PYJAMA PHEMONENON

For years Chinese cities had been overcrowded, but in 1949 the newly founded People���������s Republic of China decided to address the problem. Every poor family in Shanghai was allocated a room in small houses and back-to-back mews, where pre-war capitalists kept their carriages and animals.

In these ���������nong tangs��������� (little neighborhoods) the Shanghainese made the entire neighborhood their home. Public baths were often placed at the entrance of housing blocks and sharing was common. Escaping their crowded little rooms and the summer heat, many would spend their nights on grass-matted beds on the pavement. The poor wore tattered clothes, the rich wore pyjamas.

As a symbol of wealth, only people living in cities could afford pyjamas, the Shanghainese would wear these sleeping suits for shopping, walking the dog or socializing. Although meant to stay within their neighborhoods, these pyjama-wearers would wander around town and the outfit became a leisure symbol for lounging. Today, few wear them to bed.

STYLE

Wealthy Shanghainese ladies and housewives don���������t have to work.They can be in sleepwear all day and wear their pyjamas to parade their fortune. Others wear their pyjamas in the morning and after work, pairing them with heavy jewelry, handbags, skin-colored ankle high panties and heeled shoes.

Women favor floral patterns while men often go for stripes. Patterns and styles go in and out of fashion, just like any other clothing item. This season brought bright solid patterns for women, often with childlike cartoon figures and tightly patterned plaids for men. The pyjamas are not filled up with words or big logos like in the western world.

There are short-sleeved pyjamas for the summer, thick quilted pyjamas for winter and spare pairs for each season. And even though money is often tight, the Shanghainese take great pride in wearing only their best and cleanest pyjamas in public.

FUTURE

Pyjamas continued to be a sign of wealth during the post-Mao era. Today, even as many Chinese move into high-rise buildings with air-conditioning, hot water and private bathrooms, colorful pyjamas still pop out of elevators on their way to the supermarket.

But as Shanghai becomes a more global place - quickly adapting to a Western style of living - the difference between private and public space widens. As a consequence, the tradition of publicly wearing pyjamas is dying a sad, but certain death. Pyjamas may soon be replaced with the proletarian symbol of the Western world: track suits.

This book might be one of the first and last collections of public pyjamas. ���������Many thanks to all the beautiful and proud Shanghainese pyjama ladies and some gentlemen.

Despite the extensive collection of Shanghainese pyjamas, some never wear the pyjamas in bed, except in winter. ���������They���������re really for lounging about. I prefer to sleep with no clothes on.���������

CREDITS

a Kai Zastrow book

Shanghai pyjama ladies
and some gentlemen

Concept, photographed,
edited and designed
by Kai Zastrow

Kaishaprojects.com

Coordination, production
Kerli Teo & Ronn Lee

Translation by Achilles Li

Thanks to all the beautiful and proud Shanghainese for their participation.

All photographs containing within this book are copyrighted to the photographer. ������ all rights reserved.

Published by
STILLANDMOVING stichting

www.stillandmoving.com

everyday is not like everyday_two

ISBN 978-90-810523-2-0