11 of the Most Beautiful On-Screen Nightgowns

Shifts, chemises, and nightgowns… whatever they are called, these dresses are beautiful. I rank these character costumes from simple to impossibly romantic.

Elle Fanning as Catherine in The Great

Anya Taylor-Joy as Emma in Emma

Simone Ashley as Kate in Bridgerton

Keira Knightly as Elizabeth Swan in Pirates of the Caribbean

Catherine Zeta-Jones as Elena in The Mask of Zorro

Lily Rose-Depp as Ellen Hutter in Nosferatu

Kate Siegel as Viola in The Haunting of Bly Manor

Victoria Pedretti as Nell Crain in The Haunting of Hill House

Kate Winslet as Rose in Titanic

Mia Wasikowska as Edith in Crimson Peak

Emmy Rossum as Christine in The Phantom of the Opera

These may not all be “nightgowns” exactly, some are more like underclothes. Though I’m interested in fashion like this I don’t know historically accurate terms! Still, this type of dress is symbolically seductive, dreamlike, and brings to mind a transition from reality to imagination or fantasy. I like to draw characters with dresses similar to this often! It’s hopelessly romantic and feminine, and I love to embrace that sense.