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With one in three adults admitting to wearing their pyjamas outside of the bedroom, Samantha Rea put the look to the test.
Citing reports from New Look that showed searches for striped pyjama bottoms had increased by 9,000%, she set out on her public pyjama adventure.
7
7
Okay, I have to admit that in the middle of winter, I’ve often sneaked out to the store wearing thick, fleece pajama pants under a big coat.
But in warmer weather, it’s impossible to hide your nightwear with an outer layer.
When I was asked to wear a nightgown and pajamas for a week, I wasn’t sure how I would approach it.
I was a little nervous about looking ridiculous, but luckily I was allowed to mix the nightwear with my own clothes. This is how it went.
DAY 1
I’m wearing a blue and white checked pajama top from PrettyLittleThing, white straight-leg jeans from True Religion and a leather belt from Ted Baker.
The pajama top is made of seersucker cotton with white buttons, long sleeves, a pocket on the left chest and a white border.
The cuffs have buttons like a shirt, but it’s a warm day so I wear the sleeves rolled up to halfway down my forearm.
I am now in training with people I met only a few days ago, and when they see me wearing a pajama top, they are too polite to say so.
As I walk down Piccadilly to get there, I feel like several people are looking at me questioningly. Maybe I’m thinking about it too much.
I run into a former colleague who seems to look twice when he sees the pajama top, but he doesn’t say anything more about it.
A few days later I ask him if he noticed anything about my clothes when he last saw me. His reaction shows that he had no idea at all. The only thing he thought was that he looked twice.
DAY 2
I’m still on course and the dress code is smart casual, so today I’m wearing a blue and white striped pyjama top from Primark.
I paired it with white skinny jeans from True Religion and a leather belt from Massimo Dutti.
The pyjama top is made of cotton, has short sleeves, white buttons and a pocket on the left chest.
It’s a boxy dress and too short to tuck in, so I wear it loose.
ABBY McHale explains why Primark is known for its nightwear department.
Large parts of the stores are occupied and they sell everything from trendy satin styles to soft Disney pyjamas and everything in between.
Plus, it means you can look and feel good when you go to bed without breaking the bank.
It’s also a great place to score a pajama knockoff.
Last year Primark had a great version of the Skims pyjamas and the latest dupe is from Victoria’s Secret.
The pink striped pajamas match very well with those of the American lingerie brand, I have one myself.
They are light, super comfortable and cost a fraction of the price. What’s not to love?
No one comments and I don’t notice anyone looking at me strangely.
Maybe it’s a shirt?
DAY 3
7
I’m going to have lunch with a friend at The Palomar restaurant in Soho, so I want to look nice.
I look at my options and choose a white sleeveless cotton nightgown from Next.
It’s a long skirt and on its own it definitely looks like a nightgown, but the top half is pretty, with a touch of broderie anglaise in it, so I’m pairing it with a long skirt from Kemi Telford, from John Lewis.
It is a black cotton skirt with large white dots and a belt of the same fabric that is tied at the waist with a bow.
It’s a voluminous, wide skirt that’s reminiscent of Audrey Hepburn, so I complete the look with black ballerina flats from Primark.
My friend asks what I’m doing right now.
I say, “I’m literally working on something right now. Guess what it is!”
He asks if I’ll write a review of the restaurant, and I tell him to try it again.
He gives up and I tell him I’m testing nightwear. I see that my top is actually a nightgown.
He tells me he would never have guessed that and that he thought it would be a nice summer top.
DAY 4
7
I’ve been putting off putting on the bottom half of these pajamas for fear of looking too much like nightwear, but today I decided it was time to give it a try.
I work from home so I can be as casual as I want, but I have to go out and I don’t want to look like I’m wearing pajamas.
I choose a red and white striped pajama bottom.
They are from Sainsbury’s Tu label and I am wearing them with a white Mint Velvet T-shirt from John Lewis.
The T-shirt is made of cotton, has a round neck, short sleeves and a black star on the left shoulder.
The pajama pants are made of seersucker cotton with pockets and an elasticated waistband with drawstring.
I definitely look like I’m going to sleep, but the biggest problem is that my black underwear shows through the fabric of my pajama pants.
I swap my underwear for a white pair and walk to the local swimming pool.
When I see my reflection in the windows of shops I get the shivers. Even with a T-shirt on it looks like I’m walking around in pajamas.
After swimming I walk home, feeling just as ashamed as I did then, but no one says anything about it and no one seems to think about it for a second.
During my lunch break, I walk my friend’s dog through the local park.
My girlfriend says I look ‘cute’ and when I walk, no one points or stares at me.
I even see some girls wearing similar wide, loose cotton pants with a drawstring waist.
They wear them with a tight tank top and I wonder if that would have been a better combination for me.
I won’t be wearing these pajama pants anymore though. They’re a little too long so I rolled them up a few inches. But when I walk they roll back up by themselves.
DAY 5
7
I’m going out for dinner with my friend Janie, who I haven’t seen in a while.
We eat at Ocean Basket, a seafood restaurant in Kingston overlooking the Thames.
I choose a white cotton cardigan from the “Make Time to Dream” nightwear collection by Next.
The model is loose, has thin straps and a broderie anglaise edge.
It comes as part of a set with a blue and white striped pyjama bottom, but I’m exchanging these for a pair of shorts from Zara.
Like the pajama pants, the shorts are blue and white striped, but they have a belt of matching fabric that you can tie. They are clearly smart, city shorts.
On the train, on the way home, I texted Janie to ask what she thought of my outfit.
She replies: “Very summery and a bit nautical.”
I tell her that I incorporated some nightwear into my outfit and ask, “Is there anything that stood out to you as nightwear?”
“Absolutely not in a million years! Which piece was nightwear?” asks Janie.
When I tell her it’s the white cardigan, she texts back: “It didn’t look like nightwear at all!”
DAY 6
7
I’m spending the afternoon at a summer party, because my friend’s dachshund is participating in the dog show.
The dachshund has been to the grooming salon especially for this occasion to have his coat trimmed, so I know I have to look just as neat when I arrive to support him.
I choose a navy and white striped cardigan from Next. It is a loose, soft fabric with a round neck. It is part of a nightwear set with matching trousers.
I swap the bottom for a pair of white Gap shorts and a leather belt from Osprey.
The dachshund looks exceptionally handsome at the dog show and I am glad that, despite wearing a nightgown, I still look reasonably handsome.
Later I text my girlfriend to ask if she noticed anything about what I was wearing. She didn’t.
When I explain that I added some nightwear, she replies, “I thought it was clothes [cry-laughing emoji]. You styled it well. It didn’t look like pajamas.”
DAY 7
7
I work from home on my sunny terrace, so I picked out a pair of green and white striped pyjama shorts from Sainsbury’s Tu range.
I wear them with a loose, white linen long-sleeved shirt from Gap, to protect my skin from the sun.
The pyjama shorts are made of cotton, have side pockets and an elasticated waistband with drawstring.
I don’t think they could really pass as ‘real’ shorts, but when I walk to the Co-op to buy some food for dinner, no one looks at me.
CONCLUSION
Nightwear tops are much more often seen as ‘real clothes’ than nightwear bottoms.
The long pajama pants looked exactly like pajama pants and probably couldn’t be used as pants.
Still, quite a few nightwear items looked beautiful in combination with my own clothes.
My favorite was the white cotton nightgown with broderie anglaise from Next – or at least the top half of it.
