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A house dress is a type of simple dress worn informally at home for household chores or for quick errands. The term originated in the late nineteenth century to describe at-home garments designed for maximum practicality and usually made from washable fabrics. It is directly descended from the Mother Hubbard dress. House dresses are also known as dusters in American and
A house dress is a type of simple dress worn informally at home for household chores or for quick errands. The term originated in the late nineteenth century to describe at-home garments designed for maximum practicality and usually made from washable fabrics. It is directly descended from the Mother Hubbard dress. House dresses are also known as dusters in American and Philippine English
Philippine English (similar and related to American English) is any variety of English native to the Philippines, including those used by the media and the vast majority of educated Filipinos and English learners in the Philippines from adj ...
, a term which also encompasses the muumuu
The muumuu or muumuu () is a loose dress of Hawaiian origin that hangs from the shoulder and is like a cross between a shirt and a robe. Like the aloha shirt, muumuu exports are often brilliantly colored with floral patterns of generic Polynes ...
. Such dresses were a necessary part of the housewife's wardrobe in the early twentieth century and could be widely purchased through mail-order catalogues. The house dress remains a contemporary and frequently worn garment in some parts of the world.
Although an informal garment, the house dress, particularly during the 1950s, was intended to be stylish and feminine as well as serviceable. The concept of attractive house dresses was popularised in the late 1910s by Nell Donnelly Reed, whose "Nelly Don" housedresses (manufactured by The Donnelly Garment Company) established that house dresses could be both attractive and practical. The company, renamed Nelly Don after Reed's retirement, quickly became one of the most successful American clothing manufacturers of the 20th century. Some designers became known for house dress designs, such as Claire McCardell, whose 1942 ' popover' wrap dress
A dress (also known as a frock or a gown) is a garment traditionally worn by women or girls consisting of a skirt with an attached bodice (or a matching bodice giving the effect of a one-piece garment). It consists of a top piece that covers ...
was equally wearable as a house dress, a dressing-gown, a beach cover-up or even a party dress. The house dress version of McCardell's popover came with a matching oven glove
An oven glove, also commonly known as an oven mitt, is a thermal insulated glove or mitten usually worn in the kitchen to easily protect the wearer's hand from hot objects such as ovens, stoves, cookware, etc. They are functionally similar to pot ...
."Claire McCardell: 'Popover' dress (C.I.45.71.2ab)". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/C.I.45.71.2ab (October 2006)
Today house dresses remain in common use in areas where women are frequently full-time homemakers. It may also be used as an informal term for a dress that is mainly worn at home or as a leisure garment.
References
Further reading
* {{Clothing , state=collapsed 19th-century fashion 20th-century fashion Dresses