Posted on 01/18/2012 9:27:27 PM PST by Steelfish
JANUARY 19, 2012 Why Not Wear Pajamas All Day? Teens Perfect the Rumpled Look, But Others See 'Loungewear' as Just Plain Sloppy
By ELIZABETH HOLMES
Juliana Dokas spends 45 minutes getting ready for school in the morning, straightening her hair, applying mascara and, some days, putting on her pajamas.
Teens are dressing like they just got out of bed. Teen retailers are pushing sweatpants, pajama pants, slipper-like shoes and camisoles, having finally found something to replace the overworked hoodie. Elizabeth Holmes has details on Lunch Break.
The 13-year-old wears a pair of red-plaid flannel pants to Murray Junior High in St. Paul, Minn., along with a rotation of baggy sweatpants and flared yoga pants. She pairs them with a "cami" (camisole tank top), a "hoodie" (hooded sweatshirt) and fuzzy slippers. "It's both comfortable and cool," the eighth-grader says of her lounge-around style.
Trend-conscious teens look as if they just rolled out of bed, wearing layers of loungewear to class at schools across the country. The trend goes way beyond "Pajama Day," the once- or twice-a-year special event that many schools hold to raise funds or promote spirit. Sales of "activewear" to girls ages 13 to 17, including sweatpants and sweatshirts but not pajama pants, rose 21% last year over the prior year—much faster than the 7.8% rise of apparel sales overall to that shopper segment, according market-research firm NPD Group.
Retailers are jumping on the pajamas-every-day trend, with stores like Abercrombie & Fitch, Aeropostale and Pink, a sub-brand of Victoria's Secret, giving loungewear prominent display. American Eagle Outfitters' Aerie brand merchandises sweatpants, leggings and other relaxed styles with a variety of shirts, including those with asymmetrical hems or dolman sleeves. A wide neck is key, says Jennifer Foyle, chief merchandising officer, because "girls are wanting to show their bra straps."
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Guys, they aren’t wearing the pj’s they SLEPT IN. It’s not like they roll out of bed and out the door.
Jeez.
They are wearing cute (yes, some are really cute) and comfortable ‘pj pants’ as clothes.
Gah, it’s like it’s 1960 around here and I am hearing Grandpa muttering “In MY day we’d have gotten sent home for wearing blue jeans to school!” Or God forbid as when my mother couldn’t wear anything but a dress.
I can show you a slob in a dress. Slobs are slobs, but to assume that any teenager who wears pj pants looks like that is stupid.
Socialism cult whitewashing for a fad trend.
Make socialism “kewl” so more people will play the herd instinct and will accept socialism out of fear of being “different”.
It's terrible. My sense of smell must be keener in the AM after being away from everyone for a few hours. I hate it, but I can pick up most recent activity or conditions if it's not masked by a gallon of perfume or cologne. For Pete's sake, people, take a shower!!!!
“I have seen this already at the local university for the past couple of years. So strange.”
This is an astute observation. One of my daughters is halfway through law school now, but when she was an undergrad two years ago she used to complain about how sloppily the other students dressed. She always had a job to go to after class and was dressed properly. This is one of the more difficult to get into SUNY schools in update NY.
My other daughter who is in college in Manhattan now is appalled at the other students sloppy attire (sweats, PJ type clothes) that the other students wear to class.
This is indicative of the greater attitude of the typical college age student out there - the attitude of taking for granted, not taking college seriously, lets use up our loan money and party for 4 years and then see if we can Occupy Wall Street mentality that is out there.
Abercrombie, Victoria’s Secret, etc. are capitalizing on a trend that already exists. They might as well - capitalism in action in a positive sense - my daughter in Manhattan works at a fancy Hollister and is very grateful for the job, too - jobs are not easy to come by!
update = upstate
Of course, some of the old “rules” were just as ridiculous. Until the 1960s or so, people running heavy machinery (lathes, drill presses, things like that) were expected to wear neckties, which is a wonderful way to get decapitated. But apparently fashion was considered more important than safety.
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Men in the 30s 40s 50s and sixties wore open necked work clothes. People meeting the public added a tie like the Maytag repairman. Engineers wore ties.
the girls across the street have a jump on this trend!
Their brother is clad in boxer shorts year round also.
It depends on how they're tailored.
It was well over 50 years ago that we would buy dungarees, put them on, soak each other with a hose and let them dry skin tight in the sun.
Our parents hated that. Oh, and we would saturate one forelock with peroxide and let the sun bleach that out while the jeans were shrinking. Then, we would roll up those jeans as far as they would go, about mid-calf. Scandalous!!
When it was full summer, we would lay out in our swim suits covered with baby oil and iodine to get a quick dark tan. Usually applied more peroxide to the hair at the same time.
The pj look was common at early morning mid-terms and finals, even in winter, at univerity. Fads come and go and then become just a memory.
I live on a sailboat now; if I owned shoes like that I'd kill myself trying to get out of the boat...
A guy in my class wore rather classy boxers exhibited above his under-butt baggy pants. Stylish even.
And like the “pj pants” you defend, it ensures nobody of consequence will take the wearer seriously.
And yes, I can see how jeans are, in practice, a limiting factor in business success today.
My high school aged daughter is not supposed to wear PJs to school, but she did during finals week.
She said that none of the teachers bothered her because she’s a “good” kid. She’s one of the smart ones, so she gets away with things like wearing PJs.
Personally, I didn’t blame her. It was cold, and she was going to be taking tests all day. She had her plaid PJ pants on, a pair of black fuzzy boots, and a warm sweatshirt.
The bonus is that she does not look sexy at all, and I think that’s a good thing for a 15 year old girl! Of course, then she went to a dance, and she wore a low-cut, tight dress to that. It was tasteful, but she looked a little too pretty for me and my husband. I’m glad she doesn’t wear those kinds of outfits often.
My son is taking a final as we speak. Yes, he is wearing his Sponge Bob night pants with boat shoes. The night pants aren’t any different than fleece sweatpants and they should be as comfortable as possible when taking exams. Fashion, in my opinion, has always been hated by the “older” generation of the time. I know a woman in her 80’s that tells me her parents/older generation hated when they would shave off their eyebrows and pencil them in. I won’t even get into what my Mother thought about my hair or clothes when I was that age. What comes around, goes around. Fashion always changes.
WHATEVER you do...do NOT wear a business suit!
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