Bathrobes explained: how they differ from dressing gowns
Molinetti
People use "dressing gown" and "bathrobe" as if they were the same garment. In a shop they often are — the same robe sold under two names. But the words do describe two genuinely different things, and knowing which one you are buying saves you the most common disappointment in this category: a beautiful robe that does not dry you.
The difference in one line
A bathrobe is made to absorb water. A dressing gown is made to keep you warm over clothes. Everything else follows from that.
What a bathrobe is
A bathrobe is, in effect, a towel with sleeves. It is made from looped cotton — terry or towelling — or from waffle-weave cotton, because those are the constructions that hold water. Its job starts the moment you step out of the bath and finishes when you are dry.
That gives it a particular set of properties: it is heavy, especially when wet; it takes a long time to dry on the hook; and it takes a hot wash, which matters for something worn on clean skin every day. See our bathrobes.
What a dressing gown is
A dressing gown goes over pyjamas, in a cold room, on skin that is already dry. It can be fleece, flannel, wool, satin or cotton, because absorbency is not part of the job. What matters instead is how quickly it warms you, how little it weighs on your shoulders, and whether it looks like something you can answer the door in.
It is usually lighter, often longer, and frequently made from fabrics that would be useless on wet skin. See our dressing gowns.
Where the confusion comes from
A cotton towelling robe is a bathrobe and a dressing gown — absorbent enough for the bath, warm enough for the sofa. That single overlap is why the two words drifted together, and why most British shops now use them interchangeably.
The overlap stops the moment you leave cotton. A fluffy polyester robe is a dressing gown and will never be a bathrobe, however it is labelled. A 550 gsm terry robe is a superb bathrobe and a slightly oppressive dressing gown.
The third word: housecoat
A housecoat is a dressing gown you can be seen in. Traditionally it fastens with buttons or a zip rather than a belt, it is cut closer, and it was made to be worn while doing things around the house rather than while relaxing. It is the least absorbent of the three and the most presentable.
Zip-front robes have brought the housecoat back, largely because a zip is far easier to manage than a knot. See our zip up dressing gowns.
So which do you need?
You get out of the bath and want to be dry. A towelling or waffle bathrobe. Nothing else does this.
You get cold in the evening and want to be warm fast. A fleece or flannel dressing gown. It heats up in seconds and weighs nothing.
You want one robe to do both. Cotton towelling at around 400 gsm. It is the compromise that works, and it is the reason towelling is the best-selling fabric in the category.
You want to sit at the kitchen table in it without feeling undressed. A cotton or waffle robe, mid-calf, in a plain colour. Or a housecoat.
A note on labels
Because the two words are used loosely, judge the product and not the name. On every product page here you will find the fabric, the weight where the supplier gives it, and the real measurements. A robe described as a bathrobe but made of 100% polyester fleece will keep you warm and will not dry you — and now you know which of those you were after.
Browse all bathrobes or towelling bathrobes.
