Pointelle is a lightweight, open-knit cotton fabric defined by tiny decorative eyelets knitted directly into the material, creating a delicate, breathable texture that looks as pretty as it feels. You have seen it before, even if you never knew its name: on vintage lingerie, on heirloom baby knits, on the prettiest camisole in your grandmother's dresser. Now it is having a very modern moment, and we are officially joining it. This is the story of pointelle fabric, what actually makes it special, and why we built our newest collection around it.
What Is Pointelle Fabric, Exactly?
Pointelle is a knit, not a weave, and that distinction is the whole secret. The tiny openwork holes are not punched or embroidered into the fabric afterward. They are created during knitting itself, by transferring stitches to form a pattern of deliberate little openings. The result is a fabric that is decorative and functional at once: the eyelets create airflow, so the fabric breathes, while the knit construction keeps it soft, stretchy, and gently drapey.
Ours is 100% cotton. Light, breathable, naturally soft. No synthetic sheen, no plasticky slickness, just the kind of natural fiber that feels better the longer you wear it. We finish every piece with delicate lace and mother-of-pearl buttons, the small elevated details that make you look closer.
Why Does Pointelle Feel So Light and Breathable?
The open-knit texture is doing the work. Every tiny eyelet in pointelle fabric is a place where air moves freely, so the material ventilates naturally instead of trapping heat against your skin. That makes pointelle pajamas a dream for sleeping, but it is also why the fabric transitions so easily to daytime. Cotton fibers absorb and release moisture, the knit stretches and recovers with you, and the whole thing weighs next to nothing. It is the fabric equivalent of a window cracked open on a cool morning.
Is Pointelle Just for Pajamas?
No, and this is exactly why we made it. Pointelle is not strictly pajamas. It lives in the in-between: getting coffee, working from home, packing for a weekend, running errands, lounging, traveling, sleeping, getting dressed without really getting dressed. Made for bed, designed for everywhere else.
Waverles has always been about the moments around getting ready. Our bridal customers know us for the getting-ready morning, the most photographed hour of the whole celebration. Pointelle expands what those moments can look like. Same philosophy, more mornings. Especially the ones with nowhere to be.
What Comes in the Waverles Pointelle Collection?
The collection is built around four mix-and-match silhouettes, offered in short sets and pant sets, each paired with either a cardigan or a tank: the Pointelle Cardigan, the Pointelle Tank Top, the Pointelle Shorts, and the Pointelle Pants. Every piece comes in exactly two colors, black and white. That is not a limitation. That is the point. Classic, seasonless, and easy to style, black and white pointelle goes with everything you already own, which is what turns a pointelle matching set into an everyday uniform instead of an occasional outfit.
The pointelle cardigan is the piece we predict you will steal from the set most often, buttoned up as a top or worn open over the tank. The pointelle tank top is the layering workhorse. The pointelle shorts and pointelle pants split the year between them: shorts for warm nights and bare feet, pants for crisp mornings and travel days. Browse the full collection.
How Do You Style a Pointelle Matching Set?
Wear it as a full set, or break it apart and let each piece work your existing wardrobe. That versatility is one of the strongest reasons to buy pointelle sets for women in the first place. One collection becomes multiple outfits, and one piece becomes several looks. A few of our favorite formulas: the pant and tank together at home, the tank tucked into denim, the cardigan layered over the shorts, the pants under an oversized sweater or jacket, the full set finished with ballet flats, the shorts paired with a crisp button-down. Add cowboy boots or a head scarf and the same pieces read completely differently.
The test we used while designing: bed, coffee, errands, travel, home. If a piece could not move through that whole day, it did not make the collection.
Black or White: Which Pointelle Should You Choose?
White pointelle reads soft, romantic, and morning-lit, the closest thing to wearing fresh linen. Black pointelle reads sleek and undone in the best way, the set that looks intentional at the farmers market and the airport alike. Two colors, two moods, one fabric. Most of our team solves this decision by refusing to make it, and truthfully the mix-and-match styling works even better with both in rotation.
How Do You Care for Pointelle?
Machine wash cold on gentle, skip the bleach, and lay flat or tumble dry low. Because pointelle is 100% cotton, it washes like your favorite tee rather than a fussy delicate. Treat the lace trim kindly, close the mother-of-pearl buttons before washing, and the open knit will keep its airy structure wash after wash.
Pointelle, Quick Answers
What is pointelle fabric made of?
Pointelle can be knit from many fibers, but Waverles pointelle is 100% cotton, knit with a decorative eyelet pattern and finished with delicate lace and mother-of-pearl buttons.
Is pointelle fabric good for summer?
Yes. The open-knit eyelet texture allows constant airflow, making pointelle loungewear naturally cooling in warm weather and easy to layer when temperatures drop.
Are pointelle pajamas meant to be worn outside?
Ours are. The Waverles pointelle collection is designed as a mix-and-match wardrobe, so the same pieces work as pajamas, loungewear, and everyday outfits styled with denim, layers, or flats.
What colors do Waverles pointelle sets come in?
Black and white only, chosen because both are classic, seasonless, and easy to style with everything else in your closet.
Is pointelle the same as eyelet fabric?
Not quite. Eyelet is typically a woven fabric with holes cut and embroidered after weaving, while pointelle is a knit whose openings are formed during knitting, which is why pointelle is softer and stretchier.
Pointelle is the answer to a question we hear all the time: I love my Waverles set, but where else can I wear it? Now, everywhere. Explore the full collection and build your own uniform. Here's to many comfort moments ahead.
Xo, Waverles
