Origins of the Modern Matching Family Pajamas Tradition

Many of us don't mind the idea of wearing our favorite PJs around the house during our favorite holidays. They can feel festive while keeping us ultra-comfy and they’re perfect for a cold, wintery day or evenings snuggled up by the fireplace with your loved ones watching a favorite holiday movie.

What was once considered strictly bedtime clothing, or apparel worn only when going to sleep—matching pajamas and matching family pajamas have become a modern tradition for many of us. Dressing the kids up in a festive pair of holiday pajamas is so fun. There are St. Patrick's Day pjs, Valentine's pajamas, Matching Family Christmas Pajamas, Easter pajamas, and even spooky Halloween pjs! Every year our social timelines and feeds are filled with adorable babies wearing infant onesies and cute adult onesies.

But where exactly did the origins of the modern matching pajama tradition come from? Who helped make it our ham for the holidays? Let's look at why they're such a 'moose-t' have when getting the family 'yeti' for the holiday season.

We know that holiday PJs began as early as the 1950s, with department store holiday season catalogs advertising cheerful sleepwear adorned with stripes, checks, and other patterns with festive motifs for the entire family. The popularity of these designs increased steadily in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s but the modern matching look wasn't a significant trend or tradition yet for families across the country.

In the early 2000s, mainly due to the rapidly increasing user base on social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, the internet began changing how people shared information and kept in touch with friends and family members.

Thanks to the improved ability to exchange information in mere seconds, finding meaning in the present by looking to the past—such as carrying on family traditions or creating new ones to share on social media became the way to stay relevant.

In fact, to date, the Instagram tag #christmasjammies has over 190k posts showcasing families wearing their matching Christmas pajamas and counting. And that's just one hashtag! Hundreds more variations feature matching PJs and family holiday PJs, proving they’re almost as popular as the ugly Christmas sweaters, another well-known holiday clothing tradition.

Giving the gift of cozy or funny holiday pajamas has long been a standard holiday offering. In recent years, social media has also arguably intensified the love affair some have with creating photo ops, specifically opportunities for humorous, cheesy photos. That love affair has helped create a matching pajama trend, and the new tradition spread from niche retailers to the mainstream.

But where exactly did this all of this social pressure to stay relevant with matching pajamas originate on social media?

If you do some deep digging, you might find that it was in 2013 when a YouTube video featuring a then little-known family from North Carolina, the Holdernesses. In the video, Penn and Kim Holderness and their kids sing and rap a recap of their year to the tune of Will Smith's famous "Welcome to Miami." The family is wearing matching green and red Christmas-themed pajamas in the video. The video went viral and currently boasts over 18 million views since going live in December 2013.

While the Holderness household may not be why matching family pajamas exist, the video did shine the spotlight on the matching pajama tradition once more, helping to fuel the matching PJ craze that followed.

Coincidentally, big retail stores and other pajama companies have seen a steady uprise in matching PJ sets since 2013. From there, celebrities and influencers picked up the trend. They brought it further into the light until matching holiday pajamas featured in Oprah's Favorite Things, and stars like Jessica Alba shared their favorite matching PJs.

You're never too old to be 'turtley' awesome in a set of festive matching jammies, so why not start the tradition right now? You can order holiday family matching pajamas, especially Christmas-themed, as early as July and September at LazyOne.

You don't have to wait until a holiday to get in on the snuggle action. Matching family PJs are perfect for family weekends or days to say 'na'moose' stay in bed. They're also ideal when families are feeling 'otterly' exhausted and want to take it slow on the couch, under a blanket, watching their favorite movies together.

Whichever way you consider them, matching pajama sets have become a new family bonding tradition that everyone can 'bear.' Wearing them when you have little ones can help them get excited about going to bed so that adults can enjoy that excitement—and get enough time to get ready for the holiday morning.

In addition to holiday sleepwear, there are so many beautiful themes a family can enjoy bonding over with their family pajamas, like fishing and the outdoors, for a small example.

Even if ugly Christmas sweaters aren't your thing, many of us find it hard to deny that wearing matching jammies is so utterly charming. Additionally, they're much more comfortable than wearing itchy, scratchy, restrictive clothing. Anyone can still dress up, do their makeup, do their hair, or wear fun festive jewelry and look great and be cozy at the same time with high-quality, ultra-soft jammies.

They are fun and soft and an ideal way to create life-long holiday memories for you and your family to look back on and cherish for decades. Wearing PJs can relieve some of the stress of tedious holidays or day-to-day tasks and activities, like cooking. It's hard to get motivated or into a holiday spirit if you're uncomfortable and thinking of a pile of laundry instead.