Early one morning last week I was
out walking with Cello. The sun hadn’t yet got round to warming things up and
it felt like winter had arrived. I was in a world of my own thinking about the
day ahead. Out of the corner of my eye I saw someone coming out of their cottage,
cross the road and root around in their car boot. As I got closer I could see
it was a female and she was still wearing her pyjamas. She didn’t seem the
least embarrassed to see me and even said good morning as she went back inside
her house. I on the other hand, felt like some kind of inadvertent voyeur, and
did feel strangely embarrassed.
I don’t know why, but then again I'm not
alone. I recalled the public debate on social media last year when a chap
called Chris Cooke posted a picture of two women shopping in the Salford Tesco’s
and complained loudly that Tesco should ban anyone dressed as such in their pyjamas
and dressing gowns. As far as I know Tesco have not actively enforced the ban that it introduced in 2010. They were later than the UAE, who banned the wearing of bed wear to work in 2006. Back in the UK, the Daily Mail, a paper dedicated to protecting
our morality and our human rights, sent out two of their female reporters in their
pyjamas to see where they could get into and where they might be barred. The
Houses of Parliament were no problem, nor Harrods, The Ritz, the National
Gallery or even Pret a Manger – all of which let them come in and go about their
business.
The issue divided the UK into two groups - with
one group seeing the dressing down in pyjamas as indicative of people’s slovenliness,
laziness and disrespect for others, whilst the other side saw the fun side,
talked about free choice and welcomed the new fashion fad. Nigella Lawson
admitted to enjoying all-day pyjama parties and former Conservative Prime
Minister, David Cameron admitted he liked to lounge around in his pyjamas, if working from
home. I think I side with the fun loving group as do two of my grandsons who
like nothing more than to get changed into ‘onesies’ and playing outside in them, and
yes, going shopping in them to Tesco’s.
However, whilst increasingly pyjamas
might be our favourite item of clothing, perversely actually sleeping in
pyjamas (the reason we have pyjamas) is actually bad for our health. Now I
have, in fairness at this point, to declare a personal interest – I haven’t worn pyjamas
since I was 11 years old, and the last time was when I was admitted to hospital
to have my appendix removed. I feel somewhat alone in my naked sleep mode. According
to the American Academy of Sleep 92% of people globally go to bed wearing
pyjamas.
Thankfully the science is with
me. Research suggests that our bodies are designed to cool down while we sleep –
wearing pyjamas can actually keep us to warm, which for many people will
disrupt their sleep cycle. Those who sleep naked have better diets and increased
happiness levels – and also due to released hormones naked sleepers can wake up
feeling sexier. Feeling sexier aside, there are a number of surprisingly important
public health issues to think about when it comes to deciding what you might
wear in bed.
Generally, it is better to let
what my Mother might call the ‘nether regions’ or ‘down there’ to breathe in
order to prevent bacteria from gathering. Men who have liberated themselves from
wearing pyjamas, but still want to wear something (underwear) are more at risk
than women, (but for different reasons). Whilst a cool body at night helps keep
blood pressure regulated, the prevailing perception is that men who wear
tightly fitting pyjamas and/or underwear at night have a heightened risk of their
fertility being affected. For women, the potential problems of wearing pyjamas
to bed are more to do with the possibilities of yeast-borne infections – but it
has to be said the risk to most women is very low.
I think that given the word pyjama
has been around since 1800 (taken from the Urdu pay-jama) as a fashion statement,
public health issue, and/or a way of expressing our sexual being, we might
still have some way to go!
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