(I liked how cozy it was, but going to the bathroom was a chore.) "It's slovenly, it's wrong - pyjamas are for wearing to bed. Tea gowns, for example, were once meant for women to wear at home, but in the 20th century they became something you could wear outside.
– Irish welfare officials aren't asleep at the switch—and they've got a wake-up call for their clients. Dubliners have been a bit too chill when they turn up to collect their welfare checks, so the agency is banning pajamas in the office. "Pajamas are not regarded as appropriate attire when attending Community Welfare Service at these offices," says a new standards-setting sign posted at the agency, reports the BBC. The increasing use of pajamas as daywear is alarming officials throughout Ireland, who have begun to ban PJs at Irish schools and shops. Even the US is going to the mattresses over the issue—a Louisiana legislator is proposing making wearing jammies in a public a crime. But Slate doesn't get the hate. "A whole lot of silly and just-plain-mean people aren’t happy about this nascent pajama craze," writes an appalled Farhad Manjoo, who hails the trend as a great equalizer in the same league as child labor laws, public education, and pants becoming acceptable for women. "Insofar as they help us escape the constantly shifting mores of modern fashion, pajamas function as a great leveler—a way to bridge the gap between rich and poor, old and young, thin and fat," he writes. "Perhaps nobody looks awesome in pajamas, but nobody looks terrible, either: You just look like you’re looking out for yourself." Click to read his entire column.