A recent Vogue article inspired me to start wearing comfortable house dresses. The article outlined the psychological power of ditching your slippers for actual shoes, like dressed-up loafers and fancy flats, while working from home. Clothes have symbolic meaning, and getting dressed up—real shoes included—is one way to help your brain feel some semblance of normalcy. But the logic extends far beyond footwear.

Through the sartorial peaks and valleys of 2020, which included weeks of loungewear followed by weeks of “real clothes,” I learned that dresses have the same transformative power. I’d throw on a dress after a weeklong sweats and pajamas spell, and feel less melancholy and more mentally prepared for each day—more productive even.

And what dress could be more suited to life at home than the aptly named housedress. These dresses are comfortable and easy enough for at-home wear, with non-constricting silhouettes, long hemlines, and comfortable fabrics. The key, however, is not just that it embodies all the aforementioned qualities, but that it will also look just as chic for all the inevitable upcoming soirées of the aftertimes. Thanks to brands like Batsheva and Hill House Home, the housedress is a closet champion that isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Here, shop the best house dresses to wear inside now, and out and about later. Throw one on and you’re instantly ready for the day ahead, even if that just means relocating to a different room in the house.