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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

What is this new form of slobdom?

777 replies

Theokaycokey · 23/10/2023 21:17

Staying at a seaside resort in the UK. Large Hotel has a massive open atrium that is overlooked by hotel rooms and anyone walking along the promenade. The hotel restaurant is located smack bang in the middle of the atrium and is open to the reception area. I come down to breakfast this morning and a significant number of guests are sat in their pyjamas having their breakfast! Different families, all scattered around the restaurant or queuing at the breakfast buffet in their nightwear and fluffy slippers. This is the first time that I have come across this. Is it a relatively recent phenomenon?

OP posts:
WildcatHaven · 25/10/2023 08:04

I stayed at a five star hotel in Central/Bank area of London for work a few years ago and they had a similar atrium style set up for breakfast. There were all these people in business suits at the tables - then one family all in their Pajamas and slippers completely oblivious, they looked so out of place.

Not that they should have been wearing business suits but at least put a track suit on to go down to breakfast and some shoes. It does show a lack of respect for other people (and for yourself really) that you think it is appropriate to literally just roll out of bed put your slippers on and go down to a public restaurant. I think the sort of person that does this though almost revels in it.

Londiniumrocks · 25/10/2023 08:04

That’s scummy…

HoppingPavlova · 25/10/2023 08:08

I have never seen a bloke in pjs in public though

Or have you? I have two that wear sweat pants or comfy shorts, and t-shirts to bed. They actually have specific ones they get changed into as pj’s yet others would wear these as street clothes. They absolutely wear these (after being used as pj’s) to breakfast in hotels, and ducking down to shops in morning before they get ready for the day, and no one is any the wiser as they are ‘clothes’. But hey, at least safe from pearl clutchers giving dagger stares I guess?

CoffeeCantata · 25/10/2023 08:13

Just catching up with this discussion...I notice the vote is currently 82% agreeing with OP, and I'm in that number.

It's been an eye-opener! I've never encountered this phenomenon ever, but obviously it's a thing - or is it just that Team PJ shout the loudest? Probably!

Is it a class/generational thing? It really does come down to whether you think other people matter or not. I know a lot of people say they don't care what others think. Really? One reason why I'd never appear in public in my night-wear is that I'd find it off-putting if someone else did it to me. Call me uptight - I'm happy with that! (Rather a snob than a slob.) And with the pjs...are things dangling free, or do people put on underwear with them? The thought of all kinds of things swinging freely is too much for me at a meal time.

To me clothes aren't just a practical concept - they're not just there to keep you warm or stop you getting arrested for indecency. They're signifiers of all kinds of things. I'll bet everyone here makes a judgment based on what other people are wearing all the time - some will be straight-forward snobs, others inverse snobs, but we'll all make assumptions about other people from their outward appearance/clothing choices.

If you opt for comfort above all other considerations, then one person (you) is going to be happy. But then hundreds of people might be put off their breakfast. So from a statistical point of view, I think it makes sense to spend that 5/10 mins putting on something prettier when going out to face the world.

BitofaStramash · 25/10/2023 08:14

That's awful - never seen it though and I stay in hotels a lot.

LuckySantangelo35 · 25/10/2023 08:14

You should never set foot out the door without cleaning your teeth. Like EVER

KimberleyClark · 25/10/2023 08:18

I’ve stayed in Premier Inn, Ibis, Holiday Inn Express as well as more high end places and I’ve never seen anyone come down for breakfast in PJs. I’m curious as to the type of place this usually happens.

itsallnewnow · 25/10/2023 08:21

Gross for adults, fine for small kids I think, they don't sweat in the same way. Mine are messy wtih breakfast too wouldn't want the outfit they're wearing covered in yoghurt

WrongSwanson · 25/10/2023 08:29

I guessed the hotel immediately as we stayed there before watching a show last year Grin

I don't get it, surely if you want breakfast in your Pjs you order room service?

Properly skanky to just waft down stairs in the things you slept in.

StinkyWizzleteets · 25/10/2023 08:34

There are not enough pearls to clutch on this thread.

DangerousAlchemy · 25/10/2023 08:39

Ooh I'm off to a Premier Inn in Chesterfield tomorrow for 3 nights which has a Brewers Fayre attached so I'll keep my eyes peeled 👀🤣 my tiny shorts and vest top are not for public viewing so I get dressed as soon as I get up - i normally shower before bed. I have tons of comfy clothes I can mooch around in or walk the dog/garden. I don't get the appeal of wearing pjs tbh. Maybe I need to invest in better nightwear 🤣

DangerousAlchemy · 25/10/2023 08:40

LuckySantangelo35 · 25/10/2023 08:14

You should never set foot out the door without cleaning your teeth. Like EVER

yeah I agree @LuckySantangelo35 I feel horrible if I haven't cleaned my teeth. I normally pop my lenses in & put on a bit of makeup too tbh.

BookishBabe · 25/10/2023 08:42

I drove home from work at 4:30pm on Saturday afternoon, I work close to the town centre and drive through busy roads and housing estates.
I saw 2 fully grown men in Slippers and dressing gowns, robes half open.
2!!!! It's a 7 minute drive.
Leggings and a jumper, or tee shirts and tracksuit bottoms are surely (while not my cup of tea) just as comfy as pjs but are actual clean day time clothes.

