FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Yes, The Sleep Shirt is closing down. After 13 years of running an independent business, making beautiful clothing, rising to challenges and building a community of people who love and appreciate well-made, comfortable clothing, our founder Alexandra has decided to wind down the brand. The Sleep Shirt will be closing down in 2024.

Our founder, Alexandra, has written a statement about why she is closing down. 

We have carefully managed our inventory so that we are winding down with what should be enough for people to stock up on their favourites, and not leave too much left over. We're offering discounts on our existing inventory, you can xxplore the latest offers on our Sale Information page.

Your gift card is valid for as long as we are still selling products on our website.

Certain items may be restocked until the end of February while we handle returns. However, beyond that date, we won't be restocking any of our products.

If you encounter difficulty applying a store credit along with the current promotion, please email us with your discount code, the products you want to purchase, and your shipping address. We'll be happy to create a manual order for you. Please note that we are unable to apply store credits to orders that have already been paid for under any circumstances.

You'll find all of our shipping information on our Shipping Page.

You can read all about our refund and exchange policy here.

You'll find all of our shipping information on our Shipping Page.

Here at The Sleep Shirt, we are known for our nightshirts and so that is always our first recommendation. Our classic nightshirts, the Short Sleep Shirt and the Long Sleep Shirt are always our best selling items and they are the ones that people tend to try first.

That said, if you aren’t a nightshirt type of person, then the other two items we’ve sold like crazy over the past few years are the Lounge Pant and the Sleeveless Nightie. We’ve not tried to reinvent the wheel with the Lounge Pant, we’ve just made a really classic pyjama pant in good quality fabrics, which are actually surprisingly hard to find. The elastic waist back makes this comfortable and nice to sleep in, and the drawstring makes it a bit adjustable. Our Sleeveless Nightie is a one size flared nightdress with a gathered neckline and drawstring detail at the back which allows for lots of adjusting.

Please note the measurements on our website are of the garments and not of the body size.

We include measurements for each style; we suggest you try a measurement at home to better compare the sizes to something you already own. For our classic Sleep Shirts or tops, take a non-stretch long sleeve top (a button up shirt or blouse, for example), and place it on a flat surface. If it is a button-down shirt, make sure the shirt is buttoned up. Measure the chest from armpit to armpit to get the flat measurement, or double it to get the circumference. Then, compare this measurement to the ones we have on the profile of the style you're considering. Keep in mind, we like our stuff a bit oversized so our pieces often leave a lot of ease (the measurements are bigger than the actual measurement of the body) to leave lots of room for movement and comfort.

For our shorts and pants, you’ll want to measure the waist and hips. Many of our bottoms have elastic and/or drawstrings, allowing for many body types to fit comfortably. The hips, on average, are the widest part, so that’s the measurement that is the most important. Take a similar style of pant in a woven fabric, lay it flat and measure the waist straight across. This is the flat waist measurement, like the one we provide. For a hip measurement, move lower to the widest part of the pant. This is usually about  6” down the side seam from the top of the waistband. You can get the flat measurement here, or double it for the circumference.

The Petite size is a smaller version of some of our classic shapes designed for a person who is smaller in body size as well as height. For example, our Short Sleep Shirt is often available in One Size and Petite. The Petite version is best suited as a nightshirt to someone with a smaller frame and who is less than 5’4″. However, many of our “One Size” customers wear the Petite nightshirt as a shirt. Its smaller body and shorter length make it ideal to be worn as a day shirt though it would likely be too short to wear as a nightshirt without bottoms. We recommend choosing the Petite size for sleepwear if you normally wear smaller than a US size 4 and are not taller than 5’4″.

This is the dilemma a lot of our customers face, so we will try and help you out a bit. First of all, consider your height. The model in the photos is 5’10” or 5’11” so the Short Sleep Shirt looks pretty short on her, but most of us aren’t blessed with those heights, so on an average height person (let’s say 5’6”) the Short Sleep Shirt will fall just above the knee. It is perfect for sleeping in and hanging around the house, but if you are like our founder Alexandra and you’re chasing kids around and staying with the in-laws, you may want to go for the Long Sleep Shirt. It falls below the knee and offers a bit more coverage.

The Long Sleep Shirt is also better for winter if you live somewhere cold (and your heating isn’t on super high.) If you’d like your nightshirt to be a little cheeky (we won’t say sexy since we’ll be the first to admit that our nightshirts aren’t the sexiest of sleepwear) then go for the Short Sleep Shirt. You’ll show a bit of leg but you will still be really comfortable.

The winter plaids and flannel sleepwear definitely add that extra bit of cosiness that feels really great in the winter. All of our items have a fabric rating in the bullet points, and there’s a page on our website that explains the different fabric descriptions. Use that page as a guide when choosing fabrics.

Both our linens and semi-sheer fabrics (like the Swiss Dots) are very lightweight. They not only make for great sleepwear when it’s warm, but offer a softer more gentle drape of the clothing. Check out our linen sleepwear and our lightweight cotton sleepwear. All of our items have a fabric rating in the bullet points, and there’s a page on our website that explains the different fabric descriptions. Use that page as a guide when choosing fabrics.

Some of our fabrics are durable high quality cottons and they take quite a lot of time to break in. It is really important that you don’t judge the fabric when you take it out of the bag, as it will probably feel a bit crunchy. Once you’ve worn it a few times and washed it a few times, it will start to soften. We normally suggest at least 5 washes before you start to notice the fabric softening, but you also need to be patient, as sometimes it can take even longer than that. We know it seems crazy to wait that long for your nightshirt to feel really soft, but as we explained above, our products are long-lasting and it takes a bit of time to break them in perfectly.

