Getting dressed is the official start of my day. All the things I do before I get dressed (Connections, crossword, Wordle, Duolingo) don’t count. This part of the day I am still in my jammies. While there were a couple of times I never changed out of my pajamas for the entire day (working from home, no zoom meetings), those were complete anomalies. Once I get dressed, I get on with my day.
Of course the problem is Wednesdays and my doughnut habit. For some reason, all bets are off about going to the bakery early in the morning and there are a sizeable number of Wednesday that see me at the bakery in my nighttime garb. Mind you, this is in colder weather when I can cover up with a sweatshirt or a winter coat – my summer nightgowns don’t lend themselves to early morning bakery forays.
This past Wednesday morning, I looked down as I was getting into the car and realized I was still wearing my slippers. Long story as to why I still had my slippers on, involving having to let the dog out earlier and it being quite cold that morning. I did sit for about 15 second debating whether to go back in the house to put on shoes and decided “what the heck”. Really what’s the difference between my Birkenstock clogs and slippers anyway, except for the faux fuzz.
This made me think about fashion in general. There aren’t really any rules about going out in slippers, are there? For that matter, except for not going out naked, are there any rules at all? Even the never wear white before Memorial Day or after Labor Day is just silly, right? And what’s the difference between my jammie pants and overshirt and any other nylon/orlon pants and matching shirt? In fact, why do we even HAVE pajamas?
Do you have a favorite pair of slippers? Pajamas?
Trail Baboon 
During the Covid year of 20-21, I started pulling on a pair of black leggings in the morning, and though I might change the top during the day for various reasons – usually an outing – it was always something soft and comfy. It was as if I never got out of my jammies. They are now all stretched out and wearing thin, but they are still what I pull on in the morning before I leave the house – and I sometimes leave them on for just a quick errand (like VS’ doughnut run).
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I have no slippers. I like to sleep in a colder room, but like the house warmer than most people (72°) during the day when I am up. I am always cold, except when I am in bed. It is weird.
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Why do you have no slippers?
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I wear socks if necessary, or just put on my slip-on Hafliger shoes. Husband has some odd Icelandic wool slippers our daughter got him in Iceland, but he only wears them if he has to go out into the garage. We both are of the opinion that if you have slip-on shoes, which you can wear indoors or outdoors, you don’t need slippers.
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And I just reread above – your house is probably warm enough for your feet without them.
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Rise and Shine, Baboons,
I thought pajamas as we know them, evolved in Europe for warmth on cold winter nights. Think about the sleepwear in “A Christmas Carol” including sleep caps. There were stoves and fireplaces in homes, but central heating was still far off in the future. Heat was uneven and ears and bodies got cold at night.
Bill, I await a historical accounting of pajamas, including pictures.
OT–Lou is now safely, but somewhat unhappily, ensconced in the rehab facility, walking laps and lifting weights. He is afraid he will not ever come home. And who can blame him for that? But I am doing my best to work to modify the house so he can come home. Now that he has stabilized, my feelings of being overwhelmed and anxious have arrived. The snowstorm which may paralyze us for a day or two, is almost welcome to me. I may stay home in my warm jammies and watch movies while cuddled up to Nurse Phoebe. My favorite pajamas are the flannel pants and a tshirt. I also have some LLBean slipper scuffs in which I love to shuffle around the house.
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Pajamas are not European at all, they were brought from India by the British in the 1700-1800s, originally as loungewear. They were adapted as sleepwear in the Victorian period, if Wikipedia is to be believed. If you read novels from the 1920s, such as Agatha Christie, you will occasionally come across descriptions of fashionable characters wearing lounging pajamas.
–Crow Girl
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The word “pajamas” is derived, apparently, from Urdu and comes from Persia.
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The things I learn on the Trail. CG, you know stuff I would not rxpect anyone to jnow.
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Thank you! It helps that I have a good memory (for things I read, anyway) and some fairly esoteric interests–and those couple decades working in libraries didn’t hurt–but the vast majority of the credit has to go to my lonely, bookish childhood. I certainly wouldn’t be the corvid I am today without that.
–Crow Girl
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Jacque – It occurred to me the other day, how glad I am that you are now retired and not trying to juggle a work schedule. Yikes.
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I have had the same thought, Barb. I could not have worked through this.
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I’m partial to sweats. I have actual pajamas, but I usually just wear sweats or old yoga pants and a t-shirt instead of pjs. I agree with you on the definitions of articles of clothing. Why? If you’re comfortable, why worry about it?
Lots of people wear actual pjs to the grocery store in these parts, especially before snowstorms. I’m a little too inhibited to go that far, I guess.
They call those nice wool Haflinger clogs “slippers” now. That confuses me. Am I ordering a pair of clogs? Or slippers? I like wool for my feet due to the moisture wicking properties of wool. My favorite slippers are a pair of Minnetonka scuffs which have been very badly beaten, worn outside for shoveling the deck or taking the dog out for a quick potty break, and they are still good. I just knitted a pair or “bed socks.” They’re like thick woolen tube socks – no heel. I asked the teacher if her next class will teach us how to make mittens or socks with a heel. She chose socks with a heel for next fall.
