Fainting Couches
Enjoy a Revival

There was a time when chaise longues were only for consumptives, divas or fading beauties -- Dumas's Camille, say, or Coco Chanel. These days, they are the refuge of choice for a growing number of style setters who see them as a smart alternative to the drab-but-comfy recliner.

Once spied only in satin-swagged boudoirs, the venerable chaise -- typically, a narrow, backless sofa with one or two arms -- is finding its way into dens, hallways and even bathrooms. And women aren't the only ones in on the lounging act.

"Mine makes me feel like I'm in `The Philadelphia Story,' " says Nancy Tucker, whose own chaise is on her sun porch in Norwich, Vt. "I put on a bias-cut nightgown, fix a martini and lie down with a book. In bed, you're always disturbing somebody. This way, you can read in peace."

Ms. Tucker -- who, with husband Marty, is a partner in Tucker Design Ltd., which designs and manufactures same -- rescued her chaise from a junk shop in Vermont. She paid $100 for it, and "I put another $150 into re-covering it with a slate-blue and rose damask in a sort of Art Deco pattern," she says. "Only my cleanest kitty, Minnie, is allowed to sit on it now."

Homeowners who hate spelunking through thrift stores are snapping up models priced from $850 to about $1,500, from retailers that include Pottery Barn, Bloomingdale's and Crate & Barrel (which features a sectional sofa that incorporates a chaise). A crucial prop for Victorian gentlewomen -- who, did, indeed, sink upon them when the vapors struck -- "fainting couches" traditionally have been bought by females. These days, however, chaises are finding a broader audience in contemporary boutiques such as those of Platypus Inc., based in North Brunswick, N.J. "It's no longer just a female thing," says Sarah Laks, the chain's senior merchandising manager. "Men are buying them for their private spaces."

A conservative-looking model from Lazar Industries, High Point, N.C., the version sold at Platypus costs $1,095 to $1,295, depending on the fabric. (Ultrasuede adds another $1,000 to the tab.) This fall Ms. Laks will add a second style, priced at $1,200. "They're selling very well, she says, "and there's no slowdown in sight."

In an era that spawned the notion of "cocooning," it seems that couches-for-one are regarded as stylish sanctuaries. Interior decorators say chaises are handy for filling space in oversized bedrooms and for transforming awkward niches into sitting areas. They also can be surprisingly useful: Manhattan designer Mario Buatta confesses he uses his bedroom chaise as a place to stash dirty clothes.

And for someone who's 6-foot-2, a chaise can just be a great place just to stretch out. "As long as the beer and the remote are there," says Bill Gerkin, president of Norwalk-The Furniture Idea, a division of Norwalk Furniture Corp., in Norwalk, Ohio, "I'm comfortable."

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