The Girls’ Night In Is Getting A Makeover

I love a girls’ night in, but I think we’ve been doing them wrong.

For years, the formula seemed pretty fixed: put on pajamas, order something vaguely disappointing from the nearest delivery app, open a bottle of something, and spend four hours deciding what to watch before inevitably rewatching The Devil Wears Prada. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with this. In fact, I have participated in this exact evening many, many times. But lately, I’ve been craving a little more from my nights in.

Maybe it’s because staying home has become less of a consolation prize and more of an actual plan. I want to make an evening of it. I want the candles lit, the snacks arranged on a plate instead of eaten directly from the packet, and an outfit that makes absolutely no sense for my own living room but makes me feel like I have somewhere to be.

The best part is that there doesn’t need to be a reason. You don't need a birthday, anniversary, engagement, or any other excuse to make an occasion out of seeing your friends. If everyone is free on Friday, that's reason enough.

Recently, I've been into giving each night its own little personality. A themed dinner is an obvious one, but it doesn't have to mean spending three days recreating a recipe from a TikTok you've already forgotten how to find. Pick one thing and commit to it. Maybe everyone brings a dish in the same color. Maybe you're making absurdly elaborate desserts. Maybe the theme is simply “things we would order at a restaurant if we were significantly richer.”

Then there are games. This is where I think we've been seriously underestimating ourselves. There's something about introducing a game into an evening that immediately reveals who among your friends is secretly terrifyingly competitive. A card game can go from “something fun to do” to a full-scale psychological operation within approximately seven minutes.

Personally, I like anything that gives everyone something to do while still allowing for gossip. A round of cards, a quiz, or even a little online blackjack at BetUS can work if your group is feeling competitive. The point isn't necessarily to find a winner. Although, obviously, the winner should be allowed to be insufferable about it for the rest of the evening.

I also think we should bring back the concept of getting ready for a night in. Not in the sense of putting on uncomfortable clothes and spending an hour doing your hair for the benefit of absolutely nobody, but in the sense of making the evening feel different from a normal Tuesday.

Wear the dress you've been saving. Try a ridiculous new makeup look. Put on the earrings that are technically “too much” for sitting on someone's couch. If you're hosting, make the table look a little excessive. Nobody has ever complained about too many flowers, too many snacks, or too many tiny bowls.

And please, let's stop pretending that everything needs to be perfectly curated. Half the fun of a girls' night is the chaos. Someone will spill something. Someone will arrive 45 minutes late. Someone will bring the wrong dessert. Someone will become emotionally invested in a game they claimed they didn't want to play. These are not failures of hosting. They're the evening.

Maybe the real makeover is simply treating a night in like something worth getting excited about. Not because it needs to be impressive, but because your friends are there and you have nowhere else to be.

So cancel the reservation, send the group chat a slightly overconfident invitation, and make your living room the place to be.