Have you always wanted to wear matching Christmas PJs with your partner or spouse and children? Well, the notion of families or couples putting on the same kind of pajamas for holiday photos or parties is more popular than ever. Read on for some fun ways to bring this photogenic and festive trend to life.
Why you should embrace matching Christmas PJs
When you think about celebrating the holidays, do you imagine spending Christmas morning in your pajamas opening presents? If so, then you might want to take the festivities up a notch by having everyone wear matching PJs.
Think about it this way: if one of your Christmas activities for kids includes watching your favorite holiday movies, you can buy pajamas that match your favorite film. How fun would it be to snap selfies of your family watching “Elf” while wearing “Elf” pajamas?
Great for holiday photos
“Our family has gotten matching Christmas pajamas for several years,” said Heidi Bruaw of Real Life of Lulu. “It’s fun to have new pajamas to wear on Christmas, and matching ones for pictures makes it even better.”
Speaking of taking pictures, it’s one of the reasons that families and couples go for matching holiday pajamas. The New York Times reported that younger couples embrace themed holiday PJs for a simple reason: they want photographic proof to share on social media that they have a partner this year.
During the holidays, you’ll probably see plenty of TikTok videos and Instagram posts of couples in matching PJs. However, you’d have to hit the YouTube wayback machine to see the origin of this pajama trend online, according to Southern Living magazine:
“In 2013, a family from North Carolina released a music video parody on YouTube titled ‘Christmas Jammies’ in which they hilariously recap their year while sporting red-and-green sleepwear. The video went instantly viral — today, it has more than 18 million views — and made #ChristmasJammies a wildly popular Instagram hashtag.”
Some families even get their pets into the action by dressing them in Christmas jammies, too. This makes for great holiday photos with your pets.
Finally, in some families, when exchanging gifts, they always expect to get matching pajamas. That is the case with Michelle Price of Honest and Truly.
“My parents buy my family matching PJs every year for Christmas,” she said. “We open them on Christmas Eve and then wear them all day on Christmas, including when we go out of the house. It’s a different theme every year, and its always cute to see what my mom chooses for us! She usually gets them from Kohl’s because they have both great deals and a ton of choices.”
Retailers embrace the trend
It’s no surprise that retailers have embraced the holiday jammies trend. Families that buy matching PJs want to get a new pair of pajamas each year. Retailers are happy to oblige, because it’s good for business.
According to a 2022 New York Times article, at Old Navy, “matching pajamas sales in the last two months of 2021 made up almost half of its total PJ sales for the year, and from 2017 to present day their sleepwear sales have almost tripled.”
Other places you can buy matching PJs for the holidays include:
- Amazon
- Target
- Hanna Andersson
Not familiar with Hanna Andersson? It’s a mail-order company based in Oregon best known for making high-end children’s clothing. POPSUGAR reported that Hanna Andersson first began selling matching family Christmas pajamas way back in 1990. So, they may have started this trend in the United States overall.
Another notable trend that Hanna Andersson may have started as well? A clothing brand with its own resale program. It’s cleverly called Hanna Me Downs, whereby the company buys back used clothing to sell again. Now companies ranging from Lululemon to Levi’s do the same.
But back to the matching PJs: you can still buy Christmas pajamas for the whole family on the Hanna Andersson website. This includes matching PJs for Halloween and Chanukah, too.
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More than just Christmas PJs
Like Hanna Andersson, other stores have expanded the matching PJs theme beyond just Christmas. And why not? If customers love this holiday tradition for Christmas, chances are they’ll love it for other holidays.
For example, some families may buy PJs for Halloween. They’ll put on matching, spooky pajamas as a costume or to wear while handing out candy at home. In addition, you may find pastel-colored pajamas with bunnies and chicks on them in time for Easter.
Finally, heading back to the December holiday season, some Jewish families have taken to wearing matching Chanukah pajamas. Remember: retailer Hanna Andersson sells matching Chanukah pajamas.
However, it’s slightly different for the Festival of Lights, which lasts eight nights. Instead, they’ll select one evening for putting on pajamas with Jewish stars or menorah designs. Of course, they can wear their special PJs to bed afterward. Or, they’ll put them on just to take a holiday photo together. Then, they get down to the business of eating potato latkes and playing dreidel games.
Final thoughts on matching Christmas PJs
If your family already has established holiday traditions, such as advent calendars or throwing themed Christmas parties, why not consider adding matching PJs to the mix? That’s what Shelby Stover of Fit As a Mama Bear started doing when her first child was born.
“I’ve gotten the family matching pajamas since my oldest was born, which was eight years ago,” she said. “We don’t use them for holiday cards but instead have them open a ‘Christmas box’ on the first of December with the pajamas to wear for the season, plus hot cocoa mix and an activity book.”
Leah Ingram is the author of 15 books, including “Suddenly Frugal: How to Live Happier and Healthier for Less” and “The Complete Guide to Paying for College.” She shares shopping advice for getting the most value for your time and money at Leah Ingram Real Sophisticated Consumer.