I find that very few people take the time to dress properly around their home. As soon as one gets off work, they usually strip down to sweat pants or something in that field or variety. However, for me and hopefully for you, one should take the time and money to purchase a pair of pajamas (both men and women). I could not rest well without being clothed in a pair of pajamas, and I usually place them on when I am finished with business and entertainment with friends for the day. Pictured in this photo is a pair of Polo pajamas that fit very well. If you are cold natured in the winter, the addition of a night robe will do the trick. And finally, you should finish the attire with a nice pair of traditional leather night slippers.
25 comments:
Well thank goodness someone is willing to blog on pajamas! I totally concur. If I'm not going out or having people over, I'm in pajamas as soon as I get home. Classic front pajamas are way classier then sweats (yuk)!
Good Grief, man! Do you ever just relax and let your hair down??
I think it's great that you take so much pride in your appearance. I also don't like to see people looking slouchy. But in the privacy of your own home? Come on!
Also, I find it humorous that a man (straight one anyway)not only cares so much about his appearance, but actually blogs about his appearance, clothing, grooming on a daily basis.
I am NOT condemning it, nor mocking it, I just think it's odd.
I'm from the Midwest and the South. Is this a New England thing?
No, it is not a New England thing, many people care about their appearance. I love pajamas, but I never wear them to bed as I find sleeping in you birthday suit is much more comfortable. What is your opinion on silk pajamas for winter?
Okay, that answers my question! No problem. I was just wondering. There are many men (mine included) who depend on their wives to 'dress' them. I don't know what I'd do if mine was into clothes as much as I am. There's only room enough for one of us! (just kidding)
Anyway, it's interesting to read this blog and then read everyone's comments.
BTW, are there any women's wasp-y blogs (I already know about Bunny Tomerlin's - love it, too)
This fool is definitely NOT from New England. The fact that his home appears to have been constructed about five years ago and his absurd obsession with cream colored pants is all the proof I need.
Calm down everyone.
Richard,
Velvet slippers are the final, perfect touch in my opinion.
SOUTH BY MIDWEST and other MISDIRECTIONS or TO MOCK OR NOT TO MOCK THAT IS THE QUESTION.
Dear Anonymous,
This blog is a discussion of the influence of WASP culture and style on the kind of clothes some people choose to wear.
The authoring blogger of WASP 101 sometimes appears as a mannequin to present his interpretation of WASP dress, thereby inviting critique and comment from others who are interested in such things and apparently, some who are not and find the interest suspect.
It is not humorous and more than a little boring you believe and imply (with your jeering parenthetical) that a man who places importance on his appearance and writes about the cultural and sartorial influence of a certain group of Americans influence on it is either a homosexual or odd.
WASPs in particular and many others in general, both gay and straight, eccentric and conventional do care about their appearance. WASPs choose their clothes largely by habit and are mindful of the hour and the weather when doing so, and many more of them are quite comfortable and relaxed in sensible, buttoned-up clothes (including pajama jackets that button)that others, not like them, find too constricting or not relaxed enough.
The first two paragraphs of your commentary are premised on the notion that one's appearance only matters if someone else is looking and being "dressed up" (to use an awful middle-class expression)or dressed at all (if you consider PJs to starchy) is akin to wearing a costume for a theatrical performance where the audience are one's neighbors.
Hence, once alone in the privacy of your house, performance over, you would tear off the straightjacket of clothes and, free at last, sprint unconstrained from one room to the next clad only in threadbare Y-fronts and the flesh God gave you with your presumably long locks flowing behind you.
(You see, with few exceptions,
21st century WASP men don't let their hair down. They have abandoned 18th century styles and often prefer closely cropped or neatly trimmed manes.)
Well, to each his own. You may find wearing a buttoned pajama tunic and pants akin to sleeping in a full dress naval uniform or archaic or even foppish but some do not. Many WASP men wear pajamas and nightshirts and monogrammed woolen robes and old Sulka dressing gowns (sadly often inherited now) for the very practical reason of their warmth and also, unashamedly, for their beauty and the extraordinary quality of the tailoring.
An appreciation of asthetics or a more buttoned-up approach to informality when at home, while foreign and downright exotic to our non-WASP brethren, is no cause for alarm or, in the case of the previous blogger, insult.
The trouble with your commentary is that it is dishonest.
After three paragraphs of trasparent derision marked by exasperation, punctuated by exclamation ("Good Grief, man!" "Come on!" indeed) and notable for its appeal to sexual bigotry ("straight one anyway"- because we all know that only girls and gays give a damn about the clothes on their backs don't we o' silent majority of bloggers to whom I appeal) interspersed with the insincere compliment ("I think it's great that you take so much pride in your appearance" --but only in public, ok man, in private at home real men find their inner-slob) you then try to excuse your ridicule with a blatantly contradictory statement that your not doing what your words so obviously intend. Your prose are simply not sophisticated enough to conceal your comtempt.
Agreed, you are not condemning either the author or the blog. Words have meaning and condemnation usually results from a thoughtful judgment rendered after weighing sound evidence.
