Just to remind herself that she was a working girl at heart, Coco Chanel, the century's most famous couturiere, used to leave work in her sumptuous salon and check into the Ritz Hotel where she slept in a narrow bed in a sparsely furnished maid's room on the top floor.
With such austere sleeping arrangements it is fair to assume that she would have been horrified to see that bedding is now heavily influenced by fashion and that dressing the bed is now as much about the right colour scheme and accessories as it is about turning out perfectly folded hospital corners. "There's a new look every year," says Nancy Duffin, owner of Bottom Drawer, the bed linen shop-within-a-shop in Brown Thomas and one of the most experienced buyers of bed linen in the country. Last month she made her annual pilgrimage to Heintex in Germany, the biggest bedding trade fair in Europe. The new looks on show there make it into specialist bedding shops this year and trickle down to the increasingly savvy chain stores next year. Colours this year have moved away from the acid colours of recent times into more sophisticated colour schemes featuring muted creams, greys and navy blues. Delicate lilacs, small floral patterns and all shades of pink make up the more feminine alternative.
But by far the most exciting new look this year is bedding made from T-shirt material. "It's a very '90s idea," says Duffin. "It's about cocooning, making your bed the most relaxed place you can be and it has really taken off in America." There, the big label is Shabby Chic, but Nancy is so convinced that the super casual and naturally cosy fabric will take off in this chilly country that she has developed her own range of 100 per cent cotton knit bedding in six colours including a French navy and a very sophisticated charcoal grey.
The fabric is so soft and warm it is destined to become the new flannelette now that that most winterish of bed coverings seems to have gone the way of its natural bedfellow - the candlewick bedspread. Prices range from £45 for a double duvet cover to £10.95 for a pillowcase and £18.25 for a sheet. So directional is jersey knit fabric in the bedroom this year that those newcomers to the linen closet, dress designers, are using it. Jasper Conran's new J Home range of bedding for Debenhams includes a cotton jersey knit range in a broad stripped pattern, with pillowcases at £20 and king-sized duvet covers at £150.
The super relaxed look of T-shirt material will appeal to anyone whose idea of making a bed is throwing the duvet in the direction of crumpled sheets. Other dedicated followers of bedroom fashion will have to be a great deal smarter if they want to take on layering, which is by far the most stylishly fashionable way to make the bed. In addition to the basic sheet and duvet, this involves one, or better still, two, extra blankets in co-ordinated colours and contrasting textures. As fleece is now one of the most popular high street fashion fabrics, it's not surprising that it has found its way into the bedroom in the form of cosy textured, vibrant coloured throws. Arnott's new season range includes fleece throws in either 100 per cent cotton or a cotton acrylic mix for around £60 for a double. The colours are bold and bright to co-ordinate with a range of bed linen.
The beauty of layering is that it makes for a very individual look - particularly if you mix fabrics - by adding a velvet throw, for example, or mixing plain new sheets with antique lace bed linen.
If all that sounds a bit too Merchant Ivory for your taste, you could go for a more streamlined contemporary layered look. Upmarket Italian linen company Redaelli has developed a total look that matches the bed linen with the actual bed. Their super luxurious pared-down layered look comprises a pure linen duvet cover in grey and white with metal cufflink fasteners for £295, teamed with a cashmere and alpaca throw for £175, on top of a waffle-finish duvet cover and pillowcase all on a matching steel bed with a knitted headboard . . . for £2,000 from Bottom Drawer.
According to Michael Howard, the linen buyer at Arnotts, bed spreads are on their way back but this time they are quilted, made of the same fabric as the duvet cover and designed to match or co-ordinate with the rest of the bed linen and indeed the room. "Dorma produces 25 new patterns twice a year," says Howard, describing one of the most successful mid-range bed linen companies. "The sheer number of styles they produce gives an indication of just how trend-conscious bed linen is now and it is a sign of how popular quilts are that every style now includes a co-ordinating quilt." These quilts are a bit of a puzzle. They're usually the first thing you throw off a bed in a hotel room and at home people use them purely for decoration to be taken off before sleep. But before you buy one, it's worth asking about the quilt's heat potential as some come with the same tog rating as a summer weight duvet, making it comfortable to sleep under with just a sheet and a light blanket.
With fashion in bed linens now changing nearly as fast as catwalk fashion, the most stylish way to bypass any trends is to hunt down antique bed linen, which is now so sought after that the days of rooting it out in the local jumble sale are long gone as canny collectors have most likely got there before you. Specialist shops are now springing up to meet the demand. Lavender & Linen in Urbana in Temple Bar stocks antique linen with double sheets costing up to £300 a pair - and they're so sought after, they're usually snapped up the moment they come into stock.
