There is a particular kind of morning — light coming in sideways, the house still quiet — when the clothes you're wearing feel less like a choice and more like a philosophy. Loose, soft, unhurried. The history of pajamas begins far from that moment, with the loose, lightweight trousers once widely worn in South Asia and the Near East. The word itself comes from the Hindi pājāma, built from the Persian words pā, "leg," and jāma, "garment." Carried westward by the British during the colonial era, these garments would gradually move from everyday trousers to sleepwear, and then into one of the most considered symbols of comfort, femininity, and self-expression in the modern wardrobe. Today, the pajama is no longer simply what you wear to bed — it is a statement about how you choose to live. After 30 years designing sleepwear at Eberjey, we have learned that what you wear to rest is as intentional as anything else you put on.
What Is the Origin of the Word "Pajamas"?
Long before the word entered English, around 1801, the pājāma was a familiar garment: loose, lightweight trousers worn as everyday dress in South Asia and the Near East, not as sleepwear.
Pajamas were first introduced in England as lounging attire in the 17th century, but soon went out of fashion. Around 1870 they returned to the Western world as sleepwear for men, brought back by British colonials. By the time "pajamas" became an English word, it already carried the ambiguity it still holds today: a garment that straddles the boundary between private and public.
When Were Pajamas First Worn in the Western World?
The Victorian era brought pajamas back to Britain as men's sleepwear. The pajama suit was a loose two-piece of trousers and a shirt, in silk or cotton.
Women came to pajamas later: they were introduced as women's sleepwear at the beginning of the 20th century.
How Did Pajamas Become a Fashion Statement?
The story of pajamas as fashion begins with the cultural rupture of the 1920s. Into this opening stepped a generation of designers who understood that women's bodies deserved clothes shaped around comfort and ease — not performance for others.
Among them was Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, who offered trousers for beach ensembles and, in the 1930s, proposed evening pajamas to be worn when entertaining at home. The pajama silhouette was stepping out of the bedroom, an early version of wearing loungewear beyond the house. The pajama had crossed a threshold: it was a posture, an attitude, a quiet refusal to be uncomfortable for appearances' sake.
How Did Women's Sleepwear Change in the 1990s?
In the mid-1990s, the lingerie market was dominated by designs that focused more on capturing the male gaze than on the women wearing them.
In 1996, Ali Mejia and Mariela Rovito founded Eberjey in Miami with a specific conviction: that women deserved sleepwear designed for them — for how their bodies move, for how fabric feels against skin, for the quiet hours of the morning that belong entirely to the self. That founding philosophy — comfort and confidence as inseparable, sleepwear as self-care rather than performance — was, in retrospect, exactly continuous with the long arc of pajama history. From the pājāma to Chanel's beach trousers to the modern luxury PJ set, the through-line has always been a woman's right to feel at ease in her own body.
What Role Did Fabric Innovation Play in the Sleepwear Revolution?
The modern luxury sleepwear renaissance is inseparable from material science. TENCEL™ Modal — the fabric at the heart of Eberjey's bestselling Gisele PJ Set — is made by Lenzing AG from wood sourced from responsibly managed forests, using highly resource-efficient technology with high recovery rates of chemicals. The result is a buttery soft, breathable, temperature-regulating knit made for a comfortable night's sleep.
Staying comfortable through the night is a big part of sleeping well. Your core body temperature drops in the evening, starting about two hours before sleep, and breathable fabrics like TENCEL™ Modal, silk and cotton are a comfortable choice for those hours. The most considered sleepwear is not simply the most beautiful — it is the most responsive to how the body actually works at rest.
Eberjey's Gisele TENCEL™ Modal Long PJ Set is also verified by OEKO-TEX® Standard 100, meaning it's dyed with safe and non-toxic dyes, which is worth knowing for something worn close to the skin all night.
How Did the Pandemic Change How We Think About Sleepwear and Loungewear?
If any recent event accelerated the cultural evolution of pajamas from private garment to lifestyle statement, it was the global pandemic of 2020. With the boundary between home and work collapsed overnight, the pajama — or the pajama-adjacent loungewear set — became something many people wore not just to sleep but to work, to socialize over video call, to move through the entirety of a day.
This was not a temporary adaptation. In the years since, many people have kept comfort at the center of their wardrobes. The pandemic did something the fashion industry had been gesturing toward for decades: it made comfort not a concession but an aspiration.
The shift confirmed what the history of pajamas had always suggested. From the pājāma of South Asia to Chanel's beach trousers to the Gisele PJ Set worn by a woman settling into a Sunday morning with coffee and nowhere to be — the pajama has never been simply about sleep. It has always been about the freedom to feel yourself, fully, in the private hours that belong to you alone. That is a history worth wearing.
What the history of pajamas reveals, above all, is that the softer side of life has always been worth choosing. From Chanel's evening pajamas to the buttery-soft Modal of today's most enduring sleepwear, each reflects women deciding that how she feels inside her own home matters as much as how she appears anywhere else. The right pajama is not merely something you put on at the end of the day. It is the beginning of something — a gentle ritual, a return to yourself, a quiet declaration that this time is yours.
Frequently asked questions
Where do pajamas come from?
Pajamas trace back to the loose, lightweight trousers once widely worn in South Asia and the Near East. The word comes from the Hindi pājāma, from the Persian pā, "leg," and jāma, "garment." Returning British colonials brought them back, and around 1870 they became sleepwear for men in the West.
When did women start wearing pajamas?
Women came to pajamas after men, adopting them as sleepwear in the early 20th century. By the 1920s and 1930s, designers such as Gabrielle Chanel were offering trousers for beach ensembles and, in the 1930s, evening pajamas for entertaining at home.
How has sleepwear changed over the decades?
Pajamas began as everyday trousers in South Asia and the Near East, became men's sleepwear in the West around 1870, and moved into women's fashion in the 1920s and 1930s. Today, the focus is on fabric and comfort, with materials like TENCEL™ Modal and Washable Silk designed for how sleepwear actually feels.
Who founded Eberjey?
Eberjey was founded in Miami in 1996 by Ali Mejia and Mariela Rovito, with the conviction that women deserved sleepwear designed for their own comfort. The Gisele pajama set, introduced in 2005, became the PJ that started it all.
What fabric is considered best for sleepwear?
Breathable fabrics like TENCEL™ Modal, silk, and high-quality cotton are popular choices for sleepwear. Eberjey's Gisele TENCEL™ Modal Long PJ Set is made from a buttery soft, temperature-regulating knit verified by OEKO-TEX® Standard 100.
Sources
- Merriam-Webster, “Pajamas Definition & Meaning”
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Pajamas”
- Victoria and Albert Museum, “Gabrielle Chanel: dressing the modern woman”
- Lenzing (TENCEL™), “TENCEL™ Modal fiber claims snapshot, October 2024” (PDF)
- Sleep Foundation, “The Best Temperature for Sleep”
- Eberjey Journal, “What Is Eberjey’s Tireless Pursuit of the Perfect PJ?”