You ARE mocking both the individual author of this blog and others like him who share his interest in this subject.
I suspect you think this blog funny and odd because you haven't the background to relate to it. Because it runs afoul your own customs and habits you dismiss it as precious and even unmasculine.
Well, I'll tell you what I think is odd- a person who describes themselves as being from whole regions of the country, drifters and itinerant railroad workers excepted.
When introduced, WASPs I know tell you precisely what city they or their family are from and where they have been brought up (if different). Sometimes the geography is even tighter down to the street. Even if they were born in one place but brought up in another or their family have long lived in one city and they were brought up elsewhere they can articulate that with accuracy. i.e., My family is from Philadelphia. I was born there but brought up in Pasedena.
Keep riding the blogosphere rails until you find a home anonymous where you can relax in privacy. I suggest heading North by Northwest as a start.
Buttoned-up and Loving It!
Cerebral
Dear Wife of Mr. Magoo:
Any man that requires his wife to choose his clothes and dress him should be blind, an invalid or senile.
Which one is your husband?
With Sympathy,
Cerebral
My goodness Richard! I'll bet your page views are off the charts today.
Cerebral,
Welcome back.
Richard,
Very nice pajamas. Would like to see a robe you have in mind.
When it comes to actual sleeping, I find I am so restless I need to strip to my civies. I wish I had a bit more self control!
I wonder if you wear summer pajamas, and if so do you suggest shorts or long pants? I take it they would be in a much lighter material and lighter color (I once had a pair of seersicker pajamas-shorts not long pants) Bill
are they made in china?
Wow. Cerebral, were you a really gifted writer you could have cut that guy down in two sentences. It was fun reading the book you posted, an overreaction to an obvious nincompoop. Kudos, reading your self congratulatory post was almost as much of a waste of time as reading Ayn Rand.
Bill, I do wear a full set of pajamas in the summer as well, and yes I wear much lighter fabrics. I suggest sticking with a light weight cotton.
Anonymous, silk makes for a good movie scene, but I find them to be too warm in the summer. Though I would wear a pair in the winter.
Anonymous, no they are made in El Salvador!
the Duck, Yeah, I could handle velvet slippers as well.
Suzi, Oh how we should talk :)
Turling,
Thanks very much. I couldn't resist replying to the sneering remarks of the earlier blogger.
My comments lacked precision and good order, but there was little time for cool, dispassionate prose. Such brazen ignorance and dishonesty deserved swift rebuttal.
I AM condemning the post as utter nonsense. I suppose I could have just disregarded it as too absurd to acknowledge but there was a certain cruelty about those comments that could not be ignored.
With Sword and Shield,
Cerebral
SNEERS FROM THE GALLERY or WHAT A WRITER MIGHT HAVE WRITTEN WERE HE EVER TO WRITE
Jack Straw,
I notice you wrote nothing in reply to the blogger I responded to- not even the two brilliant, concise sentences that would have made my protracted response so unnecessary.
I do not write books. I write a few paragraphs of prose now and again. There is not a self-congratulatory word in my previous post.
I cannot accept a judgment on my ability as a writer from one whose pen lies prostrate whilst he insists I might have done better.
If you spent more time writing yourself you would not waste so much of it reading others inferior efforts.
At least consider restricting your criticism to the living who may respond to it. Although I'm not sure Ms. Rand would mind very much that she had wasted your time. Come to think of it, neither do I.
My reaction was my own-over or otherwise. True, I wrote in haste and my comments would have benefited from editing. Even so, they convey my visceral reaction to ignorance and bigotry. I will not apologize for that.
Good Luck with your writing.
Cerebral
This is better than "The Real Housewives of Atlanta". That's not saying much, but the comments here are amusing.
Richard, nice PJs. I'm more of a "boxers and t-shirt" guy, but now that the mercury is settling below 32 I've been wearing my Gap pajama bottoms with the "I (heart) Dad" pattern, given to me on Father's Day many years ago. A proper set of pajamas might be on my Christmas list this year.
Wow! Hold up everyone! I am anonymous from the Midwest and the South- me, Kathie! Okay? Now, first of all Richard, if I offended you - my most humble apologies. That's why I posted anonymously. Second of all, I love this blog. No, I don't find it funny. I find it interesting.
This 'wasp' lifestyle is completely new and foreign to me. I now live in DC and my husband is in politics. I see many, many men that dress like Richard, and I know many men personally that care very, very much about their appearance. That's just foreign to me but that doesn't mean I think it's a bad thing.
I guess even more than interesting, I find it fascinating. Yes, I was just surprised that even at home, Richard still 'dresses up'. I, personally, would find it tiring to do that becaus I at sometime need to rest my poor, aching feet. However, you'll never, and I mean NEVER find me without makeup.
I'm not the type of person to make fun of someone else. That's not why I'm on wasp101. I truly enjoy looking at the clothes Richard wears and chooses. Working on the hill, my husband dresses like this to a 't'. I just didn't know people blogged about things like this.
So, Richard, I sure hope I didn't offend you, as Cerebral has suggested. I came forward because I don't want to be like those who say mean, hurtful things and then sign 'anonymous.'
