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If the Pajama Lady can stroll down Nanjing Road, why ban PJs?
By Wang Yong |
December 9, 2009, Wednesday
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Print Edition
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ALMOST every day on my way from home to work, I see a well-groomed middle-aged woman in neat colorful pajamas pacing along Nanjing Road W. near the intersection with Taixing Road.
For the last two years I have come to appreciate how the bright yellow, pink or blue of her pajamas has lit up the street often swarming with drab business suits, typical scruffy streetwear, spaghetti strap outfits (in summer) and other common regalia.
This lady who mumbles to herself and seems quite oblivious to her surroundings seems a bit eccentric, some might say she has a mental problem. But a mental problem is not to be inferred from her wearing pajamas, a sartorial choice that some people today consider "weird."
The police would have hustled her away if she had really dressed against social norms - appearing naked or wearing filthy tattered clothes like some bag lady.
For at least two years she has beautifully co-existed with police and pedestrians - she always paces patiently around in pajamas, she always murmurs to herself, she never violates traffic rules.
Her pajamas are always neatly buttoned at her neck - dressing modestly these days has become a "weird" choice when so many young women go around in tight, deep-cut tops and skin-tight short-shorts that leave very little to the imagination. It's quite okay to walk about with low-slung pants and exposed midriff.
The pajama lady would probably be an eyesore if she entered a modern office or fancy shop. I don't know whether she has done that, but she's a delightful sight on the street, even a prime commercial street. So, if her pajama fashion choice is acceptable on Nanjing Road W., why do we fuss about people wandering about in pajamas in city lanes or near neighborhood groceries?
Since summer, some residential districts, especially those near the Shanghai World Expo site, have mobilized volunteers to persuade residents not to leave their homes in pajamas. There's a blanket ban, literally.
Some foreigners may be a bit offended by the "pajama party," but by no means all of them - many expats and visitors find it quaint, another sign of Shanghai's diversity, and many of them don't like the idea of fashion czars and pajama police.
At any rate, a confident city should not change its way of life simply because image makers think foreigners won't like it. Nan Shan, my pen pal and an accountant in New Zealand, says it doesn't make Shanghai an international city to have all pajamas banned in public.
A blanket ban on pajamas in public is too broad. Think of those old lanes in Shanghai. It's natural for neighbors, whose families have known each other for generations, to chat and drink tea together in the lanes. Many dress in pajamas since they're not "going out."
There're many vegetable markets in or near old lanes. The prices are much lower than in supermarkets, and mom-and-pop vendors are much nicer than most shop assistants in impersonal big markets. My favorite vegetable market is on the bank of Suzhou Creek, where thousands of Shanghai residents live in a maze of lanes which are at least 100 years old.
If those residents need to buy vegetables or visit a neighbor, they wear their PJs, and they're not embarrassed, though they might blush to see trendy bare-it-all (almost) fashion.
This close-knit neighborhood life in Shanghai's old lanes is quite alien to many people who live in modern matchbox apartments and barely know their neighbors.
While it could be considered odd to wear pajamas around strangers, it really isn't strange to wear them around people you've known for years.
Every evening after I return from work to my neighborhood, I see middle-aged men and women walking in pajamas in our tiny community garden. An after-dinner stroll is a typical Chinese way of staying fit, and I am never offended by these neighbors in pajamas.
Shanghai used to be the Shanghai of old Shanghainese, long acquainted and comfortable with life in pajamas. As the old lanes yield to skyscrapers, and as more and more apartment dwellers settle in this great city, what is traditional and natural has unfortunately become the butt of jokes.
For the last two years I have come to appreciate how the bright yellow, pink or blue of her pajamas has lit up the street often swarming with drab business suits, typical scruffy streetwear, spaghetti strap outfits (in summer) and other common regalia.
This lady who mumbles to herself and seems quite oblivious to her surroundings seems a bit eccentric, some might say she has a mental problem. But a mental problem is not to be inferred from her wearing pajamas, a sartorial choice that some people today consider "weird."
The police would have hustled her away if she had really dressed against social norms - appearing naked or wearing filthy tattered clothes like some bag lady.
For at least two years she has beautifully co-existed with police and pedestrians - she always paces patiently around in pajamas, she always murmurs to herself, she never violates traffic rules.
Her pajamas are always neatly buttoned at her neck - dressing modestly these days has become a "weird" choice when so many young women go around in tight, deep-cut tops and skin-tight short-shorts that leave very little to the imagination. It's quite okay to walk about with low-slung pants and exposed midriff.
The pajama lady would probably be an eyesore if she entered a modern office or fancy shop. I don't know whether she has done that, but she's a delightful sight on the street, even a prime commercial street. So, if her pajama fashion choice is acceptable on Nanjing Road W., why do we fuss about people wandering about in pajamas in city lanes or near neighborhood groceries?
Since summer, some residential districts, especially those near the Shanghai World Expo site, have mobilized volunteers to persuade residents not to leave their homes in pajamas. There's a blanket ban, literally.
Some foreigners may be a bit offended by the "pajama party," but by no means all of them - many expats and visitors find it quaint, another sign of Shanghai's diversity, and many of them don't like the idea of fashion czars and pajama police.
At any rate, a confident city should not change its way of life simply because image makers think foreigners won't like it. Nan Shan, my pen pal and an accountant in New Zealand, says it doesn't make Shanghai an international city to have all pajamas banned in public.
A blanket ban on pajamas in public is too broad. Think of those old lanes in Shanghai. It's natural for neighbors, whose families have known each other for generations, to chat and drink tea together in the lanes. Many dress in pajamas since they're not "going out."
There're many vegetable markets in or near old lanes. The prices are much lower than in supermarkets, and mom-and-pop vendors are much nicer than most shop assistants in impersonal big markets. My favorite vegetable market is on the bank of Suzhou Creek, where thousands of Shanghai residents live in a maze of lanes which are at least 100 years old.
If those residents need to buy vegetables or visit a neighbor, they wear their PJs, and they're not embarrassed, though they might blush to see trendy bare-it-all (almost) fashion.
This close-knit neighborhood life in Shanghai's old lanes is quite alien to many people who live in modern matchbox apartments and barely know their neighbors.
While it could be considered odd to wear pajamas around strangers, it really isn't strange to wear them around people you've known for years.
Every evening after I return from work to my neighborhood, I see middle-aged men and women walking in pajamas in our tiny community garden. An after-dinner stroll is a typical Chinese way of staying fit, and I am never offended by these neighbors in pajamas.
Shanghai used to be the Shanghai of old Shanghainese, long acquainted and comfortable with life in pajamas. As the old lanes yield to skyscrapers, and as more and more apartment dwellers settle in this great city, what is traditional and natural has unfortunately become the butt of jokes.
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