We had those who live in warmer climates or who sleep warmly in mind when we introduced styles without sleeves. Our Sleeveless Nightie and Pocket Nightie have both been very popular, partly for this reason. But we’ve also found that the linen can be surprisingly cool on a warm night due to it’s lightweight and breathable nature, so it’s worth giving a linen nightshirt a try! You might be pleasantly surprised. 

Many women find that some pieces in our nightwear collection can carry them through pregnancy and nursing. Our nightshirts are roomy and often fit during the beginning and middle of pregnancy, as well as postpartum. The nightshirts' placket opens low enough to allow some access for nursing. Our best items for breastfeeding mothers would be the Sleeveless Nightie, which has a drawstring neckline that can easily be opened up wide, or our Ankle Length Sleep Shirt and Classic Shirt, which can both be unbuttoned as far as needed.

Yes! We are proud to carry an extended size range for our key shapes. Shop the plus size collection.

The Sleep Shirt has a large selection of modest sleepwear. The Long Sleep Shirt and Ankle Length Sleep Shirt both have long sleeves, high necklines and fall below the knee, while our Full Length Sleep Shirt is floor length and features a high neckline and a three quarter sleeve. As a brand we strive to offer a selection of modest feminine sleepwear in our webstore year round.

We certainly do. Most of our linen and lightweight pieces work as beachwear, resort wear, and sleepwear. We've made a selection of our favourite pieces to be worn poolside, including oversized linen shirts and luxury beach kaftans. Here is our selection of beachwear.

Yes! We have a small selection of men’s products in our men’s shop. It’s worth noting that the Short Sleep Shirt is a unisex shape, so if you’d like it in a fabric that is not available on the men’s page, you can simply shop from the women’s selection.

The Sleep Shirt’s head office is technically based in Vancouver, Canada, and our studio is there. Alexandra, the company’s founder, lives in Sweden with her Swedish husband and their kids, but she travels regularly to Canada and the team also meet in London or New York for meetings. We are an international company but technically, we are Canadian.

We are a Canadian company that was founded in Vancouver and it is important for us to support our local economy and use local businesses. It also helps that it is much easier for us to work with factories that are nearby and that we can visit regularly. We tend to like to drop in on them to make sure everything is going well.

Some people think our products are expensive and we understand that The Sleep Shirt isn’t a brand whose prices are necessarily accessible to everyone. Our sleepwear is all made in Canada where people are paid a fair wage, and as a result, our products cost more than if we made them overseas. Most of our fabrics come from Japan or Europe, and that also contributes to our pricing because high-quality fabrics from Japan and European countries do not come cheap. 

Lastly, we are a small company and our quantities are not very big, which means we can’t force factories to lower their prices for us. That does mean you end up having to pay a bit more, but on the bright side, it means that you won’t likely run into many people wearing the same nightshirt as you, and you can feel good about supporting fair labour practices.

Of course, we are going to answer yes to this question, but we are also going to elaborate a bit. Our products and fabrics are very high quality, so the cost per wear is going to be quite low. Unlike a pretty dress or a crazy pair of high heels, our nightwear is a product you can wear every day. For example, the classic Short Sleep Shirt or Long Sleep Shirt in our Oxford Stripe is probably going to last you at least three years. Let’s say you wear it 200-250 days per year, that could mean up to 700 wears before the nightshirt is worn out. If you paid $245 for a nightshirt, that means it is only costing 35 cents per wear!

We can’t guarantee that all of our nightwear is going to last 700 wears, but Alexandra had her original nightshirt from the first collection, and she wore it over 700 times before it needed some mending at the armhole. After that, she got another few months of wear out of it before it started to come apart and she turned it into a nightshirt for her daughter. Lighter weight fabrics may not last as long, but if they are on rotation with two other sets of pyjamas and are cared for properly, you can expect them to last at least three years. We suggest you consider cost per wear when you are looking at our price tags, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Our shirts do not come with a replacement button however we are happy to send you one if needed. We believe it is less wasteful to send out spare buttons with all of our shirts, especially since our buttons are well sewn on and don’t fall off very often. If one of your items loses a button, please email us on info@thesleepshirt.com and give us the following information: the name of the item you purchased or a photo of it and your shipping address. If you can, include your order number but if you purchased your The Sleep Shirt item elsewhere, then this is not needed. We will then send you a replacement button in the mail.

UPCYCLE by The Sleep Shirt is a new sustainable step taken by the company to reuse leftover fabric from seasonal production runs. The collection consists of affordable home textiles and accessories made from luxurious cottons and linens. The fashion industry creates millions of pounds of waste fabric every year and founder Alexandra Suhner Isenberg wanted to make sure that The Sleep Shirt was not contributing to this waste of materials and resources.

The Sleep Shirt’s policy has always been to use leftover fabrics where they can on extra sleepwear during seasonal production runs. However, small rolls of waste fabric continued to accumulate and so it was decided to find a productive use for the remnant rolls of the high-quality fabrics used in the sleepwear collections. Working with small, female-run production units across Canada, it was decided to find a productive use of the high-quality fabrics used in the regular collections. The Sleep Shirt designed and produced a collection of reusable napkins, tea towels, aprons, and laundry bags made from the adorned sleepwear materials.

Shop the UPCYCLE collection.

Our clothing is packaged in plastic poly bags. We are currently looking for a non-plastic alternative but many of our retailers require the clothing to be packaged in plastic bags for protective reasons, and our production runs aren’t big enough to have separate packaging for our online store and for our retailers. Some of our clothing come with cardboard inserts and metal clips. We used to have plastic collar stands but these have been phased out, so you won’t find them on any of our newly released products.