This article is taken from the May 2025 issue of The Critic. To get the full magazine why not subscribe? Right now we’re offering five issues for just £10.
As well as a humorist and absurdist, the great dipsomaniac Robert Benchley was also a professional slumberist. Not content with his essays for the Harvard Lampoon, the New Yorker and Vanity Fair, nor with his mastery of the Algonquin Round Table, Benchley won an Oscar for kipping.
In 1935, his comedy How To Sleep secured the Academy statuette for Best live-action short film. MGM and cinemagoers loved it, and the Simmons Mattress Company that commissioned it saw sales skyrocket. Only the Mellon Institute was miffed to see its sleep study mocked. Benchley himself said it was not much of a strain for he spent most of the time sparked out.
Anyone who has seen the film will recall four things about the figure curled up in a “kitten coil”: the dripping tap; the “midnight mosquito”; the 2am “leaping jitters” and Benchley’s eye-popping pyjamas, louder than a fist fight in a library, that even in monochrome would give any epileptic a seizure.
Today there is really only one pyjama maker worth climbing into bed with: Derek Rose. Founded in 1926 by Jack Rose, its products are still manufactured near Congleton and sold through outlets in Knightsbridge and Notting Hill. Made in silk, cotton and micromodal fabrics, they are the acme of nightwear. Unlike many old family names, this business is still Rose run.
Their Brindisi green silk or Batiste burgundy cotton pyjamas assure an elegant end to the day, whilst the blue brushed cotton stripe warms the wearer in winter. A modern favourite is the micro modal range made from tree pulp, whose breathable fibres make them comfortable and cool both in summertime and on sultry nights on sandy shores.
But don’t think dressing for bed is a peculiarly British trait. Over the Atlantic, the New York Times has turned its attention to nocturnal accoutring thrice in the last three years. There, the “Pajama” game remains less the preserve of the Sleep-Tite factory of Cedar Rapids, Iowa and more that of Old World craftsmen.
As well as to London and Derek Rose, the NYT suggests a growing number of Americans are taking their wardrobe on The Grand Tour, encompassing Austria, where the lavish, brocaded creations of P. Le Moult of Vienna are so Ruritanian that their costumier must have read The Prisoner of Zenda; Italy, where Schostal Originals has made checkered flannel molto alla moda amongst Romans; and Portugal’s Paris em Lisboa, whose soft cotton sateens of their Morpheus collection carry the wearer swiftly into the arms of that Greek god.
Burnt orange medallion jacquard is specially designed for discerning siesta seekers
Of course, sundown may mean the moment to don more than just pyjamas. Dressing gowns for many may be confined to the bedroom or hang forlornly on the bathroom door. But for some, they are a statement piece — a florid ornamentation to day clothes.
They come no more florid than the robes made by one of London’s most renowned outfitters, New & Lingwood of Piccadilly Arcade, also to be found on Lexington Avenue, New York City. Lined or unlined, New & Lingwood’s silk or cashmere creations add a dash of welcome colour to our drab days.
The fuchsia and turquoise peacock, purple and green, and Moscardino Paisley motifs are my personal favourites, but I do not think there is a single pattern on which this elegant store has ever slipped. Neither for that matter do the natty designs of Daniel Hanson, dapper denizen of Savile Row. Their burnt orange medallion jacquard is a stylish silk robe specially designed for discerning siesta seekers. Lined in scarlet satin with corded pockets and cuffs, Hanson dressing gowns cut a dash during daytime or after dark. Even over an ascetic breakfast of tea and toast, you will feel the full Monty.
As night draws on, the stars and Robert Benchley, peer down, we might with advantage consider in what to go to bed with the same care as we contemplate in what to go to work or to dinner. If you agree, call into Derek Rose, Daniel Hanson or New & Lingwood. They can show you how to look good with your eyes closed.
