Pillowcases

A luxury pillowcase is a small upgrade with an outsized effect: it sits next to your face for a third of the day, softens with each wash, and carries the finish of the whole bed. Our collection spans crisp Egyptian cotton percale, lustrous sateen, pure linen and mulberry silk, each hand-finished by mills we've worked with for years.

A housewife pillowcase has a plain seamed edge and fits closely around the pillow, giving a tailored, traditional finish. An Oxford pillowcase has a flat flange around its edge, adding a decorative border. Standard is the catch-all term for a UK-sized 50 by 75cm housewife, the most common choice for everyday sleeping.

Silk pillowcases glide against skin and hair rather than catching, which many find gentler on hair over time and less prone to pressing sleep lines into the face. Pure mulberry silk at 22 momme and above is the standard for luxury, washing on a delicate cycle in a mesh bag with silk-specific detergent.

A weekly pillowcase change is the baseline, dropping to twice a week for anyone prone to acne or with heavily fragranced hair products. Keep a pair on rotation so one can be washed while the other is in use, and pre-wash linen pillowcases once before first use to soften the fibre and reduce shrinkage.

Silk's temperature-regulating properties make it as comfortable in summer as winter, wicking moisture away when warm and retaining heat when cool. That's part of why silk sleepers rarely revert to cotton once they've tried it: the fibre adapts to the night rather than sitting at one fixed feel.