Christy Lorio: Pajamas?

“You know the message you’re sending out to the world with these sweatpants? You’re telling the world, ‘I give up. I can’t compete in normal society. I’m miserable, so I might as well be comfortable.'”
– Jerry Seinfeld, in the pilot episode of Seinfeld

Christy Lorio (photo by Leslie Almeida)

As a woman who appreciates fashion, I love looking back at old photos and illustrations of clothing trends that were popular during certain time periods.  Bustle skirts, mutton sleeves, heck even old-fashioned, cuban heeled stockings provide plenty of fodder for daydreaming. It seems like no matter the era, people looked so resplendent, whether it was 1858 or 1958. The elegance! The romance! It’s fun to dream about living in the past, though I wouldn’t necessarily want to wear a corset every day. Risking fainting and internal bleeding to enjoy a smaller-than-normal waistline isn’t appealing.

Fast forward to today. Wearing pajamas in public is such a regular occurrence that it doesn’t even get a second glance. How did we go from one extreme to the other? Isn’t a T-shirt and jeans casual enough? Nope. In fact we are so lazy that someone had the great idea to manufacture something called the Forever Lazy. This thing makes the Snuggie look downright professional. In fact one of the perks is a flap on the bum, so you don’t even have to take the thing off when nature calls. How lazy is that?  Fashion magazines even tout sweatpants as a trend, pairing designer lounge wear with high heels and sending pajama sets down the runways. So have we gone too far?

In Caddo Parish, Commissioner Michael Williams thinks so. He was inspired to try to ban pajamas in public after a recent trip to Wal-Mart proved to be too casual for his liking. Writing someone a citation for dressing poorly in public may sound extreme, but I get where the guy is coming from.

My husband and I went to a five-bean restaurant over the summer for our wedding anniversary. Whenever we are dining and the check hits the triple digits, we like to put a little effort into what we are wearing. If the highlight of my evening is centered around a $30 entree, I want to get into full fine-dining mode. I think dressing the part just goes along with the upscale food and decor. Much to my dismay, a guy in gym shorts was allowed in. My only question was, Why? Every other day, at any time you can wear whatever you want, wherever you want. So you’d think he would have wanted to have a little pride in his appearance for eating such a special meal.

While I’m certainly not sporting high heels all the time, I think, at the minimum, save the lounge clothes for lounging. And please, no visible underwear, no one wants to see that. Actually, scratch that, go ahead and wear PJ’s in public. It makes those of us who put at least an iota of thought into what we are wearing look that much better.

Christy Lorio, a native New Orleanian, writes on fashion at slowsouthernstyle.com and is also a freelance writer whose work has been featured online and in print magazines both locally and nationally.