Men's Nightshirt (Pajamas & Robes)

One garment covers the whole job. A nightshirt is a loose shirt cut long, finishing between mid thigh and just above the knee, which on most men means 38 to 45 inches measured from the shoulder seam. No waistband appears anywhere, and usually there is no full button front either, only a placket buttoning to mid chest so the shirt pulls over your head.

Openness is the design rather than an accident of it. Nothing closes around the legs, so warm air rises out at the hem while cooler air enters, the same effect that makes a loose robe feel cooler than a fitted shirt. Side slits cut 6 to 10 inches up from the hem let you draw your knees up without the cloth pulling tight across your thighs. Woven cotton at 3.5 to 5 ounces per square yard is the usual choice, since a knit would cling to a damp back and undo the point. Length is a genuine trade, because longer covers more and rides up more.

Set beside the Woven Pajama Set, this removes a waistband pressing on your stomach, which matters after abdominal surgery or with reflux. Sleep Pants answer the opposite half of the problem. A Waffle Robe covers you the same way in a hallway but is not built to sleep in. Where a full set leaves two garments to wrestle at 3 in the morning, a nightshirt leaves one.

Hot sleepers and men in humid climates take the clearest gain, since legs left open shed heat faster than any fabric moves it. Recovery from surgery or injury suits a garment with no waistband and nothing to pull up over the hips. Limited mobility counts too, as one piece is easier to manage than two. A cold room is the wrong setting, where bare legs turn 60 degrees into a long night.

Check total length against your own height rather than trusting the size label, because a shirt sized for a man of 5 foot 8 sits at the hip on someone 6 foot 2. Look for side slits and a hem finished with a double row of stitching, since that hem gets pulled every time you turn over. Wash warm and hang dry, and buy pre-shrunk cloth, given that losing 3 inches of length changes what the garment is.