Sweets156
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2010
- Messages
- 451
In regards to the topic of wearing pj's in public ...
PJs have been popular in Shanghai since the late 1970s, when Deng Xiaoping, then Chinas leader, sought to modernize the economy and society by opening up to the outside world. The Chinese adopted Western pajamas without fully understanding their context. Most of us had never had any dedicated sleepwear other than old T-shirts and pants. And we thought pajamas were a symbol of wealth and coolness.
Shanghainese began wearing them to bed but kept them on to walk around the neighborhood, mainly out of convenience. At that time in Shanghai, people lived in crammed, communal-style quarters in shikumen low-rise townhouses in which families shared toilets and kitchens. Through the 1980s and 90s, the average person had less than 10 square meters of living area. To change out of ones pajamas just to walk across the road to the market would be too troublesome and unnecessary.
Besides, as a retiree told a news reporter: Pajamas are also a type of clothes. Its comfortable, and its no big deal since everyone wears them outside.
Mr. and Mrs. Wang, who lived on the street where I grew up in Shanghai, used to stroll after dinner in their pajamas nice matching costumes for a loving couple, now that I think about it. Then Mr. Wang would go out to buy cigarettes. In the mornings, Mrs. Wang, still in her pajamas, would dash to a street stall to pick up sheng jian (fried buns) for breakfast.
My own family, a little particular about clothing and slow with fashion, happened not to be part of the pajama troupe.
(The above is an excerpt from Gao Yubing's article in The New York Times.)
As you can read, this is not such a new trend afterall ...![]()
I say, to each their own. If it is not hurting anyone, what's the problem? We can't be the ethics police for everyone (Yourself and your children. Yes.) Would I wear pajamas in public? No. But, that's me. Sometimes, you just need to worry about yourself.![]()
Jennifer
Agreed, we should worry about ourselves, lol.