You may be wearing a bathrobe yourself as you read this, but more likely than not you have little or no idea what the origins of this extremely common garment are. The term ‘robe' first appeared in 13th century France.  This word referred to a loose fitting, long garment and in particular the robes worn by the clergy. However, the word has an earlier antecedent in the German word ‘rouba', meaning clothes taken as plunder from a defeated enemy. By the 14^th century, robe came to be used as a verb still surviving in modern English in the form (as in to disrobe) the word began to be applied to the garments worn by the legal profession in the 17^th century.                                                              

The compound word bathrobe, as far as we know was coined to denote something worn after bathing and a garment worn when walking from the bath house or other bathing facility to one's dressing room to provide modesty for the wearer.

Origins of the Robe as a Leisure Garment

Somewhere in between then and now, the robe became something worn by the clergy and those in the judicial profession to being a leisure garment thrown on when lazing about the house. There are no reliable historical records of when exactly this happened, but it is known that in the late 1700s, women from the upper classes would wear a sort of decorative jacket over their nightgowns, a likely ancestor to our modern bathrobes.

Robes for leisure wear as we are familiar with them weren't to be seen in shops until the 20^th century. Until then, sleepwear was designed with modesty (and nothing else) in mind and to say these garments were plain would be an understatement.  Bathrobes really didn't begin to come into their own until women's sleepwear began to cover less and be designed to be attractive.

These 'robes de nuit' came into fashion in Europe around 1900 and were considered a fashionable part of a trousseau, adorned with embellishments, and constructed of finer fabrics such as silk, lawn, and cambric.

Not long after, bathrobes became something which men wore as well and by the 1930s, these became the standard uniform for relaxing at home. Along with the smoking jacket, the bathrobe became something of a symbol of leisure time and relaxation, especially among the upper classes.

Given the ubiquity of the bathrobe, it's hard to imagine them as such a recent invention. While the robe may be a relatively new arrival, it's something which is certain to be with us for a long time to come and today, there is a wide range of options open to us in these, the most comfortable of leisure garments.