Women's Pajamas

OK, I know this isn't a normal topic for this blog, but I am thinking about it, so this is where it is going.

And, before I get too far started in this post, I want to mention that I am not talking about nightgowns.  I don't care for them, as they always end up twisted in a doughnut around my waist.  I am talking about pajamas, with some sort of top and some sort of pant-like bottom.

When I look for pajamas in catalogs or in stores, they NEVER have what I am looking for and I can't quite figure out why not.  In the summer, they show spaghetti strap tops with shorts; in the spring and fall, they show spaghetti strap tops or short sleeved tops with long pants; in the winter, it is long sleeve tops with long pants.  What I never see is long sleeved tops with shorts - and I am not sure why, because that is exactly what I want.   

There have been times - when our house wasn't air-conditioned, when I was grateful for spaghetti strap tops, but most of the time, I REALLY want my arms covered.  They are the part of me that is most likely to lose covering when I am sleeping.  My legs almost never stray from under the covers.  I have different bed coverings for the season, but I choose them so that they are the right weight for me, when I am under them.  This means, I don't need long pants in the winter.  Like nightgowns, long pants tend to wind up twisted in a doughnut - only this time around my knees.  The comforter keeps me nice and toasty and long pants also end up being too warm. 

But I need my shoulders and arms covered, for when the bed coverings slip down or I roll over.  How do women in spaghetti strap tops keep their arms warm? 

Years ago, my older sister mentioned to me that she bought men's boxer shorts for sleeping in.  I thought at the time that that was rather strange, but I now do exactly that.  I get men's boxer shorts, preferably knit, and a loose long-sleeved top.  I have found women's sleep sets where you can buy just the shorts, but the shorts are too skimpy - designed to be sexually enticing and not comfortable and durable. This is a solution, but I sometimes wish, just for my own perfectionism, that the two parts matched and were pretty. 

The Things You LIKE First

For me, with people, it's obvious.  You put the people that you love and like first in your life.  But I have come a lot slower to that understanding with things.

I suppose my new consciousness of it started with silverware.  For everyday silverware, I had inherited my mother's things, when she broke up housekeeping.  And I had gotten a new set when I was married.  All of these jumbled together.  But then a lot of "my" set of spoons got lost.  I call them "mine", not because they only belonged to me, but because I chose the set and my husband and family had no interest in their choice or their design.

My husband, thinking that the simple design of "my" silverware meant that it was not the "good" silverware, put many of the spoons in the kids' lunches.  (Yes, he usually fixed the kids' lunches, so I am grateful.)  So we used a lot of Mom's silver, mixed in with mine.  Then, for some birthday or anniversary, my mother asked me what I wanted and I told her I really longed for a nice set of silverware - with all of the spoons.  I knew it was extravagant; I didn't REALLY need it, but I wanted it.  And she bought it for me.  I put it in a beautiful silverware case and the set sat there, waiting for company.  But company doesn't come that often and the beautiful case remained closed most of the time.  

So, one day, I decided to take away all of the old mishmash of Mom's silverware and mine.  I put Mom's and my silverware in an extra drawer and took my new set OUT of its beautiful case and put it in the regular silverware drawer.  And now, we use the new set every day.  It comes as a surprise to me that I enjoy that little thing so much.  No, we don't have a beautiful set reserved for company, but company can enjoy the simple and elegant set we use every day.

And now this corruption of saving things for special occasions has spread to my wardrobe.  Anyone who would take a close look at what I wear each day would notice that, for some reason, I seem to favor white turtlenecks or white short sleeved knit tops as a first layer.  But I had a hard time finding ones that fit.  Many of the ones I bought seemed OK at first, but after I washed them, the arms of the long-sleeved ones were a bit too short.  And I have never had the inclination to remove them after washing and line dry them.  

So I have accumulated a lot of white (and other color) turtlenecks that are still serviceable, but don't quite fit right.  Then, I found a turtleneck that REALLY fit, that I could wash and dry, and it STILL fit.  And I did something right:  I bought 5 or 6 EXTRA ones of this brand (Hanna Andersson, in case you want to know).  But, I was still trying to "use up" the ones that didn't quite fit right first.  Once I wore them out, I would use the Hannas, the ones that REALLY fit.  

But just a few weeks ago, I decided to apply the silverware strategy to the white turtlenecks.  Now, I wear the Hannas FIRST.  If and when they wear out (they seem to last forever, by the way: outstanding quality), I will use the ones that don't fit as well.  Most likely the reason that I will have to retire a Hanna is not because of wear, but because I tend to stain them.  And, I still have 3 brand new Hannas sitting in their wrappers on the shelf in my closet, so it may be a while until I have to wear the turtlenecks that really didn't fit.  

Maybe I can even recycle some of the things I am not using any more.  What a novel idea!