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Pajama bottoms and fuzzy slippers are so common now in places like Target that I seldom give them a second look. Personally, I hesitate to even take out the trash in my pajamas but slip on a pair of pants over the top. My typical nightwear is a pair of flannel bottoms (plaid) and a t-shirt.
I have a pair of slippers from L. L. Bean that I really like. Since we don’t wear shoes indoors and since I don’t go off anywhere to work, those slippers get a lot of use throughout the day and consequently they have gotten threadbare. I went to L. L. Bean to buy a replacement pair and naturally they have discontinued them and every similar style. I like slippers with a solid shoe-like sole, not just smooth leather, and I don’t want fuzzy or felted liners because they get too hot when you wear them all day. It seems that the manufacturers envision that one’s slippers will only be worn in the evening, perhaps when you have donned pajamas and are lounging around. I guess what I really need are house shoes, if such a thing exists. I’ve considered getting a pair of cheap canvas slip-on tennis shoes to serve that purpose and may do so.
Pajamas, it seems to me, are kind of a personal choice and based on comfort. That’s why I’ve never understood the Pajamagrams business model. If someone were to gift me a pair of the conventional bottoms and matching top in a pattern of the gift giver’s choosing, it would feel to me like an imposition. I certainly wouldn’t keep them. I like what I like.
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An overly generous friend once gave me a pair of very fuzzy, fleecy pajamas. I think they were micro fleece. I couldn’t stand them. I never wanted anything like that. I tried to like them. I wore them a couple of times but they were just too hot. I feel bad about that kind of fleece in the environment now, and I’d never buy such a thing. How can people you think you know so well do things like that? I felt so guilty about hating her gift so much. It seems presumptuous to buy a friend something so personal.
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I find that Minnetonka moccasins (with or without a solid sole) work great for “house shoes” IF, as Bill noted, they don’t have the fuzzy lining that makes my feet sweat. If I wear that pair, I end up changing socks and mocs because the dampness has made my feet cold.
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My Minnetonka moccasins have a solid sole and a wool footbed. The uppers are blue felted wool. I like this because it wicks the moisture away from your feet if they sweat. They have held up so well for years. I’d like to find another pair but I think they were discontinued. I got them in Grand Marais at Joynes Ben Franklin. Next time I’m up there, I’ll look again. I think Haflinger makes a similar wool scuff slipper without a solid sole. It’s a thicker wool sole with anti-skid dots on the bottom. They’re pretty expensive though.
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Once upon a time you could get Minnetonka moccasins at the State Fair, and I would pick up apair every few years.
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Yes, I got a pair there years ago… still have them for the garden. : )
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Remember the movies from 1940s and 50s where the couple would have the twin beds, the doorbell would ring, and whoever got up would have to put on their robe and maybe slippers to answer it?
Doesn’t happen here…
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If your doorbell rang after you went to bed would you even answer it?
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No!
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Not unless I was expecting the person… and we do have a window to see who’s there.
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But if you were expecting someone, would you put on your pajamas and go to bed?
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If I knew them and they were dropping something off, maybe.
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Anonymous Jacque did not write that reply!
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i have slippers but tend to kick them off when I get to where I’m going and then when want to slip into them again they are wherever I kicked them off so they end up under the couch in a hall closet or some retracted stash location
pjs no I have a couple oversized t shirts and a pile of loose boxers to sleep in
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During part a late childhood or early teenage summer, I had an orange and yellow mumu that I decided could be worn 24/7 with weekly washings and only the occasional need for a classier look. The thought makes me cringe now. It must certainly have been before making a good first impression was a priority for me.
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snort
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No slippers. No jamies.
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I am anticipating a long weekend due to the storm hitting us tomorrow night. I will be in socks and comfy clothes. I hope for a storm closure of my workplace on Monday.
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A couple of people mentioned LL Bean, which reminds me that I ordered red flannel pajamas from an LL Bean catalog in the 70’s. I think they are still in the bottom of a drawer, and would likely still be serviceable, but I can’t wear flannel at night anymore. Maybe I should dig them out and wear them when I’m working from home. I need warm clothes for that, because being still for long periods of time makes me cold.
I have lots of slippers, many of them given as gifts. They feature cats and peguins and sock monkeys. A current favorite pair is a plush brown plaid pair.
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OT: Did y’all in the TCs get a lot of snow? Winona only got about an inch or snow, sidewalks are already clear – but more is expected Sunday-Monday… probably what’s out at Renee’s Saturday…
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We got about an inch inch and a half here in Southwest Minneapolis.. melted off the streets and sidewalks pretty fast. Quite a lot melting out of yards as well.
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I wear crocs. Course I have lousy feet. I can’t wear fuzzy things either as they also make my feet sweat. But in winter my feet are cold without the crocs.
My feet are weird. 🙂
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