WITH one in three adults admitting to wearing their pyjamas out of the bedroom, Samantha Rea put the look to the test.
Citing reports from New Look that searches for striped pyjama bottoms have spiked by 9000%, she set off on her public pyjama adventure.
OK, I confess, in the depths of winter, there’ve been numerous times when I’ve snuck to the shop wearing thick fleecey pyjama bottoms under a big coat.
But in the warmer weather, there’s no way of hiding nightwear with an outer layer.
So when I was asked to spend a week in nighties and pyjamas, I wasn’t sure how I’d manage it.
I felt slightly nervous about looking silly, but luckily I was allowed to mix the nightwear in with my own clothes. Here’s how it went.
DAY 1
I’m wearing a blue and white checked pyjama top from PrettyLittleThing, with straight leg white jeans from True Religion and a leather belt from Ted Baker.
The pyjama top is cotton seersucker with white buttons, long sleeves, a pocket on the left breast, and a white trim.
The cuffs have buttons in the way a shirt would, but it’s a hot day, so I wear the sleeves rolled up to mid-forearm.
Today, I am on a training course with people I only met a few days ago, so if they notice that I’m wearing a pyjama top, they’re too polite to say.
Walking down Piccadilly to get there, I feel like several people look at me quizzically, but perhaps I’m over thinking it.
I bump into a former colleague who seems to do a double take at the sight of the pyjama top, but he doesn’t comment on it.
A few days later, I ask if he’d noticed anything about my clothes when he last saw me – but from his reaction it’s clear that he was completely oblivious, the double take was all in my head.
DAY 2
I’m still on the course, and the dress code is smart casual, so today I wear 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 cotton, with short sleeves, white buttons, and a pocket on the left breast.
It’s boxy in shape and too short to tuck in, so I just wear it loose.
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Taking over large sections of the stores it has everything from trend led satin styles, to fluffy Disney PJ’s and everything in between.
Plus it means you can head to bed looking and feeling good without having to break the bank.
It’s also a great place to bag yourself a pyjama dupe.
Last year Primark had a great version of the Skims pyjamas and its latest dupe is that from Victoria’s Secret.
The pink striped pyjamas are a great match for that of the American lingerie brand, I even have a pair myself.
They’re lightweight, super comfortable and only a fraction of the price – what’s not to love.
Nobody comments and I don’t notice anyone looking at me in a funny way.
Perhaps it really passes for a shirt?
DAY 3
I am meeting a friend for lunch at The Palomar restaurant in Soho, so I want to look nice.
I look at my options and choose a white sleeveless cotton nightie from Next.
It’s full length, and by itself, it definitely looks like a nightie, but the top half is pretty, with a touch of broderie anglaise about it, so I team it with a full length skirt by Kemi Telford, from John Lewis.
It’s a black cotton skirt with large white polka dots and a belt from the same fabric that ties in a bow at the waist.
It’s a voluminous full skirt that brings Audrey Hepburn to mind, so I complete the look with black ballet pumps from Primark.
My friend asks what I’m working on at the moment.
I say: “I’m working on something literally right now. Guess what it is!”
He asks if I’m reviewing the restaurant, I tell him to guess again.
He gives up and I tell him I’m testing out nightwear, revealing that my top half is actually a nightie.
He tells me he never would have guessed and that he thought it was a nice summer top.
DAY 4
I’ve been putting off wearing the bottom half of these pyjama sets because I think I’ll look too much like I’m wearing nightwear, but I decide today is the day to give it a go.
I am working from home so I can look as casual as I like – but I do need to go out and about locally, so I don’t actually want to look like I’m wearing pyjamas.
I pick a pair of red and white striped pyjama bottoms.
They’re from Sainsbury’s Tu label and I team them with a white T-shirt by Mint Velvet, from John Lewis.
The T-shirt is cotton, with a round neck, short sleeves, and a black star on the left shoulder.
The pyjama bottoms are a cotton seersucker with pockets and an elasticated drawstring waist.
I absolutely look like I’m going to bed, but the biggest problem is that my black knickers show through the fabric of the pyjama bottoms.
I switch my knickers for a white pair and walk to my local swimming pool.
As I catch sight of my reflection in shop windows, I cringe because – even with a day time t-shirt – I look like I’m walking around in pyjamas.
After my swim, I walk home, feeling just as embarrassed, however, nobody comments and nobody seems to bat an eyelid.
At lunchtime, I walk my friend’s dog around the local park.
My friend says I look “cute” and there’s no pointing or staring on the walk.
I actually notice some girls in similar wide legged loose cotton trousers with drawstring waists.
They’re wearing them with fitted vest tops and I wonder if this would have been a better combo for me.
However, I won’t be wearing these PJ bottoms again, they’re slightly on the long side so I’ve rolled them up a few inches, only to find they unroll themselves when I’m walking.
DAY 5
I am going for dinner with my friend Janie, who I haven’t seen for ages.
We’re eating at Ocean Basket, a seafood restaurant in Kingston that overlooks the Thames.
I choose a white cotton vest from Next’s “Make Time to Dream” nightwear collection.
It’s loose fitting with thin straps and a broderie anglaise trim.
It comes, as part of a set, with blue and white striped pyjama bottoms, but I swap these for some shorts from Zara.
Like the pyjama bottoms, the shorts are blue and white striped, but they have a belt in matching fabric, that ties in a bow, and they’re clearly smart city shorts.
On the train, on the way home, I WhatsApp Janie to ask what she thought of my outfit.
She replies: “Very summery and a bit nautical.”
I tell her that I’ve mixed some nightwear into my outfit and ask: “Did anything stand out to you as nightwear?”
“Absolutely not in a million years! Which bit was nightwear?” asks Janie.
When I tell her it’s the white vest top, she messages back to say: “It didn’t look like nightwear at all!”
DAY 6
I am spending the afternoon at a summer fete, because my friend’s sausage dog is taking part in the dog show.
The sausage dog has been to the groomer to have his fur trimmed, especially for this occasion, so I know I need to look equally smart when I show up to support him.
I pick out a navy and white striped vest from Next, it’s a loose fitting soft fabric with a round neck, that’s part of a nightwear set that comes with matching bottoms.
I switch the bottoms for a pair of white shorts from Gap, and a leather belt from Osprey.
The dachshund looks exceptionally handsome in the dog show and I’m glad that, despite wearing nightwear, I’ve managed to look reasonably smart myself.
Later, I message my friend to ask if anything jumped out at her about what I was wearing. It didn’t.
When I explain that I’d mixed in some nightwear, she messages back: “I thought it was clothes [cry-laughing emoji]. You styled it well. Didn’t seem like pyjamas.”
DAY 7
I am working from home on my suntrap of a terrace so I’ve picked out some green and white striped pyjama shorts from Sainsbury’s Tu range.
I wear them with a loose, white, long sleeved linen shirt from Gap, to save my skin from the sun.
The pyjama shorts are cotton, with side pockets and an elasticated drawstring waist.
I don’t think they quite pass for “real” shorts but when I walk to the Co-op to buy some food for dinner, nobody gives me a second glance.
CONCLUSION
Nightwear tops are far more likely to pass as “real clothes” than nightwear bottoms.
The full length pyjama bottoms looked exactly like pyjama bottoms, and would be unlikely to pass as trousers.
However, quite a few of the nightwear tops looked gorgeous combined with my own clothes.
My favourite was the white cotton broderie anglaise nightie from Next – or at least the top half of it.
