The Manolo just yesterday looked at the People of Walmart blog and was horrified for the 1000th time, so much so, that he was beginning to think that maybe Mao had the point with that suit of his.

Such tautological certainty! Of the course, the Manolo agrees with those peoples who agree with him. To do otherwise would not make the sense!

Query: Are we to deplore the Chinese peoples who deplore the wearing of the pajamas into the public?

Or are we to only deplore those Westerners (such as the Manolo) who agree with the Chinese peoples who deplore the wearing of the pajamas into the public.

And if we do not deplore the Chinese people who deplore the public jammies, while deploring the Westerners who agree with the Chinese deplorers, is this not, in some sense, colonialist?

Likewise, if we do deplore the Chineses who do not like the other Chineses wearing the jammies into public, is this not also colonialist, as it suggests that one knows better than the Chinese how they should address their internal pajama problems?

Ayyyy! It is so confusing!

Perhaps it is the best policy, in light of the Lyotardian délégitimation des métarécits, to allow peoples of all sorts, both western and non-western to hold their own local opinions about pajamas. In which case, the Manolo reiterates that pajamas should not be worn in the public.

And now, if you will excuse the Manolo, he has the put out the bowl of Homi Bhahba and pita bread, together with the glass of passable sauvignon blanc for his late night snack.

There was a brief period in the 80′s when pjs as streetwear were popular in the UK and parts of North America; I still have a Laura Ashley catalogue with some gorgeous blue ones I’d still kill for, worn on a beach with a cute hat. And Coco Chanel went through a pajama phase as well. They make very comfortable, and often very cute outerwear, but the point back then was to wear something with pajama cut, not pajama fabric (and definitely no stripes or Hello Kittys), and very casual, flat shoes. It was supposed to look effortless, but definitely NOT like you’d just rolled out of bed. Different fabric, and perhaps a tee or tank underneath an unbuttoned pj top worn like a shirtjacket. Like this:

http://www.soul4street.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/band-of-outsiders-for-opening-ceremony-pajamas-01-360×540.jpg

And this is what Hostess Pajamas looked like: http://www.twolia.com/blogs/heres-looking-like-you-kid/files/2010/01/olga-baclanova-hostess-pajamas.jpg Still a great idea.

I’d love to see it come back as a trend, actually. Oh wait: it IS:
http://ouicestlamode.blogspot.com/2008/06/pajama-party.html

It does seem, though, that the Manolo is agreeing with the Chinese that agree with him and Western culture generally about when pajamas should be worn, without pausing to consider either our own (mis)appropriation of the original garment, or the cultural hierarchies implicit in judging the appropriation of a (now) Western clothing item into a non-Western-conforming mode of dress as “uncivilized”.