by Janine D'Agati & Hannah Schiff

SHOCKED! Pajama Fashion in the 1920s and '30s

Appearing over a century ago at European seaside resorts, beach pajamas were one of the first trousered garments for the Western woman. Beach pajamas blurred the lines between sleepwear, loungewear, and sportswear, and set a precedent for public bifurcated dress for women. With their eye-catching designs and atmosphere of sensual rebellion, these pieces have become favorites among collectors today.

Prior to World War I, women’s bifurcated dress was limited to private spaces — as sleepwear, fancy lounging garments, or practical attire for active sporting. Inspired by traditional Eastern pajamas, these typically took the form of baggy trousers with a low seat and gathered hems, though straight-legged examples were worn as well. With the outbreak of the war, gender roles on the homefront were in flux. Women were able to wear overalls and dungarees in their new roles assisting the war effort, but were expected to retire these as men returned from overseas.

The rising middle class and the establishment of paid vacations made beach travel accessible to a broader swathe of the population than ever before. Trendy seaside resorts, with Deauville, Biarritz, and the Venetian Lido among the most famous, were frequented by the young and savvy. In the late 1910s, there were scant reports of women wearing pajamas publicly in resort settings. By 1921, guests at Deauville’s Hotel Normandy began dining on the open-air patios in their pajamas — shocking the hotel’s more conservative patrons. Despite the initial scandal, the fad caught on. 

The upheaval caused by war and felt in its immediate aftermath was one contributor to the public’s relative openness to the extension of pajama dressing from the boudoir to the beach. In addition, the seaside was a liminal space with malleable sartorial and social rules – a public realm that maintained elements of the private. It was an ideal setting for experimentation with trousered dress.  

In many ways, beach pajamas were seen as pragmatic garments. The introduction of the tight-fitting knit swimsuit, popularized by Annette Kellerman in the first decades of the 20th century, was a far departure from the baggy, figure-concealing bathing costumes previously worn. Pajamas, with their loose fit and versatile layers, were easily slipped on over a swimsuit and provided modesty, warmth on winter beaches, and protection from the sun. More and more women adopted the fashion, and by 1925, “beach pajamas” were being advertised in Vogue

Early beach pajamas often mirrored trends in boudoir pajamas of the day. Typically made of silk, inspiration was especially drawn from traditional Asian silhouettes and motifs. “Harem” pants were common, and liberal use was made of luxurious materials such as fur and lamé. Satin heels were worn, another convention borrowed from the boudoir. Printed, sleepwear-inspired styles, often in cotton or flannel, were frequently worn as well. With elastic or drawstring waists and simple lines including straight cut legs, these pajamas were among the most practical styles for beachgoers in the 1920s.            

Taking the lead from the bohemian socialites who comprised their clientele, couturiers Edward Molyneux, Mary Nowitzky and Coco Chanel were among the first designers to specialize in fashionable and comfortable pajamas for women’s beachwear.

“An entirely new type of costume has recently joined the wardrobe of the smart woman” claimed an August 1927 Harper’s Bazaar article, “The Pajama Arrives.”                                                         

By the 1930s, Pajamas had graced the covers of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Life. They could be found on everyone from celebrities to boudoir dolls, were featured in film and advertising, and ranged in function from kitchen pajamas to gardening pajamas, breakfast pajamas, yachting pajamas, and more. Pajamas for every occasion; they were made in countless unique designs and were produced in fabrics as varied as delicate, imported silks and feed-sack cottons.

Luxurious evening pajamas were featured on the silver screen to the great delight of viewers. Icons such as Joan Crawford, Anna May Wong, and Jean Harlow were seen wafting about in pajamas of sumptuous lamé and silk velvet, designed by the likes of Gilbert Adrian and Travis Banton, among others.

As health- and fitness-oriented lifestyles became increasingly popular, resort goers began to enjoy an array of activities which emphasized both sport and leisure. A reflection of wellness and youthful spirit, suntans became the new rage. Jean Patou released his “huile de Chaldée,” the first tanning oil, in 1928. Beach pajama design shifted to reflect the newfound tastes of consumers, with many styles at this time featuring cutouts and backless elements. Jumpsuit styles were plentiful, as well as “gob” trousers, sailor-inspired pants that flared dramatically below the knee. Washable fabrics such as cotton and linen were increasingly in demand for pajamas at this time.

“Pajamas or trousered ensembles are now very definitely established features of a modern woman’s wardrobe….Pajamas have come to stay because they fill the need for comfort which modern women now demand of their rest clothes” (from “Pajamas Fill Need of Modern Woman For Comfortable Smartness on Varied Occasions,” Arizona Republic, June 29, 1930).

Mass production and a burgeoning United States ready-to-wear industry, with centers in both New York and in California, supplied pajamas of all kinds at varying price points for catalogs and department stores. Collegiate fashions for women drove much marketing of pajama fashions, emphasizing affordability and ease of wear. Individuality in dress was emphasized, and pajama fashions were marketed as ideal fashions for expressing one’s unique sense of style and perspective. Accelerating urbanity and a modernist zeitgeist drove a demand for comfortable, versatile clothing that could be worn throughout the day.

By the late ’30s, Vogue was gradually abandoning the feminized term “pajama,” and “slacks” was increasingly becoming a dual-gender term. Pajamas inspired by menswear anticipated the tailored suits favored by Katharine Hepburn and Marlene Dietrich. By midcentury, sportswear, a category no longer bound to active sporting or even spectator sports, but a category based on versatile, easy-to-wear separates– pants included –was fast becoming the preferred fashion of the modern woman on the go.

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