If you're a chronic over-packer who has found yourself leaving behind Australia for warmer pastures, fashion's latest obsession might be the solve to your heavy suitcase woes. The nightie dress is as lightweight and airy as they come – a piece that takes up little space, requires minimal styling, and somehow manages to look chic wandering cobblestone streets, thrown over a bikini, or heading out for dinner.

Yes, once confined to bedrooms and Jane Austen adaptations, the nightgown has officially slipped out of sleepwear and into the streets. Fashion has long borrowed from the bedroom, from the lingerie-inspired slip dresses of the 90s, to our more recent love of lace-trimmed silk mini shorts. The latest piece to escape our nighttime routine and be deemed wardrobe-worthy is a little less fussy, defined by soft cottons, delicate lace, and loose, flowing shapes. Worn as is, you'd be forgiven for thinking you'd actually just happened upon something in your grandmother's wardrobe – but throw on a pair of Tabis and perhaps a bandana, and you've got yourself something seriously chic.

RUSSH's Isabelle Truman wrote several seasons ago about fashion's “saccharine return to girlhood”, and with the renaissance of the nightie, it seems we're still collectively yearning to slip into something subversively innocent, romantic and youthful. It's not just in fashion either: TikTok is awash with creators on a mission to inject whimsy back into their lives – be it through something simple like switching to corded headphones, or adding sprinkles to meals where you wouldn't expect them. The nightie dress taps into that same desire, allowing us to embrace fashion that feels less serious.

Like most trends of this kind, the nightgown has roots on the runway. In addition to Chloé's dalliance with Pride and Prejudice-coded pieces, labels like Simone Rocha have continued to romanticise the undone, with floaty, bedroom-inspired pieces gracing the runways on their Spring Summer 2025 runway. At Mirror Palais, nightgown dressing is the entire ethos: slinky, nostalgic, and impossibly pretty. Even at Miu Miu, where underwear has long been outerwear, models walked in slips reminiscent of nightgowns, paired with oversized coats and socks, as if they rolled out of bed and straight onto the runway.

Off the runway, Dôen is arguably the biggest proponent of the trend, delivering flouncy cotton style after flouncy cotton style, season after season. They've even collaborated with Kaia Gerber's Library Science on a cotton mini that makes us want to grab a good book and lie down in a field somewhere.

 

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Speaking of It-girls, Gerber is not the only one to make a case for the nightie. Olivia Rodrigo's love for babydoll style nighties is well-documented, while Alexa Chung, Amelia Gray, Devon Lee Carlson, and Bella Hadid are among other fashionable women making a case for the vintage-inspired piece.

 

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Want to follow in their footsteps? Shop our favourite nightgowns, below.

DÔEN Lelia nightdress

HELSA Voile Daylight Nightgown

COU COU INTIMATES The slip dress in white cotton voile

POSSE Charlotte Mini Dress

FAITHFULL Cristina Midi Dress Mila Lace Ivory

CIAO LUCIA Edeme Dress

JUILLET Lucy Dress

CHLOÉ Ruffled floral-print cotton-voile mini dress

RIXO Marlice lace-trimmed silk maxi dress

PRADA Embroidered linen dress

MY MUM MADE IT Lucienne Cotton Gown

DEIJI STUDIOS The Bow Dress

MIRROR PALAIS Colette Baby Doll Dress in Lemon Drop

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Feature image: one, two.