Myrtle Claus
The bathrobe. An object that is rarely used in the Netherlands. I mainly associate it with lazy, wintery Sunday mornings. Or on nights out: after a shower, you put on your bathrobe before putting on your party outfit. And the bathrobe or robe reminds me of the hospital, one of the few places where you come across this item of clothing in great numbers. But otherwise it plays a minor role in the existence of most Dutch people. Usually, if you already have one, the thing hangs on a hanger somewhere unused and forgotten.
The Italian bathrobe: a prominent existence!
No, take the Italian bathrobe. He has a much more rewarding existence. You can say that where someone can get wet, a bathrobe is often not far away. For example, in the swimming pool. Or queuing for the showers at the campsite. You even have the chance to meet them on the beach!
But you mainly find them in a row in the bathroom at someone's home. Because the bathrobe in Italy is anything but an unused piece of terry cloth with sleeves. It is an indispensable part of the bathing ritual. A bathrobe is part of showering and bathing like soap, shampoo and hair dryer! It is the bathroom-filling drying accessory par excellence for the average Italian.
Why towels? You use it to dry your hands, right? Or, if you really want to give them a place in the shower, to wrap your wet hair in after washing? But not to dry your whole body with?
The culture gap in our bathroom
The bathrobe in our home therefore symbolizes a real culture gap. In which I compete alone as a towel fan against three fervent bathrobe supporters. Despite my frantic efforts to convert the offspring to the towel from an early age.
Not without reason: it's easier to regularly wash and dry a pile of towels than bathrobes that, even on the sunniest summer days, are not completely dry in the evening after a day of fluttering on a leash.
But there was no cure for it. They thought I was a downright annoying mama when I wanted to wrap them in a giant, soft bath towel after showering. No, cold, use it yourself, where is my bathrobe?
Because according to my roommates you at least stay nice and warm with such a bathrobe. An additional advantage is that drying after showering is child's play: all water droplets are absorbed automatically! What do you have to do with bending and stretching to get every spot dry? Just put on a bathrobe, relax, without fuss!
Cultural differences between the low countries and Italy. Laura Pausini even performs in a bathrobe.
Open to new experiences
So of course I tried it in the past, the bathrobe after showering. You still want to give such a new experience a chance, despite your doubts. Why cling steadfastly to old habits when entire Italian tribes use such a coat? They wouldn't do that if it wasn't fun, would they?
So I yanked my 20-year-old but still as good as new bathrobe out of the closet and tried it out. But it was three times nothing. Not in summer. And not in winter either. What's nice about walking around with a more or less drying body in a jacket that, on the other hand, is getting wetter? Leaving a trail of water droplets where you walk with feet and legs getting colder because your bathrobe doesn't reach your ankles. What's nice about it if you have trouble getting your still damp body dressed and you're still cold?
It does have an advantage…
That is why three of the four bathrobes that are now hanging in our bathroom are regularly thrown in the wash. Mine hangs neatly on the hook. Occasionally it can also be put in the washing machine, if the white is not so white anymore because of hands being dried on it instead of on the towel. Because you don't necessarily have to use a towel for that.
And just as my housemates cannot get out of their bathrobes, I continue to prefer such a nice and large and soft bath towel. So that I am quickly dry and dressed again after showering. Without getting cold. The luxury advantage of this culture gap? I don't have to share all those piles of bath towels in the closet with anyone else. No arguing over who used my favorite towel.
That was different in my pre-Italian life!
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