Taylor’d with Style
Nighty Night
T
By JeanAnn Taylor
hink about it. What could possibly be more comfy and cozy than snuggling under a blanket with a hot cup of anything as it’s snowing outside and while wearing a pair of soft, warm, cuddly pajamas? Oh, the decadence.
cotton and had loose-fitting, draw-string waists with buttonup tops. Soon after this discovery, the comfortable pajama began to replace the nightshirt as the preferred nightwear for men in America.
Until the 1920s, sleepwear was regular outerwear, a nightshirt, or nothing at all. The idea of sleeping in loosefitting shirts and pants came from British colonists after returning from the Far East. There, they discovered exotic loungewear referred to as “pay” and “jama” meaning “leg garment”—“payjama.” These early styles were made from
For many years following, women continued to sleep in nightshirts or nightgowns—leaving pajamas for men. White linen was the preferred nightgown fabric as it could be boiled and bleached to remove perspiration and stains. With the invention of washing machines, sewing machines, and nylon—an easy-care and machine washable fabric—fashion
14 | 50+ Living |December 2019
