My Hill House Nap Dress Review – Is It Worth It?

I’ve been hearing about the Nap Dresses by Hill House Home nonstop for the past year. Even though Hill House Home originally started out in 2016 as a bedding collection, they have now extended to home, accessories, apparel, baby & kids, and bridal collections. After last year, Hill House Nap Dresses became their signature product and what they’re now known for.

The Nap Dress is such a big trend right now and only growing in popularity. It came to my attention during the pandemic while in lockdown. Right around when chic loungewear was trending. But if you know me, I’m a dress girl and more comfortable in a dress than in sweatpants.

I was feeling inspired to try them out. So I took the plunge and purchased the infamous Nap Dress. Now I’m sharing a review all about it so you can decide if it is worth the hype and if the Nap Dress is worth buying.

Hill House Nap Dress Review

The Nap Dress is actually Hill House Home’s trademarked name for their dress collection. It’s a house dress that’s meant to be comfortable to wear all day and versatile enough to wear outside the house. You can wear it while doing errands all day inside and outside the house, use it as a swimsuit coverup, going out for the night, date night dress, wear to work, or while breastfeeding your baby. The options are endless with Nap Dresses.

A dress that’s known to be comfortable and versatile screams my name so it immediately piqued my interest. I really wish I could live in dresses everyday…if only Chicago had summer weather all year round haha.

Hill House has several different nap dress styles and I’ll break down each one and provide sizing recommendations. I have purchased the Ellie Nap Dress.

Size Reference

Since I will be sharing the size and fit of the Nap Dresses, I think it is important to understand my size. I am 5’4″ tall, weigh about 140 lbs, and have a 32C chest. For dresses and tops, I normally wearing a size small or size 4. For bottoms, skirts, and jeans, I normally wear a size 27, size 4, or size small.

Hill House Nap Dress Styles

The Ellie Nap Dress

This is the most popular and well-known style and Hill House’s signature dress. It has an elasticated smocking, ruffled shoulder, and the bottom half has a tiered midi skirt style. You can definitely wear a bra with this dress without exposing the bra straps. How genius! Although, most of the time I don’t wear a bra as the smocking does a great job holding everything in.

The dress runs big, so I recommend sizing down. I am wearing a size XS and it fits perfectly. It’s midi-length on me, which means it falls around the calves.

I truly think that if I went with a size small, it would have been loose and not as flattering. This dress is also pregnancy and breastfeeding friendly. Part of me wished I purchased this dress during my pregnancy because I would have LOVED this dress when I was pregnant.

It’s also the easiest dress to layer with. You can add a denim jacket over the dress or you can layer a long-sleeve turtleneck underneath.

The Tiny Ellie Dress

This is the Ellie dress for your little girl. The size starts at 12M. I totally would be getting this dress if I had a baby girl for a Mommy & Me outfit.

From what I hear, it runs big so size down.

The Nesli Nap Dress

If you’re looking for an Ellie dress with sleeves, this is it! It has the same midi-length with elasticated smocking, tiered midi skirt style but with puff sleeves. There’s a tie-back detail so you have the option to play with the neckline – you can keep it as is with a square neckline, off the shoulder, or strapless.

It runs big, so definitely size down. This dress is also bump-friendly.

The Athena Dress

The Athena dress is very similar to the Nesli but shorter and the puff-sleeves aren’t as grand. It’s great for anyone that is into shorter dresses. It has the same tie-back detail so you have the versatility to style sleeves and neckline anyway you want. The length falls above the knees on me. I bought this style and had to return it because it was too short for my preference. I was really hoping it would fall knee-length.

The dress runs big, so size down.

The Akilah Dress

This dress has a boat neckline and can be worn 2 different ways. You can wear it on the shoulder or off the shoulder. The ruffles wrap around the collar. It has the elasticated smocking and midi-length.

This dress fits true to size and it is recommended to wear your usual size.

The Caroline Nap Dress

Out of all the Nap Dresses, this one looks the closest to a nightgown (in my opinion).  This dress has a smock neck with puffed sleeves. You have the option to wear it off the shoulder. It has a loose fit (no elastic waist).  The loose-fitting style gives you a lot of options on how to style it. If I were to wear it out, I’d pair it with a belt around the waist. Love these straw belts – great for summer, comes in a pack of 4 for only $20. This dress would make a super cute swimsuit coverup.

This dress is recommended to size down.

The Katherine Nap Dress

So this style is a shorter version of the Caroline dress except that the hem has ruffles and it runs big. Therefore, you will need to size down for this dress.