MrsDaniFilth · 25/10/2023 08:45

Well. Today - im in a fetching outfit from sainsburys. from the nightwear section -pink waffle trousers and matching cardigan. I would suggest that once its reached Tu - its mainstream!

the pearl clutchers on here are fab -it spurs me on to do it more - whats the saying? better to be talked about than not at all? 😊

NashvilleQueen · 25/10/2023 08:47

I'm not sure it's laziness as such because i think it's an entirely contrived thing. It's designed to attract attention and daring someone (like me) to do an eye roll at them. It takes no time to dress for breakfast even if you're in a hurry and it's a deliberate choice not to.

It's definitely about standards.

ButWhatAboutTheBees · 25/10/2023 08:50

I honestly think it's more disrespectful to call people an "underclass" and assume they are dirty and smelly than wear PJs in public. Because one actually is about your reaction to others and the other literally doesn't actually affect anyone else but those who chose to be permanently offended

Diyextension · 25/10/2023 08:57

billyt · 24/10/2023 08:46

I haven't read all 12 pages (too early in the morning)

Has the hotel in question been named? Even though I'm not a fan of UK holidays, if I did stay in the UK, I'd like to avoid staying anywhere that allows this slobbishness.

Bugs me when I'm ou walking the dog and people are walking to the corner shop in their PJs. Lazy bastards.

If they were that lazy they would be going in the car.

CoffeeCantata · 25/10/2023 09:00

ButWhatAboutTheBees · Today 08:50

I honestly think it's more disrespectful to call people an "underclass" and assume they are dirty and smelly than wear PJs in public.

But is anyone calling pj-breakfasters an 'underclass'? Sorry - might have missed that.

For me it's a purely aesthetic thing. I don't care what class they are - I just think of night-wear as intimate and private and (as I said in my previous) I prefer people to restrain their wobbly bits in public. I just find the thought of fusty pjs, all moist and warm and crumpled, with no underpants (men) and no bras (women) while I'm having a croissant off-putting. That's all.

MargotBamborough · 25/10/2023 09:00

AgnesX · 23/10/2023 21:22

🙄 People seem to live in their pj's these days.

We stayed in quite a posh hotel last December. They had a sign at the restaurant door saying that people had to dress for breakfast and that PJ's weren't allowed.

A few years ago in Paris, before the fire, I went to visit Notre Dame and they had a sign outside saying no swimwear allowed.

I did wonder what had previously happened that they thought they needed to tell people not to wear a bikini or swimming trunks to visit a cathedral hundreds of km from the nearest beach.

GreenAppleCrumble · 25/10/2023 09:02

And with the pjs...are things dangling free, or do people put on underwear with them? The thought of all kinds of things swinging freely is too much for me at a meal time.

🙄
You know people sometimes don’t wear underwear with regular clothes, yes? I think you’re on the wind-up. No one could seriously be this delicate!

I wouldn’t wear pyjamas to breakfast because it’s too casual/falling below social norms. But it doesn’t sicken me on some visceral level if others do. Jeez!

Teentaxidriver · 25/10/2023 09:02

Great post - CoffeeCantata.

Getting dressed for breakfast/ to leave the house is a class/ generational thing. Wearing bedclothes in public would suggest to me that you belong to a lower socio-economic group. You probably don’t have a white collar, professional job, you are less educated than me and you weren’t brought up with high standards.

GreenAppleCrumble · 25/10/2023 09:06

CoffeeCantata · 25/10/2023 09:00

ButWhatAboutTheBees · Today 08:50

I honestly think it's more disrespectful to call people an "underclass" and assume they are dirty and smelly than wear PJs in public.

But is anyone calling pj-breakfasters an 'underclass'? Sorry - might have missed that.

For me it's a purely aesthetic thing. I don't care what class they are - I just think of night-wear as intimate and private and (as I said in my previous) I prefer people to restrain their wobbly bits in public. I just find the thought of fusty pjs, all moist and warm and crumpled, with no underpants (men) and no bras (women) while I'm having a croissant off-putting. That's all.

Blimey! I genuinely don’t give a thought to what underwear others are wearing! If there’s a baby there, are you wondering what’s in their nappy too?! Cos I’m guessing that wouldn’t be too fragrant either.

ThreeRingCircus · 25/10/2023 09:08

I am extremely lazy. I can be often found slobbing around the house in a dressing gown and have been known to put my bins out wearing my pyjamas.

I still would chuck on a jumper and a paid of leggings to go down to breakfast in a hotel. I'm happy to see that I still have some standards remaining and have not become a total slob🤣.

GreenAppleCrumble · 25/10/2023 09:08

Teentaxidriver · 25/10/2023 09:02

Great post - CoffeeCantata.

Getting dressed for breakfast/ to leave the house is a class/ generational thing. Wearing bedclothes in public would suggest to me that you belong to a lower socio-economic group. You probably don’t have a white collar, professional job, you are less educated than me and you weren’t brought up with high standards.

I genuinely think you’d be very wrong about this. Historically the upper classes have done what the fuck they like while the working class scrubbed their doorsteps and worried endlessly about keeping up appearances 🤷‍♀️

19lucky87 · 25/10/2023 09:10

Me too 😂😂 I have a shower and brush my teeth after breakfast usually. But I don't think I have thought my fanny wafting near someone would be offensive 🙈🙈