The end of the king of pajama style

Pajama style has been much talked about in the press and on fashion blogs for the past year or so. One man who might validly claim to be the king of pajama style was Hugh Hefner the founder of the Playboy empire whose death was reported yesterday. Amongst other things he was known for his women, his parties and wearing silk pajamas. He claimed to have slept with over 1,000 women and said, my best pick-up line is “My name is Hugh Hefner.” He also felt that he played a key role in the liberation in the role of women but that’s a little controversial. Without doubt he was a fan of pajama style admitting, “I have about 100 pairs of pajamas. I like to see people dressed comfortably.” In that respect he was way ahead of his time as he was wearing silks and robes during the daytime long before the current trend started. His timing was right for the Playboy magazine too which he started in 1953 and was originally going to be called Stag Party. The late fifties and early sixties was a time of changing attitudes to sex.  In 1963 Hefner was arrested for promoting obscene literature after an issue of Playboy featured nude shots of Jayne Mansfield. The case went to trial but resulted in a hung jury and lots of publicity for Playboy which at its peak had a circulation of nearly 7 million. Hefner was a great advocate for loungewear with many photos of him enjoying a cigar in his smoking jacket complete with black slippers. The Playboy Mansion, a 29-room estate with a zoo, the infamous party grotto, an extra-large round bed and hot and cold scantily-clad women became a symbol of the decadent eighties. Hefner continued to live there until his death, although it was actually sold last year for $100 million, at the time the most expensive home ever sold in Los Angeles where they know a thing or two about decadence. It’s a shame he missed out on the adult onesie trend; maybe we could have produced Playboy Funzee in silk for him.