When it comes to film festivals and premieres, I'm generally more excited about what stars are wearing. One particularly enticing trend on the red carpets is the nightie dress.
Charli XCX – of Brat Summer fame – wore a jade green, silky Saint Laurent number for the Toronto International Film Festival recently. (It's actually a playsuit rather than a dress, but I'd say it still falls into nightie territory.) Also in Toronto, Maude Apatow wore a Valentino look which bears resemblance to the alluring, fur-trimmed, embellished nightgowns worn by Old Hollywood starlets.
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Earlier in the week, perennial it girl Alexa Chung attended Venice Film Festival in a dusty pink Chloé nightie from the brand's autumn/winter 2025 collection earlier this year. The show was the epitome of boho chic, with Victoriana night gowns and lashings of faux fur.
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The always-cool Zoë Kravitz wore not one, but two nightie-style dresses for the press tour of her new film, Caught Stealing. For the Paris photocall, she wore a short, lace-trimmed silk slip. For London, an embroidered, sheer ruffle-sleeve dress. Both looks were by Saint Laurent.
The longer dress is similar to a particular style at the moment called the ‘granny nightie.’ As the name suggests, it takes inspiration from old-fashioned nightgowns made of white cotton or silk, with big puffy sleeves.
Why is the nightie so popular as of late? It's partly due to the boho chic resurgence, which favours a free-spirited, thrifted vibe. Sienna Miller, who was major inspo for this style at the time in the 00s, has been reprising the style recently in Chloé.
Nightie-style looks also appeared at the Nosferatu premieres at the end of last year. Lily-Rose Depp wore vintage Chanel couture in Los Angeles, while Emma Corrin wore McQueen in London. Due to the film's 1800s setting and many night-time scenes, the nightie made a frequent appearance – which explains the method dressing on the red carpet.
Despite its recent popularity, the nightie has been the perfect addition to an it girl's wardrobe since the 90s. During this decade it became a widespread trend to wear the slip dress – basically a negligee as outerwear. (Obviously, the nightie had existed for a few centuries before this point, and underwent stylistic changes in the early and mid 20th century to make it more in line with the sensual lingerie we know today, as opposed to the Ebenezer Scrooge-like gown.)
Whether you go for the more vintage-inspired, bohemian-adjacent style, the girlish babydoll vibe or the sexy silky slip, the nightie dress remains a favourite because it makes you look extremely stylish while being super easy to throw together. Plus, the flowy, loose silhouettes mean they're usually very comfy, too! Over the years, the style has been spotted on everyone from Rihanna to Paris Hilton: take a look.