For those of you who think I was trying to insinuate that Richard was 'gay' or that all men who like to think about their looks are anything less than masculine, then I invite you to visit my blog.
You'll see that I am a writer of a completely different genre. I am self-deprecating and satirical.
If that came across in my posting I was only making fun of myself, not Richard.
I hope this clears everything up and from now on I will slip in secretly and just admire your togs from afar without comment.
I've definitely been put in my place.
hillbillydebutante.blogspot.com
kathie sweetie, don't worry about insulting me! You didn't and I welcome most any comments on my blog.
I agree with The Duck on the velvet slippers, and Cerebral on the Sulka dressing gown, however I would have to suggest a velvet smoking cap as a finishing touch to the outfit.
Thoughts on a Ghost of Christmas Past
Dear Mr. Gilmoure,
Agreed, Sulka was a glorious place where otherwise staid, old-guard WASPs (who still bought their prim, high-waisted, tie-back, button-top Swiss cotton undershorts on the third floor at Brooks) and aristocrats and film stars could abandon any sober, self-restraint and indulge in the intoxicating luxury of the Madison Avenue shop or, for some older readers, the tiny jewel-box of a haberdashery tucked into the lobby of the Waldorf-Astoria.
Where else could one find a thick, six-ply, vicuna dressing gown (in its natural, honeyed-ginger color, of course) with wide shawl collar and cuffs in matching golden-brown grosgrain-the sleeves lined in creamy white silk, the body in cloth of gold? Nowhere on earth.
Not to mention the perfectly cut silk and french cotton shirts made from cloth woven at Sulka's own mill in Lyon, France. The silky socks as fine as baby's hair and smart, elegant ties of watered silk equally superb--
or the extraordinary private laundry where you could send your shirts to be meticulously washed and pressed for life.
Ah, it might have all been a dream but one was quickly brought back to reality by the terrifying prices listed on the sales slips. Best to charge it to the account and settle it later with a blindfold and a stiff whiskey.
No matter how expensive it was, it was always worth it. A NYT newspaper columnist once noted that a Sulka smoking jacket cost $1500.00 but "then nothing at Sulka ever goes out of style."
When the Madison Avenue shop closed its doors for the last time just after Christmas 2001 (has it been almost seven years?)a citadel of WASP indulgence disappeared; the good life became a little less grand; and some lost an old dandy of a friend.
Good night Messrs Sulka and Wormser wherever you are.
Wistful,
Cerebral
Satire of a sort and its Consequences or Not OR A Stranger in a Strange Land.
Mrs. Truitt has apologized and explained herself.
She insists she is misunderstood and any sarcasm in her earlier comments was self-directed. She admits WASPs and there ways are foreign to her and while fascinated by the ilk, will confine herself in future to observation from a safer and quieter distance.
Interestingly, while describing herself as satirical, she states she is not the type of person who makes fun of others. Contradictions aside, if true, she plays the game of satire with a distinct disadvantage.
Living in the District and having a husband in politics who works on Capitol Hill should provide her with ample opportunities to attack human vice and folly with derision right in her own backyard without directing it elsewhere.
Mrs. Truitt's apology is heartfelt and Richard is so magnanimous in receiving it. The "sweetie" was particularly touching although I prefer "lambchop". As was his gesture of quickly posting a new snap of a more rough and rugged Richard slumming or bumming 'round in old khakis and sockless feet. He can get dirty with the best of them. I hope she was reassured. Gallantry knows no end.
What a shame poor Jack Straw can't be as kind to his fellow bloggers. Well, Captain Ahab wasn't very congenial either and look how that turned out. So dear Jack don't waste another precious moment in your monomaniacal search to find the two perfect sentences. There out there somewhere.
I will continue to read English with caution. I promise to temper my search for offending prose by making a heroic effort to be sure the words I read and those I write mean what they are written to mean.
How's that for magnanimous?
Irascible, Warm as Toast (in my fuzzy, camel-hair robe) and Loving It!
Cerebral
Cerebral,
Y'know, this is stupid. I just reread my post and I admit it was out of line. I mistook your knowledge of the WASP life, and superior writing skills for snobbery.
Apologies.
Dear Mr. Straw,
Thank you for your retraction and kind compliment.
Much of my knowledge pertains to a ghostly world of older gentry for whom contemporary life is, in so many ways,different and sometimes unrecognizable.
From time to time, I rattle my old saber to remind myself of an earlier, more glorious day and perhaps, in vain, to keep a less charming and civilized world at bay.
Even so, I trod happily onward, eyes cast heavenward, determined to remain unreformed and confident in the knowledge that "what's past is prologue."
Until we read and write again, I wish you much happiness in the days ahead.
With sheathed sword and shield,
Cerebral
Hi there I am from the uk and where I live it's a stylish village and as I understand all the men wear pajamas it comes with tradition . We also wear slippers religiously even me 24 and my friends velvet or leather, I would love to see or have a peek at the leather slippers you choose to wear. Great blog the slipper and pajama posts are widley welcome this side of the pond .
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