Once you become aware of the Nap Dress, says Matthew Schneier in The Cut, “you start seeing it everywhere”. The stretchy-topped, sack-shaped cotton pinafore looks positively Pre-Raphaelite, but it has captivated millennial women. My sister owns five. Princess Eugenie wore one right after she gave birth. The New Yorker wrote an essay praising their “tranquillising allure”. (An article from Elle was less glowing – the headline read: “The Nap Dress must be stopped.”)
So why is it that so many women want to walk around wearing what is essentially a glorified nightie? The truth is there’s something romantic and girlish about them. The original Nap Dress was created by Nell Diamond, an uber-girly financier-turned-fashion designer, who “cried for hours” before her first day at Deutsche Bank because she didn’t want to wear a suit. “It hurt,” says the 33-year-old, “it physically hurt.” Alongside Nap Dresses, Diamond’s company also flogs things like crystal-encrusted sunglasses and hair bows. “I am nothing,” says Diamond, “if not loyal to my seven-year-old self.”