After decades of mostly indifference to pajamas-or jammies as you might have called them as a child-men appear to be rediscovering the sleeptime attire.
Chip Tolbert, fashion director for the Men`s Fashion Association in New York, says he sees a comeback of pajamas for men because styling and fabrics are more interesting and fun to wear.
Linda Tepper, who designs men`s pajamas under the Shadowboxer label, says ”bright and boisterous” is selling. So are jammies in leopard and cowhide prints.
Recognizing the enduring popularity of boxers among younger men, sleepwear companies are offering the best of both worlds: silk robes with matching boxers instead of full pajama sets. They`ve tossed in shave coats and short-legged pajamas and even updated the flannel sleepshirt in bold tartans, all to woo younger consumers.
Dick Krukar, regional men`s spokesman for J.C. Penney Co. Inc., says he believes that the upturn in men`s pajamas and loungewear has a simple explanation: They`re more fashionable.
”Sleepwear for us the last year shows the largest percentage of sales gains of anything in the entire men`s area,” Krukar says. ”Young men are cleaning up their act. You see that now they are wearing Dockers rather than jeans. Women are wearing lovely at-home things. Houses now have decks, and Dad doesn`t want to sit around in his underwear.”
