September 21, 2015
Evening Wear is Evolving

I was reading something interesting the other day.  I do that a lot and sometimes I forget just where I have acquired some sort of tidbit because I read so many different things.  But this particular article's topic was ladies' sleepwear.  Naturally I perked up when I started in to read.  You see, I like my sleepwear and I own a wide and varied collection of t.

The writer wasn't aiming her words at folks such as me in her essay however.  Instead she was discussing those who, for some reason, gravitate to wearing their husband's  ratty, oversized t-shirts, or their teenage kid's discarded and outgrown clothing, or even their own past-prime nightwear.  But what caught my eye and astounded me was the mention of those who prefer to sleep in their street clothes. That's right, they just move from day to night wearing the very same attire that they slipped into in the morning hours.  The essayist went on to describe the many comfy skirts and pant that she gravitates to merely for the ease of falling into bed at the end of a long day with no need for changing into sleepwear.  

To each their own I guess.  

I can safely say that I don't think I have ever intentionally done such a thing.  After all, 8 daylight hours is more than enough time to wear ones clothes before shedding them for a favorite sleeping gown or comfy pajamas.  Is this becoming an alarming trend, I asked myself as I read feverishly on down the page of the magazine.Should I be concerned? Will women's lingerie go the way of dinosaurs and Edsels? And should I be purchasing some soft jersey skirts with elastic banded waists?

There was a trend several years back where folks would wear puffy lounge pants for daily attire.  Zubaz were popular with their wild animal prints and other geometric configurations.  These pants would easily go from boardroom to bedroom, that's for sure.  But who wants to walk around all day long in their jammies? I never understood that trend.

I guess I come by the love of pretty nightwear naturally.  My  mother always had a beautiful gown and matching robe to wear to bed.  You see, my father saw that most every special occasion - birthday, anniversary and Christmas - was marked with a new negligee for my mother.  The ladies at the local department store knew just what he was after when they saw him walk in the door. I guess his reputation preceded him.  

One memorial Valentine's Day, dad gifted mom the most beautiful fiery red lacy, frilly nightgown and matching robe.  Actually it was rather radical move for a married man with 4 children to bestow something of that caliber on one's wife.  But he did.  And as she was holding it up, lovingly admiring it, our little brother piped up in a little voice, "Mommy, is that what you're going to be wearing when I wake you up in the middle of the night for a glass of water?!"  Yes it was indeed.

The story doesn't end there.  Dad continued to favor beautiful women's lingerie for our mother through the years even after we all grew up and left their home.  One day, while shopping in their local department store together, Dad was dutifully waiting on mom as she tried something or other on in the dressing room.  As he strolled between the display racks, tightly jammed into the aisles, he managed to accidentally pick up a piece of "wandering lingerie" along the way.  The loop of his belt snagged the plastic hanger of an itty bitty, teensy weensy size 10 red bikini sleepwear set and it adhered itself lovingly to his side.

Mom, who was used to these things happening on a regular basis, looked the other way and feigned innocence. Caught red handed, Dad knew he must return that garment to its proper rack, but given the vast array of filmy negligees on display in the store, he was at a loss which way to turn.  Pleading for assistance from his better half, just brought the reply,"Well don't you remember where you picked it up?"

"To tell the truth," dad admitted, "by that time I didn't even recall which state I was in let alone which rack of filmy garments was minus one of its filmiest numbers."  There are times when it's just better to cut bait and run.  And that's just what he did. 

But not before, I'm pretty certain, he had fully scoped out the women's lingerie department in search of mom's next Mother's Day gift. I can tell you one thing for certain, that though it wasn't a size 10 itty bitt, teensy weensy red bikini sleepwear set, it most likely was something every bit as pretty as that.  

My motto is this:  there are so very many pretty pieces of nightwear to choose, and so few hours in which to wear them.  Now why would you ever want to sleep in your clothes? Sadly, I guess I'll never know the answer to that question.