Quick Facts
- French:
- “careless, neglected”
- Related Topics:
- Dress
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negligee
Negligee of silk by French design house A. Felix, 1880s; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.
Negligee
clothing
Negligee, informal gown, usually of a soft sheer fabric, worn at home by women. When the corset was fashionable, the negligee was a loose-fitting gown worn during the rest period after lunch. Women’s dresses were also referred to as negligés after the Restoration of Charles II in 1660, when the trend was toward loose fashions characterized by “studied negligence.”
This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.
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