Jenny Brown Designs: Betty Draper would approve

Earth mother vs. working woman

I am somewhere in the middle, doing the best I can to find a balance

A little over a year ago I was confirming plans with Jack- we would be going to Mother's Day brunch with his sister and her family and his parents, who were in town. "Did we (read: you) get anything for mom?" he asked before stopping in his tracks, looking at our infant son and then back at me, "oh" he said, defeated, "you know I don't have anything yet for you".

Jack is not a shopper, he actually hates shopping, and I am admittedly hard to shop for.

And I love shopping. I don't ever really buy much, but I love going to stores, skimming the racks, petting the scarves, smelling the perfumes, trying on hats, and rings and bracelets, holding up dresses in the mirror... the list goes on. And I haven't even started on the home stores yet.

"Rest assured, my love, I know exactly what I want for Mother's Day"

Months before while I was still pregnant we were in Naples and I was tootling downtown while Jack played golf. There is a wonderful store that has been there forever called Gattle's that sells some furniture but mostly linens and every thing you would ever need for your bed, bath and, yes, beyond.

Well past this store through a little courtyard there was another Gattle's store filled with nightgowns, robes and lingerie. I love this kind of store.

Okay--love/hate--as I still have flashbacks to my mom dragging me to one such store for my first, um, fitting, and being felt up by this older round woman with big bleached bouffant hair who smelled of poutpouri and Virginia Slim Menthols. Shudder.

Lucky for me there was not a sales person in sight. I actually remember the store being sort of dark, as if all of the nightgowns were sleeping. I walked through the empty store petting, as I do, until I came across the softest, finest cotton I had ever felt. I looked to see a rack of the most beautiful night gowns by a company called Celestine, in cotton candy pinks and blues, so thin they were almost sheer. I was dismayed to see that they cost around $300--for a nightgown??-- but did not doubt their value. Just my willingness to spend that much. So I left empty handed with the memory of those beautiful gowns tucked away in my mind.

Growing up my mother and grandmother always wore nightgowns and robes. The 'nighties' were usually long and the robes varied in shape, style and function. Invariably there were always the favorites, and the rest hung in their closets for my sister and I to dress up in when the mood struck.

Now that I too was a mother, it was time to stop sleeping au natural and invest in some serious sleepwear. I had found the Celestine nightgowns again on the top floor of Neiman Marcus right next to the children's section. As I had not a grain of modesty left after having, and caring for, a new baby, the time was right for me to clean up and remind myself, my husband and our new child, who wears the dresses in the family. That would be me.

So after brunch Jack and I made our way to Neiman Marcus with Pierce in tow and bought my first Celestine nightgown. They are made in Germany and the sales person assured me that, A. I would never sleep in anything else ever again and B. it would last forever. I had trouble finding any online retailers but their website does list stores that carry them: www.celestine-cosmetics.de

My first purchase- they recommend hand washing in French Lilac Handmade Laundry powder, air drying overnight and Ironing with French linen ironing water. Riiight... Tide Free and Clear on the gentle cycle will have to do...

Earlier this winter I was back at Neiman Marcus in the lingerie department during their last-call sale and found, at the end of the rack, this beautiful nightgown on sale for just over $100. How could I resist?

Detail of the neck, and image of the short version of the same nightie in white, below.

Oh, you naughty girl.

But what about dear old dad, or in my case, Jack, you ask? Father's day is approaching and we should get something for him too, no?

I suppose. So, perhaps we just go with a bed-clothes theme for this Hallmark holiday. I bought Jack a set of Ralph Lauren pajamas at Bloomingdales years ago for his birthday or our anniversary or something. My dad wore proper pajamas and one can always use a set- especially when the whole family gathers in Michigan each summer and we all come down for coffee in our robes. While I am pretty sure he has never worn the shirt, he does wear the pants (and I do too- so comfortable and roomy) with a white undershirt or one of the five remaining t-shirts he still has from college. This is, in all seriousness, a good look. I only wish I bought the matching robe.

Here are the favorites I have found online but I think you will find much more if you actually go to the stores (and better deals too--sleepwear, I have discovered, does not get much screen time on the old www).