Sabrina Dress

This dress is a twist on their traditional Nap Dress. It’s a midi-length dress with a full skirt, fitted waist, v-neck neckline, with subtle ruffle detailing and puff sleeves. Unlike all the other Nap Dresses, this one does not have smocking. Therefore, it is recommended to size up.

The Lucy Nap Dress

This dress is a modern twist to the early 2000’s style. It’s an ankle length dress with elastic smocking and with a tie-front. The tie allows you to wear it as halter, strapless (has a grippy elastic to ensure it stays up), or tie it in front as a bow (which is my favorite style). It is recommended to wear your true size.

The Roxie Nap Dress

This dress is a shorter version of the Lucy dress. It also runs true to size.

Nap Dress Fit Fabric

All of the Nap Dresses are made with breathable fabric. It’s very lightweight and definitely feels high quality. It’s so rare to find high quality fabric that is lightweight. Most of them are made with the same fabric which is 97% cotton, 3% Elastane. All of my Nap Dresses are made with this fabric. I have 3 Ellie dresses in the Mermaid Print, Emerald Trellis print, and Blue Botanical print.

Certain colors and prints are made with slightly different fabrics. For instance, if you get any of the Nap Dresses in the Swiss dots print, it is made with 100% cotton. If you get the Navy Linen color, it is made with 100% linen. The Light Blue has 3% of metallic fabric in it.

Overall, I love that the fabrics are lightweight, breathable, and don’t wrinkle. So they are perfect for summer and lounging in. In my opinion, they’re not sheer at all which I love. I was nervous when I purchased the Blue Botanical because the primary color is white, but I had no issue with it at all. I heard the Swiss dot MIGHT be more sheer than the other dresses. So to be safe, I recommend wearing nude underwear.

How To Clean

Most of the dresses are machine washable except anything that has metallic in it. The dresses with metallic fabric either have to be dry cleaned or handwashed. All of the dresses are lay flat to dry. I accidentally put my Ellie dresses in the dryer and they still remained in perfect condition.

Nap Dress Sizing & Length

If you noticed, most of the Nap Dresses run big. Therefore, I recommend sizing down. I have the Ellie Nap Dress and had to size down. If I got them in my usual size, I truly think it would be loose or would not be flattering.

The Ellie can accommodate a growing bump during pregnancy, and is a great option for a postpartum outfit. Which makes this dress pregnancy and breastfeeding friendly. Also, I felt so good about how I looked in the dress since childbirth. The Ellie dress falls around my calves for a true midi-length. Remember I am 5’4″.

Dress Sizing

Size Down

These are the dresses that run big.

• The Ellie
• The Athena
• The Nesli
• The Caroline
• The Katherine

True To Size

These are the dresses that you’d get in your usual size.

• The Akilah
• The Roxie

Size Up

These are the dresses that run small.

• The Sabrina

Dress Lengths

Midi-Length

This length falls past the knees right around the mid-calves.

• The Ellie
• The Nesli
• The Caroline
• The Akilah

Above the Knee

The dress falls above the knees depending on your height.

• The Athena
• The Katherine
• The Roxie

Ankle-Length

The dress falls above the ankles.

• The Sabrina
• The Lucy

All of these dresses can be worn with any type of shoes depending on how you want to wear it and the occasion. They look great with sandals, sneakers, heels, and flats. I would say any of the dresses that fall above the knee would be the only ones that would look great with boots.

Is The Nap Dress Worth It?

Quick answer is yes. I clearly love the dresses because I own 3 of them haha. It’s one of the first few dresses where I felt amazing in after having a baby. The elasticated smocking is so well-made and held everything together. It helped bring my confidence back after childbirth.

Below is my breakdown of the pros and cons.

While I would categorize the price of the dresses as relatively affordable it’s not necessarilyy a budget-friendly price. The dresses range from $75-$200.

I own the Ellie dress and for all 3 prints, they cost me $125 each. At first, I thought the price of the dress was steep for a ‘house dress’. But after owning one, I kept buying more haha. You get what you pay for and I really love the quality of the fabric. So I do think the cost is appropriate for the dress. Out of all the dresses the Ellie has the most universal fit because it works for almost any body type and it’s a great pregnancy dress and postpartum dress too.

I found myself constantly wearing the Ellie dress almost every day. So the cost per wear is low. The con is owning these dresses is addicting. It’s like all I want to do is collect them anytime there’s a new drop or when a limited edition is back in stock.

Because of the popularity, the sizes and colors always seem to be out of stock. When I finally decided to make a purchase, it took a few months until I saw my size available. So my recommendation is if you see your size and preferred style & color, get it.

Hope this helps! But like I said, I am OBSESSED with the Ellie dress and just want to collect as many as possible haha.

xo RD