The Pajama Game: Not Just for Bedtime

By Charla Krupp

What do you do when pulling on a sweat suit for a trip to the corner Starbucks is too much effort? How about just keeping on your pj's? Everyone from carpooling moms to yoga-bodied Hollywood celebs is taking the concept of dressing down a few notches lower by turning their pajamas into outerwear. Classic men's cuts in fun colors and prints, often more than $100 a pair, are being worn in pieces: bottoms only with a T shirt, a camisole or a swimsuit; or just the long-sleeved top over a sexy T shirt as a jacket for the evening. "My daughter at college in Santa Barbara wants to sell pj bottoms out of her dorm," says Dory Forge, designer of the spirited pj line Lounge Act. "Kids there are living in them."

As the apparel industry overall suffered a 4% drop, sales of pajamas jumped 34% from 2001 to '02, according to NPD Fashionworld, a market-information company. Copresident Marshal Cohen predicts that pajamas as streetwear will be a big trend this spring. "No one wants to spend money on clothing anymore," he says, "but consumers are willing to spend money on something that allows them not to have to change clothes three times a day."

Women woke up to luxe pajamas five years ago when Ally McBeal frolicked with her dancing baby in Nick & Nora's Counting Sheep flannels. Now pj's seem to fit right in with the cocooning set. "People like to be at home more and want to wear the same thing to have breakfast, to run errands, to pick up the kids," says Stephanie Steinman, president of the cheeky sleepwear line Cherry Pie. "The easier you can make it on yourself, the better." Jessica Lee, head of sales for the fashion-pj line Bedhead, saw her numbers double in the fourth quarter of 2001--right after Sept. 11. Seems that the scarier the world gets, the more we want our jammies.