Do your kids wear robes?

amother

NeonGreen

Mon, Sep 27 2021, 7:35 am

amother [ Whitewash ] wrote:

In our communities women don't go out visiting people in a shabbos robe. It's for the house. Little girls wear shabbos robes because they are comfy and easy and washable and pretty for shabbos.

I visit my neighbors in a shabbos robe. I don’t go for a walk with it, but I would go down the block.

amother

Cognac

Mon, Sep 27 2021, 8:11 am

I remember having a discussion about shabbos robes 12+ years ago with friends in camp. Some girls argued that wearing shabbos robes or comfy maxi dresses on Friday night encourages you to lounge around, I.e. laying on the couch and reading a magazine. They went on to further explain that when you are dressed in a proper outfit, you sit straighter and look and act more elegant and appropriate for Shabbos. I personally do not have daughters yet so I have not made any choices regarding my kids' Friday night attire. However, I am from a large OOT community (not chassidish or particularly yeshivish), and growing up, it was normal for girls to wear shabbos robes or maxi dresses on Friday night. Many of my friends still wear maxi dresses for comfort and convenience. I am curious if anyone can relate to that discussion that we had in camp, as it still resonates for me. I do not wear shabbos robes, but ever since pleated maxi skirts became in style, I wear a pleated long skirt and turtleneck on winter Friday nights if we do not have guests. On summer Friday nights, I usually wear a normal shabbos outfit that can be easily cleaned.
I do think that if my future daughters wore shabbos robes, I would not encourage them to sleep in them. I know it's convenient, but I think that kind of turns a dress into pajamas, not to mention how hot and sweaty I remember that being.

amother

Firethorn

Mon, Sep 27 2021, 8:27 am

They are robes in name only.
They are basically maxi dresses, which are allowed in some communities where wearing maxi dresses are generally frowned upon.
Of course it has spread to communities where maxi dresses we're always okay.
If you wear maxi dresses all the time and consider yourself dressed up, this isn't any different.

Last edited by amother on Mon, Dec 20 2021, 4:56 pm; edited 1 time in total

amother

Bergamot

Mon, Sep 27 2021, 8:33 am

SafeAtLast wrote:

And I don’t care for maxi dresses because they look like robes to me!

icebreaker

Mon, Sep 27 2021, 8:36 am

SafeAtLast wrote:

Oh you answered my question lol.

amother

Maroon

Mon, Sep 27 2021, 8:42 am

amother [ Birch ] wrote:

Lol. When I was in 5th grade a girl moved from NY to our OOT community and we became friends.
One Friday night she came to my house and I asked why she was wearing a bathrobe. She informed me that it was a Shabbos robe. Now I'm in the know Wink

I grew up oot in Baltimore in an immigrant family. Sixth grade we had a shabbaton/school shabbos type thing and it said to bring a robe, so I packed a bath robe...a pretty ratty one that zipped up but had a safety pin instead of the zipper tab lol...and when they said to change to robes and come back for the kumzitz...boy was I surprised 🙀. First time I had seen shabbos robes. Super embarrassing. (Then Rosenberg's truck started coming to Baltimore and selling cheap robes and all was good)

dankbar

Mon, Sep 27 2021, 9:12 am

For me it's very convenient for my little girl to slip into a comfy velour robe, after fri afternoon bath, when she is freezing cold from the ac. This way if she wants to nap before shabbos she could, if she doesn't & gets tired during seudah she can go to sleep in it. If you doze off on the couch after licht bentchen it's ok

dankbar

Mon, Sep 27 2021, 9:15 am

Of course it would he nicer if everyone can dress in wedding clothes to greet the shabbos hamalka, but you need to be super organized in order to coordinate & dress every one in all paraphernalia & still get to light candles timely.
I would probably stand a half hour at the closet & not find anything to wear etc.

My husband would want me rather dressed for licht bentchen, but after my last min shower, I slip into a robe & my priority is to get to candle lighting on time. Also I am sometimes too zonked at candle lighting to go get dressed into girdles & heels lol

sushilover

Mon, Sep 27 2021, 9:18 am

I'm laughing at the criticism of robes as lounge wear or too casual for shabbos. We had a guest from a different country years ago who commented on how nice it was that the women and girls of our community show such honor to shabbos by wearing "gowns" on Friday night.

The current robe style in my neighborhood this year consisted of a metallic accordion pleated skirt paired with a nice, comfortable top. Not really a robe in the traditional sense.

amother

Cornsilk

Mon, Sep 27 2021, 9:20 am

sushilover wrote:

I know of an OOT family who many years ago bought robes in town to wear to a close family wedding:)

amother

Apple

Mon, Sep 27 2021, 9:27 am

sushilover wrote:

One of my shabbos robes is actually a gorgeous long dress I wore to a friend's wedding.

amother

Cognac

Mon, Sep 27 2021, 9:41 am

amother [ Apple ] wrote:

One of my shabbos robes is actually a gorgeous long dress I wore to a friend's wedding.

I wouldn’t call this a robe, I would call this a long dress. Unless you feel comfortable laying on the couch, lounging around and possibly sleeping in it…

amother

Pewter

Mon, Sep 27 2021, 9:55 am

amother [ Cognac ] wrote:

Shabbos is yom menucha there is nothing wrong with lounging around. Nowhere does it say you need to sit up straight on Shabbos.

I find though that robes make me comfortable , not lazy or loungy.

amother

Zinnia

Mon, Sep 27 2021, 10:07 am

Back in the day, they were mostly zip up fancy velour type which makes sense they were referred to as robes, because that's really what they were, lol. I remember my class was split evenly between those that wore and those that didn't. Those that didn't would quote their parents as saying, it's shabbos you should get dressed, not just lie around in robe and slippers. To which the other "side" would retort, it was like getting dressed, they always wore stockings and shabbos shoes with it. Neither side ever won the argument lol.

But like all styles things change, and at some point people started wearing shells with sleeveless maxi dresses, and now that the style is comfy prairie ruffle type maxi dresses, makes sense that's what people wear and just call robes.