On the Twelfth Day of a Feminine Christmas
For me, Christmas ends on January 6th, which is Epiphany and the day my daughter was born. It is only then that the leftover ribbons and papers are put away as well as the decorations stored for another year.
It is also this week that I generally begin wearing my flannel sleepwear like the young ladies above. Lanz was the company that produced the nightgowns I wore in my teens and they were much heralded in Seventeen Magazine. It was also the gown of choice in my all-women college dormitory. So many flowers and always that trademark ruffled yoke…
Lanz still exists today and can be found on the Eileen West sleepwear site. There are still the traditional pastels and laces which make the brand so nostalgic.
One of my favorite Christmas films, Remember the Night, has a terrific flannel nightgown scene. Barbara Stanwyck, who plays a petty thief, spends the holiday with Fred MacMurray and his elderly mother and aunt at their weather-beaten country farmhouse. Just as Stanwyck takes a slinky negligee out of her suitcase, MacMurray’s aunt hands her a toasty cream-colored flannel gown for her to wear on a frigid Christmas Eve. Stanwyck roughly balls up her silk number and tosses it aside for the welcoming flannel.
When a friend of mine married a while back, her mother took her shopping for lingerie. My friend chose a modest flannel nightgown for her trousseau which was not what her mother had in mind. But my friend, Barbara Stanwyck, the young women in the image above and the women in my college dormitory, knew that flannel is a girl’s best friend. Especially for Christmas and after…
8 Comments
Fran M.
I suddenly realized I am no longer receiving your blog posts. It’s possible I accidently unsubscribed. Just in case I tried to resubscribe but the “Subscribe” link does not seem to be active. When I click on the link a page opens with many blog posts in single-spaced small type along with word processing commands. The top of the page states “This XML file does not appear to have any style information associated with it. The document tree is shown below.”
I would love to be on your mail list again. Is there an alternative way of subscribing?
Cherre
Hi Donna, that is such a neat story! Makes me want a flannel nightgown now.
Susan
“Remember the Night” has become one of my favorite Christmas movies. It makes me both laugh and cry, and who wouldn’t want Beulah Bondi for their mother?
Amy
I look forward to the day I can wear flannel nightgowns and use flannel sheets again! Alas I am in the season of life that features hot flashes…I wore a sleeveless summer nightgown last night. The temp outside is 16F and we keep the bedroom at 60 but no flannel for me 🙁
Meesha
You had me at the photo😊. We hardly ever see beautiful flannel nightgowns as those. I still love and try to collect those old fashioned beauties. Lace and ruffled collars, delicate florals and pretty plaids all in cozy flannel? They’ll never go out of style for me.
Tracy
As I sit sipping my coffee at a very early morning moment before work today, I had to comment.
Last weekend at my local Salvation Army store, a blue plaid Lanz of Salzburg flannel nightgown was hanging off to the side on one of the racks, not with the other sleepwear.
I recognized the familiar lacy trim at the neckline and yoke from my long ago red Tyrollean gown I had as a girl from my mother.
As I was walking toward it I was hoping it would be my size and it was!
I sit here this morning in it. Other than a button missing, it is just perfect. I had forgotten the little hearts that are a part of the lacework. I am charmed by this little gown all over again.
Thank you for reminding us of the true meeting of Christmas and that it extends beyond the 25 of December and its meaning is so much more than society notices.
Thank you for your insight and Merry Christmas,
Karen
Oh, Tracy! Isn’t that just like God?!? What a lovely gift! 🌸
Karen
So true!! The winter temps here are positively arctic and as lovely as something silky might be, flannel wins the day. There’s something so comforting about a well-worn flannel nightie that evokes home and comfort. A wonderful Grace Livingsto Hill novel, The Prodigal Girl, features a scene in which the ultramodern flapper daughter finally gives in to donning “despised” heavy flannel nightgown, after scorning it at first. It’s one of my favorite moments in the tale. I have a few Eileen West gowns with matching robes and always feel very feminine in them. A fitting wrap-up to your series this year!