The New Dress Code: Sleepwear

The new advent of sleepwear certifies a fabulous dress code to your next slumber party.

- Tanya Mehta

A few months ago, I was gifted a pyjama set. Now, I’m the type of person who begrudgingly transfers my old T-shirts, the ones that have succumbed to the perils of detergent and wear into my sleepwear drawer, pairing them with a miscellany of ragged plaid pyjamas. So, when I unwrapped my set of pristine white and adult-friendly pyjamas, I was faced with a conundrum. On one hand, the textural seersucker, classic notched collar and crochet trimming disallowed me to add them to my usual pile of nightclothes, and on the other hand, all I wanted to do was tuck the crisp shirt into a pair of mom jeans, throw on some earrings and shuttle off to work the next day. I, of course, chose the latter.

Interesting fact: The jammies that we all know of so fondly today were conceptualised in India. Adopted by British colonists in the early 18th century, we’ve witnessed a dramatic evolution of nightwear since its inception – Joan Crawford’s opulent silk loungewear from the 1920’s, the endearing penguin pyjama set from Bridget Jones’s Diary and who can forget the time when Carrie Bradshaw casually threw on a pearl necklace, sequinned beanie and fur coat over her PJs to trudge through a blizzard in Sex and the City.

DUSK TO DAWN

Sleepwear has become an indispensable element of contemporary fashion and culture. Over the past decade, the runway has presented myriad iterations – whether it’s Alexander Wang, who glamourised sleep shorts for S/S 17, or Miuccia Prada, who made the case for feather-laced chinoiserie loungewear. And, there’s also the lacey nighty that’s moved on from its risqué negligee status, courtesy Céline.