Sleeping In Their Clothes?

[Azarna]

Mary Jane Kelly was wearing a chemise in bed on the night she died. She, of course, had a room of her own so had somewhere to put her day clothes during the night.

I was wondering about the other victims. I have read many accounts of doss houses but am still not sure whether they would have slept in their clothes or taken most of them off at night.

Many descriptions of the doss houses say the sleeping rooms were very hot and airless, because of so many people breathing in one room. We know that the ladies often wore multiple skirts and shawls for warmth outside in the cold, it seems hard to imagine they would want to sleep in a bed, in a warm room, with all that lot on.

But if they took them off at night then they would have had a problem with where to put them, presumably the only place you could store something overnight was under your mattress or pillow (I am imagining that if you put it elsewhere someone would nick it).

Annie Nichols was proud of her "jolly bonnet" - they surly must have taken their hats off in bed!

Anyone have any info or ideas on this subject?

[GUT]

I suspect, based on what I know my family did they slept in their under garments, they would have had limited outerwear and preserved it as far as possible.

[Pcdunn]

There are pictures showing the conditions of doss houses and shelters from the LVP and Edwardian eras, in both London and New York. If they could only afford to "sleep on the line" they slept sitting in rows on benches, with a rope stretched before them to keep them in place and from sliding to the floor. These folks would have been in all their clothes.
The ones with mattresses or pallets, or small beds, likely did strip to their underwear, especially in a family situation. I'm not so sure about the doss house dormitories full of strangers, but would guess you'd try to keep your clothes on you for safety.

Richard Patterson states some religious shelters provided leather aprons for blankets to their denizens, which seems odd.

[Wickerman]

Mary Jane Kelly was wearing a chemise in bed on the night she died. She, of course, had a room of her own so had somewhere to put her day clothes during the night.

I was wondering about the other victims. I have read many accounts of doss houses but am still not sure whether they would have slept in their clothes or taken most of them off at night.

Many descriptions of the doss houses say the sleeping rooms were very hot and airless, because of so many people breathing in one room. We know that the ladies often wore multiple skirts and shawls for warmth outside in the cold, it seems hard to imagine they would want to sleep in a bed, in a warm room, with all that lot on.

But if they took them off at night then they would have had a problem with where to put them, presumably the only place you could store something overnight was under your mattress or pillow (I am imagining that if you put it elsewhere someone would nick it).

Annie Nichols was proud of her "jolly bonnet" - they surly must have taken their hats off in bed!

Anyone have any info or ideas on this subject?

I think you'll find it was normal for them to sleep in their clothes, Mrs Prater did, I think Cox did, and also Mrs Kennedy & Sarah Lewis who slept on chairs.
The fact Mary was undressed indicates she was entertaining - the client being her most likely killer.

[Scott Nelson]

How many people here will admit they sleep in the nude?

[GUT]

How many people here will admit they sleep in the nude?

Yep.

Scary huh?

[Errata]

How many people here will admit they sleep in the nude?

How many people will admit to sleeping in the nude of a board full of serial killer enthusiasts?

Probably not many....