Pyjama chic - "I Woke Up Like This"

Hey everyone,

Hope your week’s gone well.

Last week was manic, I mc'd a few SAFW shows and unfortunately wasn’t able to post anything.

So with a week’s break, I’m back and super excited to be doing this one.

This is my fav post I've done yet!

Alright so one things for sure, I die over dressing up and fashion but I’ll choose comfort over style any day. And many more fashion consumers are placing comfort above style too.

Imagine finding both these elements all in one?

Well, good news is it's becoming socially acceptable to wear your pyjamas in public (or sleepwear, as others like to call it). You’re now able to look effortlessly chic and it’s never been this comfortable!

So I attended SAFW (South African Fashion Week), thanks to Aero and Rich Factory. I knew that I had a busy schedule and would have nothing in me that wanted to wear tight, uncomfortable clothes on my body. I decided right away that pyjama chic would be the vibe I’d go for.

So below I’ll show you how I transformed an oversized pyjama set into an extremely comfortable SAFW outfit and slayed it!

As you can see below, it’s completely oversized and drowning me. This was actually a large, it was the only size the store had…

Im looking like some kinda ugly step sister that had to stay at home and clean my room while all the other children went to go play at SAFW.

But I also wanted to hit the streets and play with the other children…

So first things first, everything is way too big and I needed it to fit and shape my silhouette. With the pants, they’re too long. Keep in mind that I got this outfit on the morning of the event. There was no time for alterations.

Let's start...

1) In the picture you can see I lifted the pants from my hips all the way up to make them high-waisted pants. Lucky the pants (and most pj’s) have a rope-like belt and an elastic band which made it super comfortable to wear and also easy to adjust around the midriff area.

Now the pants sat snug around the midriff area and the length was perfect. It was just enough for me to show my shoe game off too.

2) Secondly, I had to deal with the enormous pj top.

I simply unbuttoned about six buttons from the bottom up, allowing each of the shirt panels to be free and did a normal bow with the excess/free material, keeping the bow pretty tight so it can shape my midriff area.

3) Now I really didn’t want the bow to just hang there with all that is happening. The pattern on the material and the big hanging bow would have been too overwhelming. I took the excess material from the bow and tucked it under the tightened area of the shirt.

Accessories time...

Oki dokes! Now with the garments all sitting snug - it’s time for accessories.

My fav part! I always feel that accessories and lipstick complete a look.

4) I decided to make the most of a plunging neckline and stacked some neck pieces together. First a gold choker accompanied with a dainty gold necklace which included a detailed moon-shaped pendant.

5) Now, the earrings.

I love wearing bold or big hooped earrings as they’re displayed beautifully against my black hair.

Here I wore chunky gold hooped earrings that I found in mommy’s drawer. Gold earrings obviously matching the gold neck pieces.

6) Hats always excite me - the thing with hats is you never know when to add a hat and when not to add a hat - truth is that a hat is always just an added element. Your outfit 9 times out of 10 will look perfectly fine without it! HOWEVER… when I added this olive page boy hat there was no second guessing and absolutely no pondering, I knew it gave the outfit that little something special.

7) And lastly, my shoes. As many might know, I struggle to find shoes for my tiny little size one’s. When I saw these white beauties in the store I grabbed them and ran straight to the till. I didn't own a white pair until now and I couldn’t be happier that I wore them for the first time with this outfit. Remember that the full pyjama look needs height to allow the hem to fall so opt for a heel.

And that's pretty much how I took my bedroom look to the red carpet at SAFW.

Here are a few tips for you if I’ve inspired you to do the same. Because as much as I say it’s a “I woke up like this” look. There is some thought behind it all…

1. All colours and prints work well and sometimes the bolder the better - just like my fully covered flower pattern.

2. Choose silk over cotton - it’s sleeker, more polished and much more forgiving as the material doesn’t stick to your body. How can we forget, silk oh so comfortable too.

3. I would encourage wearing a full matching set but if that’s a step too far even for you, you can always wear each piece separately.

So with all that being said and done, I think we need to send a young shoutout to Coco Chanel (fashion designer, feminist and major influence on modern fashion). She started wearing men’s silk pyjamas on the streets in the 1930s and that was the pyjama’s humble beginnings.

Time and time again we see how fashion trends have a cyclical nature - they subside for just a moment and then reappear on runways at a later stage in an updated way.

And listen, I am LOVING the updated way.

More comfort, more silk and more patterns?

Yes please!

Here are some pics from my fun night at SAFW...