Review: F.R.S. For Restless Sleepers Luxury Printed Silk Loungewear

Disclosure: I paid for the garments in this review with my own money. All opinions are my own. 

F.R.S. or ‘For Restless Sleepers’ is a brand specialising in luxury, pajama-inspired attire. Although the high-endplays on the concept of sleepwear, it’s very clear that its universe spans far beyond that.

The comfortable and easy-to-wear silhouettes are the perfect canvas for exquisite prints, working equally well as bedroom or evening wear. The label has been lauded by the likes of Vogue and boasts an impressive roster of stockists (Net-A-Porter, Moda Operandi, and Bergdorf Goodman).

F.R.S. is renowned for its opulent prints in lush colour palettes and botanical motifs. However, earlier this year, the brand found itself on the wrong side of alleged design theft controversy. An SS20 piece bore a striking resemblance to artwork by Victo Ngai, with the piece eventually withdrawn and owner Francesca Ruffini apologising for the image use.

Purchase and Size Details

The brand’s products have a decidedly high-end price point, and are usually quite far out of my means. Through careful perusal of luxury resale sites, I managed to get my hands on an almost-coordinating ensemble -  a pair of Tropical printed ‘Zeus’ pants (originally retailing at €675/$757, sizes XS-XL) and an ‘Aglaia’ bralet (originally retailing at €174/$195, sizes S-L).

Both designs are unfortunately long sold out, but the ‘Zeus’ cut is still available within the F.R.S. product range in different prints. Both pieces are made of a luscious printed silk twill (a type of weave with a diagonal lightly ribbed texture), and are printed and sewn in Italy.

I purchased the trousers in a size M and the bralet in a size S. There’s limited information about how the brand actually fits. The website lacks any form of size chart, and a number of retailers simply say fitting ‘true to size.'  Therefore, I went for my ‘typical’ sizes in luxury brands which are a 32C bra and a UK 10-12 bottom.

The Pajama Trousers

The pajama trousers have a straight leg, with a loose enough cut for comfortable lounging. The wide waistband is elasticated at the back. The front opens with an oversized black acrylic button, with additional engraved mother of pearl buttons hidden beneath the placket. The side seams on the leg seams is finished with a decorative pink satin piping. Sadly, the only pockets are decorative, rather than functional – patch pockets on the seat, with more of the decorative satin piping.

The legs are a good length on my 5’7” frame. The hems are finished with an unprinted facing, so letting the leg length out would be a little tricky. A skilled seamstress could easily shorten the legs, though I wouldn’t recommend this style for someone with particularly long legs. The waistband sits comfortably at my natural waist. Although the trousers are a little tight around my bottom, it's not uncomfortable or causing the fabric to strain. I'd say that they are better suited for a UK 10 than a 12, and if between sizes it's better to size up.

The stitching is functional, but not exceptional. On the garment interior, there are a few areas where the stitching is noticeably slightly wobbly, and the seams are all finished with an overlock stitch (a relatively cheap finishing method). The trousers are soundly made and will hold up to wear, but they don’t feel particularly luxurious.

At this price point I’d prefer French seams and a bit more care paid to finishing. That’s certainly what I’ve seen from other brands at a similar market level. What you’re paying for with this brand is the prints. And the print on these trousers is undeniably luscious. The colours are bold and bright. The print itself clear and detailed. It’s an undeniably beautiful textile.

The Bralet

The bralet arrived in its own cotton branded storage bag. Beautiful and reusable packaging always helps solidify the 'luxury' experience. It's a puzzling garment though. The construction is peculiar for a contemporary bralet, with the only stretch in the garment being small pieces of elastic at the centre back band and the back of the shoulder straps. The shoulder straps aren’t even adjustable, which severely limits how many people this style can actually fit.

The bralet feels like an afterthought, created to use up smaller scraps of fabric from larger garment production runs. The fit is poor, and there are a number of questionable design details.

The cups have small darts for shaping. As this is a bralet, it isn’t designed to offer a huge amount of shaping or lift. The bralet is made entirely of printed silk twill, with contrast white cord piping detail at the cup neck and underarm edges. It fastens with a metal clip at the rear, though this is too wide for the underband strap so has a tendency to twist on the body.

The underarm binding and shoulder strap are made from the same piece of extended fabric, and it is cut on the straight grain. This is an area of a garment that should either be finished with bias cut binding (so that it has a little stretch and give) or be elasticated. On the straight grain, this part of the bra fights with itself. On the body it wrinkles.

Even with very little wear the fabric is already starting to pull apart at the underarm due to the strain it’s put under on the body.  Bias cut binding can be expensive. It’s trickier to cut and stitch, and might seem like a tiny detail, but it makes a big difference to the garment appearance and fit. It would be one thing if this bralet was from a budget brand…but €174/$195 is a decidedly luxury price point.

The fit is not at all what I'd expect from a dress-sized bralet. It’s marked size small, yet unstretched the band measures 31". This bra can comfortably accommodate an underbust of up to 35”.  The cups have very little space to them, and would be best suited to an A-C cup at most. I normally wear around a 32C bra size, so it’s perhaps not surprising that the bra fits terribly on me. The band gapes and rides up, while the cups are a little too small to accommodate my bust.

Whilst I can fully appreciate a luxury brand creating smaller products like bralets to use up expensive, custom printed textile, this garment just feels like a wasted opportunity. The fit and construction techniques are questionable, particularly since it would have been both easier and cheaper to make a more comfortable and better fitting product. I’m mostly relieved that I didn’t pay anywhere near full price for this garment!

Final Thoughts

I’m a little disappointed by my experience with FRS. Although I’m still blown away by prints and brand imagery, the product quality just doesn’t match up. I only hope that because these garments are older styles, the label has since improved their quality control.

Going by these pieces though, I can think of plenty of other luxury loungewear brands that offer better bang for your buck (for example, Olivia Von Halle or Rosamosario). However, design is a personal preference, and I completely understand being willing to spend on a beautiful print or design that you can’t get anywhere else. That’s something For Restless Sleepers excels in. There are few labels out there creating prints that even begin to compare to theirs.