Abstract: A patient gown has a body with two arm openings and a neck opening. A front panel or bodice extends downwardly from the neck opening with its side edges providing the front edge of the arm openings. Two bell sleeves extend outwardly over the arm openings and are secured to the body along the rear edges of the arm openings only. The front edges of the sleeves are releasably connected to the side edges of the bodice by releasable snaps so that the bodice can be dropped partially or fully on one or both sides. This provides partial or complete access to the patient chest area while maintaining as much body coverage as possible for the patient's dignity. The openings in the gown are coded to indicate which edges match in order to facilitate assembly of the gown. Color coding, matching geometric shapes and tactile codings are possible.