or aesthetic services. You also get accessories matching to the dressing gown, hair turbans, spa slippers and travel bags along with your spa style dressing gown

To see some truly beautiful and luxurious dressing gowns, why not visit us at www.kinnairdireland.co.uk.

Dressing Gown Article

I found this today and it is pretty interesting reading, although I’m not sure how accurate it is………..

PICTURE the scene, you’re with the man of your dreams, he’s handsome, he’s rich, you’re crazy for him, he whispers it’s time to slip into something more comfortable. He exits and reappears wearing a… dressing gown.

Tartan, towelling, waffle-weave or print, for some women the dressing gown is the ultimate turn-off and more effective than a contraceptive.

“Part of the reason for this is that dressing gowns signify sexlessness, says stylist, Julia Haythorn: “There are only two phases in man’s lifetime when dressing gowns look great: under 10, they look adorable, and over 60 they say ‘comforting’. Anything in between and it just looks hilarious.”

But why does the male dressing gown inspire such ridicule, when women in a towelling robe and pyjamas are still considered sexy?

“Towelling and print dressing gowns make women look cute, sexy and demure in a Doris Day type way, adds Haythorn: “But while this ultra feminine look is fabulous on women, the reverse is true for men, who are simply not appealing when they look cute and vulnerable.”

But while some women loathe a man in dressing gown, others love them.

“James Bond star, Daniel Craig did a lot for the garment when he appeared hunky and handsome in his 007 dressing-gown in Casino Royale, says: fashion photographer, Cathy Hassan: “silk robes have an alluring 1940’s Hollywood glamour that hint at what’s beneath. Dressing gowns are a much-overlooked accessory that can make a man look sexy and glamorous.

“I associate the dressing-gown, with breakfast on a balcony somewhere exotic, with views of the sea. On enjoying an aperitif, tousled from an afternoon in bed. The dressing gown represents relaxation and romance.”

Hassan believes that metro sexual men (a new breed of young man with money to spend who pays careful attention to grooming) is beginning to appreciate the dressing gown, now that boxer shorts and a T-shirt, have become the favoured bedtime apparel.

“The dressing gown is an unnecessary luxury, but essential at the same time, says stylist Jeremy Michael: “They are definitely not sexy – not the equivalent of a woman’s negligee – but they’re elegant and stylish. A dressing-gown draws a clear line between work and play.”

Back in the Fifties and Sixties, the dressing gown symbolised risqué sexiness. Heart throb, Cary Grant suffered not a jot of damage to his hunky image when he appeared in a pink marabou-trimmed dressing gown in the film Bringing Up Baby, while film stars Rock Hudson and Michael Caine regularly seduced their leading ladies in robes.

“The Fifties was an age of innocence, seeing someone in a dressing gown was a very personal, risqué image because of what it hinted at, says relationship counsellor, Jackie Fern:” This was an era when real kissing on film was forbidden, and actors had to keep one foot on the floor when doing a bed scene. Suggestion was sexy and the vision of Cary in a dressing gown hinted at sex and nudity.

“These days, we’re so bombarded with sexual imagery that men in dressing gowns just don’t tickle our fancy. With so much nudity on the television and in the media it is not out of the ordinary to see a naked male body, which is what makes a dressing gown on hunky men, look so out of place, adds Fern.

Kinnaird ist zurueck!

In  the  last  post  I  promised  to  post  the  German  reintroduction  letter  and  here  it  is  :

Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,

nach einer unerlaesslichen Abwesenheit aus dem deutschen Markt, sind wir, Kinnaird, wieder zurueck!

Seit unserem letzten Kontakt hat sich viel zum Positiven geaendert. Unsere Firma beschraenkt sich nun auf das Wesentliche, verbessert dadurch den Geschaeftsablauf und geniesst den Erfolg, den wir in der Vergangenheit hatten. Unsere treuen Kunden zoegern nicht zu uns zurueck zu kommen und wir hoffen Sie werden es auch tun.

Ueber die letzten 100 Jahre haben wir festfgestellt, dass man Chenille in einer bestimmten Art und Weise herstellen und als letzter Vorgang faerben muss, um ein wahrhaftig grossartig anfuehlendes Gewand mit einer flauschigen Oberflaeche herstellen zu koennen. Kinnaird ist der einzige Hersteller, der Chenille auf diese Weise produziert. Deswegen fuehlt sich unsere Chenille so viel besser an als andere Chenilleprodukte von anderen Firmen.

Wir legen unseren neuesten Katalog bei und hoffen, dass Sie Freude beim Durchblaettern unseres Kataloges finden werden, so wie wir Spass beim Produzieren unserer Produkte haben. Er beinhaltet eine einmalige Produktpalette ueber Morgenmaenteln und Bettjacken welche zu 100 % aus Baumwolle bestehen. Wir fuegen diesem Schreiben ebenfalls eine Preisliste und ein Bestellformular bei, falls Sie es in Betracht ziehen eines oder mehrere dieser wunderschoenen Gewaender zu bestellen. Wir akzeptieren Bestellungen durch Fax, Telefon und E-Mail.

