Sleeping Busty Beauty: Deco Delight Chemise from Freya Lounge

After I finished photographing the first ten nightgowns that I’m going to write about here, I asked my husband which one he liked the most. He picked the Deco Delight (that I had serendipitously discovered at Town Shop–don’t you love it when you can try something like this on in person before purchasing?).

I like this chemise, too. Unlike the Sweet Dreams, the neckline does exactly what it’s supposed to do. However, like the Sweet Dreams, you can see that the “secret support”  and underbust line just barely contain my bosom.

The Large/E-G, below right, was slightly better in this regard, but I preferred the overall look of the Medium/E-G, below left.

With my husband’s vote and the nice fit, why didn’t I keep this chemise?

First, the fabric feels polyester-y (it’s 51% nylon/polyamide, 9% polyester, and 10% elastane). It’s thick enough to conceal most bulges, and it drapes attractively, but it didn’t feel breathable for hot summer nights. (For comparison, the Sweet Dreams is 96% viscose and 4% elastane.)

Second, it’s grey. They can call this one “dove grey” to make it sound prettier than the Sweet Dreams charcoal, but why not choose one of the other nine Universal Colors that flatter most people? It’s not like we need a practical neutral to match other pieces in our wardrobes. Sleepwear is one of the few places where we can be indulgently fanciful and impractical about color. It just needs to make us look good. Unfortunately, this shade of grey causes the chemise to fail three of my criteria: it doesn’t make me look good, it isn’t pretty and feminine enough (for me), and it falls more in the realm of functional than fantasy and pretend.

Unfortunately, I don’t see any hope on the color horizon. Not even from the chemise version of the Freya Pansy that is scheduled to ship in November and December. It is, sadly, only sized by S, M, L and XL with no concession to cup size. However, since it’s manufactured by a full-bust brand, I want to try it . . . just in case.

Since at this point in my search I hadn’t fallen in love with any full-bust-specific nightgown, I wondered if I would have better luck with mainstream brands. That’s what I’ll write about next.