The Citizenry's linen not only feels fantastic to sleep on but comes in lots of colors to go with any color scheme your bedroom might have. Parts of the sheet set (just the top sheet, pillowcases, etc.) can be purchased individually if something happens to one of your pieces.
More Linen We Love
Extra soft and splurge-worthy linen: Cultiver Linen Sheet Set ($480) is so soft you might not realize it's linen. My husband didn't, and he's a certified linen hater. This set is a splurge, but worth it if you want the benefits of linen and a much softer feel. They're borderline silky, which feels almost wrong to say when describing linen.
Cultiver Linen Sheet Set ($480) is so soft you might not realize it's linen. My husband didn't, and he's a certified linen hater. This set is a splurge, but worth it if you want the benefits of linen and a much softer feel. They're borderline silky, which feels almost wrong to say when describing linen. Best breathable linen: Pottery Barn Belgian Flax Linen Sheet Set ($299) has the most breathable weave I've slept on. The airflow is great, keeping me cool even in the hottest times of year. These sheets have the same weight as the Citizenry's, 160 GSM, but feel more airy and not quite as soft.
Pottery Barn Belgian Flax Linen Sheet Set ($299) has the most breathable weave I've slept on. The airflow is great, keeping me cool even in the hottest times of year. These sheets have the same weight as the Citizenry's, 160 GSM, but feel more airy and not quite as soft. A great organic find: Organic linen is tougher to track down than organic cotton, and my go-to set is now Coyuchi's Organic Relaxed Linen Sheet Set ($598). It's got a heavier weight at 185 GSM, but feels just as breathable as The Citizenry's and feels fairly soft, too. Coyuchi says it colors its linen sheets with low-impact dyes, and there's an undyed option if you'd like to avoid dyes altogether.
Looking for more linen? Read about every set of linen we've tested and our shopping advice in our guide to the best linen sheets.
The Best Silk Sheets (and Pillowcases)
Silk stays cool and slick when you need it, so you shouldn't heat up and stick to your bed in the middle of the night. But it also is capable of insulating you decently well to keep you warm in the winter months. Silk is also better for your beauty rest and the reason why silk scarves, bonnets, and pillowcases are so popular. It absorbs less moisture from your hair and skin, so you stay hydrated and don't lose all your expensive beauty products to your pillow. It also causes less friction, pulling less at your skin during the night. If you're a side or stomach sleeper where your face makes direct contact with your pillow, silk is a great option to consider. You'll also find that silk is graded not by thread count, but by weight and density, using the term “momme.” A higher number equals more threads, a higher density, and more durability—and a higher price tag.
Our favorite silk bedding is these pieces from Lilysilk. They're soft and smooth without being freezing cold. Lilysilk is the only brand of full silk sheets we’ve tested, and it's very expensive to get a full set—you're looking at nearly $700 for one flat sheet, one fitted sheet, and two pillowcases—but the brand offers each piece individually. Former WIRED reviewer Medea Giordano tried the fitted sheet with a percale top sheet and found it cooling and comfortable. If you can spend a little more, Lilysilk has 22- and 25-momme sets available. They're a little more durable, but 19 is still very high quality.
Other Silk Bedding We Love
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