Alle Bestellungen, welche noch vor Sonntag, dem 28. September 2008 bei uns eintreffen, werden Mitte Oktober 2008 verschickt. Wir koennen leider keine Bestellungen nach dem 28. Oktober 2008 annehmen, da dies uns nicht genug Zeit zur Herstellung der Produkte geben wuerde. Dennoch kann es sein, dass wir ein paar Produkte auf Lager haben. Dies koennen wir durch ein Telefonanruf, Fax oder E-Mail bestaetigen.

Es gibt keinen Mindestbestellwert– Kinnaird ein Versuch zu geben ist somit leicher als je zuvor.

Bitte zoegern Sie nicht mit uns Kontakt aufzunehmen falls Sie Fragen haben sollten. Wir werden versuchen Ihnen zu helfen.

Friends & Customers Overseas

Luxurious Kinnaird Chenille Robe

Since the last blog a lot has been going on. The launch of the website has gone very well and we have already supplied many existing and new customers with our luxurious chenille robes and bed jackets. If you haven’t already check out our website www.kinnairdireland.co.uk. We are now in the process of contacting our wholesale customers the world over. Below is the letter we have sent to our German customers, I’ll post the German version here shortly.

Dear Sir/Madam,

After a necessary absence from Germany, we at Kinnaird have now re-entered the German market place.

Since you last did business with Kinnaird a lot has changed for the better. The company has gone back to basics and through improved business processes is now emulating the success that it had in the past. Our loyal customers have been quick to come back to us and we hope you will too.

Over the last hundred or so years, we realised that to get a truly great feeling robe with a fluffy pile you must produce the chenille in a certain way and dye the finished garments. This is what we did 50 years ago and it is what we do today, to provide a robe which has an unparalleled feel. Kinnaird are the only chenille manufacturer to do this, that is why our chenille feels so much better. This is why we at Kinnaird still manufacture the most beautiful chenille robes and bed jackets money can buy.

We have enclosed our latest catalogue, I hope you will enjoy looking at it as much as we have enjoyed producing it. It features a unique range of 100% cotton bed jackets and robes, which we are manufacturing for delivery in the middle of October this year. Should you wish to order any of these beautiful garments, we have enclosed a price list and order form, which can be used to pre-order any item in the catalogue. We accept orders by fax, phone and e-mail.

Delivery of all orders placed before the 28^th of September 2008, will be made in the middle of October 2008. We may not be able to accept orders after the 28^th of September 2008 as it will not give us enough time to produce the order. We may however have some stock availability, this we can confirm by phone, fax or e-mail.

Dani

Kinnaird Chenille Robes Say Hi

Dear Friends,

It is great to be able to communicate with all our loyal customers, old and new friends This is our first time online and we hope to use this blog and our newly finished website www.kinnairdireland.co.uk to keep in touch with you all. We’d like to thank you for your e-mails and messages of support, it is these that have motivated us to get online. Although we have a long way to go and hope to carry on improving both our blog and website.

So I’d like to take you all down memory lane with a history of Kinnaird and chenille manufacturing in Europe.

Kinnaird was established in Ireland by the Kinnaird family in the early 1900’s.

The main business was, as it is now, the manufacture of a special type of cloth often known as candlewick. Which through our special manufacturing process was transformed into a much finer cloth known as chenille. The chenille was then used by us to manufacture robes, bedding and home textiles. To ensure the quality of these products they were all stitched first and then the product was dyed the desired colour. This gave the finished item a very soft feel, as well as colour which could not and still cannot be matched by mass manufacturing.

Through the Kinnaird family’s dedication and the skills of the workforce, the Kinnaird company prospered. Every year more and more people were introduced to Kinnaird products. The company even joined the war effort, producing blankets at a time when they were needed the most.

As our reputation spread around the world, the most renowned retailers beat a path to our door. In the UK this included Marks & Spencer, The John Lewis Partnership, Debenhams, The House Of Fraser, and many more some of whom are still trading, some have been aquired and some are sadly no longer with us. Internationally there are too many names to mention from Roches in Ireland, Nordstrom in the US, to KaDeWe Germany, our products went all over the world. The Kinnaird chenille robe became a benchmark.

This is our first time online and we hope to use this blog and our websites http://www.kinnairdireland.co.uk and http://www.kinnairdireland.com to keep in touch with our loyal customers & friends. All the items on are websites are high quality Kinnaird products, which do not fit into today’s high street criteria of low quality mass production. The internet has allowed us to reach like minded individuals who still value quality products and do not want to buy products made in countries that have no respect for basic human rights.

We have come online in response to customers saying that they would like to buy Kinnaird items, in particular the Kinnaird chenille robe, but can no longer find them on the high street.

We welcome back our loyal customers and hope that our products continue to satisfy their as they have done over the last hundred or so years. At the same time we hope to introduce new customers to our products too.

Thanks for your support,

All the team at Kinnaird.