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Ahead of Bridgerton’s season three release and after The Crown’s final episode, we’re feeling romanced by the influence of the English countryside. In rural Sussex, Jessica Hanley took inspiration from her surroundings to build Piglet in Bed, a luxury bedding, sleepwear, and homeware brand known for its popular gingham and stripe patterns, natural fabrics, and a burgeoning British heritage brand.
We like
- Distinctly British — plus some warmth!
- Low-maintenance materials
- More durable than any other linen bedding I’ve owned
- Environmentally-conscious through their materials selection, only opting for natural fibers and fabrics
- Heirloom-quality
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- Plenty of pattern choices — analysis paralysis!
- A $$ investment, yes!
Humble, English Countryside Beginnings
Painting a near-idyllic picture, Jessica Hanley was tucked between a garden shed and wild garden, inspired by the rural heritage dotting Sussex and the surrounding towns as she founded Piglet. When she first started the business in 2017, the brand was created at the cross-section of sustainable materials and honest, two-way customer communications, acknowledging that housewares — as a category — was falling behind.
“None of us were ironing our sheets,” she laughed over our Zoom interview. “There was a super unattainable version of a polished home, and we don’t take ourselves too seriously here,” she added. Bunking with her Mum, she started ideating on fabrics and patterns that honored heritage and were also environmentally friendly — before the ubiquitousness of linen flooded the direct-to-consumer bedding category.
“Linen was the dream — it’s a fantastic product that looks so effortless and laid back,” reported Jessica from her charming, sky-blue wallpapered home office. “It’s a great crop: the farming only uses rainwater, meaning there are no artificial pesticides and GMOs.” She also shared that linen is a rotation crop, meaning that the flax plant can be grown and harvested for one year, and the following will be rotated with potatoes or another crop, helping return nutrients to the soil without synthetic inputs to improve soil health.
Sleeping In The Sheets: My First Night Test
I’ve had some variation of neutral-colored bedding for a decade-plus, and Jessica inspired me to introduce some color into my room in a set of Piglet sheets.
“Our customers are gravitating away from all neutrals and into saturated, grounding colors, and in the U.S., our most popular colors are Botanical Green Gingham, Sage Green, and Oatmeal,” a departure from their UK market, where Sage Green, White, and Raspberry are the most popular. I dove headfirst into color; I opted for the Warm Blue Gingham Bedding Set to bring blue into my beige and white apartment.
Slipping underneath the freshly washed, new duvet cover is always a treat. I was surprised to feel immediate softness instead of that starchy feeling often familiar with new linen bedding. By morning, the duvet cover was still on, passing the hot-sleeper test — I usually kick out a leg or two. I liked that this linen weave seemed to regulate airflow to keep my core temperature down compared to a cotton alternative. The gingham pattern also camouflaged the bed wrinkles; I noticed a significant difference in less-visible wrinkles when comparing it against the other one-colored, plain linen bedding I’ve owned.
Anecdotally, I felt a little cheery after making my bed — the everyday ritual now incorporated a hit of dopamine with the introduction of color into my bedroom — it was a nice shift from the all-white or neutral-colored bedding I’ve purchased throughout the years.
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Sleep Soundly This Season
With a sound night’s sleep on our minds after hearing Punxsutawney Phil’s early spring forecast, we asked Jessica for her insight on preparing for warmer weather ahead.
“Natural materials, across the board — whether sheets, duvet or other — will make the difference with breathability,” Jessica adds. “I recently invested in our natural mattress topper that made a huge difference; it makes a less-than-100-percent mattress feel like a great mattress.”
Piglet in Bed offers cotton and linen bedding and recommends linen for summer nights because it’s a more breathable fabric that can help regulate your temperature to keep you comfortable and is great for “hot” sleepers. Woven from a natural fiber, the flax plant, it benefits from high air permeability and is an efficient heat conductor, naturally absorbent to wick away sweat. On the flip side, linen also bodes a long fiber to keep you warmer in winter, so donning linen sheets all year round is a no-brainer.
“For a fresh feel, you don’t need to replace your entire bedding set,” reports Jess. She shared, “You can incorporate one or more picks from our catalog, like our signature gingham patterns — swapping out your standard pillowcases for a warm blue gingham check or botanical green gingham colorway. Or ditching your comforter and opting for a colorful quilt.”
I Rest My Case: Piglet In Bed Is Perfect
I’ll stop badgering about this British brand: After a tour of their Instagram and site, their patterns and colorways speak for themselves. If you’re in the market for a fresh feel this spring or summer, you’d be hard-pressed to find gorgeous, heirloom-quality bedding and homeware made sustainably and ethically anywhere else.
Shop Piglet in Bed’s bedding, homewares, and sleepwear at us.pigletinbed.com!
