You would think it would be easy to select towels for the bath from the countless options available. But, it is not. I thought I would share my favorites and why they work for me.  My thoughts might give you some parameters the next time you shop for new towels.

There is an extraordinary history of bathing rituals from Ancient Rome to Japan, from assuring good health to cleanliness and purity, in marble temples with bubbling fountains to scrubbing and cleansing with pure water flowing over the body. We hope to achieve the same results with our modern bathing rituals, but our culture does not encourage elaborate bathing emporiums for lectures and prayer and servants ready to serve tea.

However, we all want to make the bathroom a sanctuary. As in the ancient Turkish hamam where the havalu provided comfort in warming and drying, our towels play an important role in our rituals of cleansing and relaxing. Our Gotham towels are my hands down favorite. They are constructed of medium-weight Egyptian cotton terry harvested in the Nile Valley, and trimmed with a delicate edge of men’s shirting fabric in your choice of up to 30 colors. The surface has a medium loop and with the edge detail its only decoration, the towel is elegant and simple. It is wonderfully absorbent without being heavy at 625 grams.

Another towel that I like is the Cumulus, so named for its soft hand. The surface of the towels are made of extra long staple Egyptian cotton with a linen dobby. The long loops  and the hand sewing of the edge make this a very desirable towel. Each towel is cut and sewn before it is dyed.  This process is called garment dying which gives the towel a vintage washed look. The garment dying process indicates that each towel will look slightly different, adding to its charm. Plus, it feels really good on the body. As you know, I love white.  But the rich, deep palette of Cumulus is tempting enough to make me surrender to charcoal gray or this seasons’ delicious purple.

And, entirely different from Gotham and Cumulus are our linen towels. Linen, of course, is green, durable, natural and long the material of bath towels. They last forever, get softer and more absorbent with use and are elegant, timeless and luxurious. We are a culture that loves fluffy cotton terry towel so the switch to flat linen can be shocking.  Linen invigorates the skin, circulating the blood flow and giving your skin a healthy glow.  It is a natural exfoliant. Linen is a good summer towel for me.

The towel is an easily changeable element in the bathroom design.  While I am a fan of white generally, all towels should have an element of timeless beauty and give your bath that soft texture against all of the hard surfaces. Just make sure you love the way they feel, that they are not too heavy and the color coordinates with adjacent rooms.