Cover Ups

Friday, March 29, 2024

I love my duvet!

So, what’s a duvet? What’s a duvet cover? I started wondering while working part-time as a clerk in the store’s home department. Many customers asked if our shelves carried duvets and duvet covers. To learn, I went around examining packages, and found many labeled “Duvet,” but none “Duvet Cover.” Over time when customers asked about duvet covers, I’d say, “We have duvets but no duvet covers.” A typical response was, “I’m not surprised because I keep looking for duvet covers, and can’t find them.”

I knew little about duvets and duvet covers other than the package labels. I was barely interested in their relationship to what I know as a “comforter.” But early one morning, a questioner asked about the difference between a duvet and a duvet cover. I guessed at an answer, got away with it, and decided to become educated.

I went online with questions, and the answers aligned somewhat with my guessing but better described the differences. A duvet is a large blanket with sewn inserts for padding and can have interchangeable covers; a comforter, however, is a single unit. Soon after I learned this, an arriving customer asked the difference between a duvet and a comforter. I waxed eloquently!

I started thinking of getting a duvet for myself. My old feather-filled comforter never gets used because its feathers squirrel around and bunch in various corners, leaving me covered by an empty double sheet. A duvet with sewn inserts could be a satisfying alternative.

I ordered a duvet, used it a time or two, and then ordered a duvet cover. Now, after weeks of sleeping under my duvet, I fully admit to loving it. During the nightly “brief awake moments,” I feel very protected, and in a little tunnel, safe and warm.

Dear Friends: Now, I’m a super explainer and seller of duvets and covers. Diana