When did it become PC to wear pajamas to restaurants, around campus and to work? And just because you are pairing them with Crocs, not slippers, doesn’t make it OK.

When wearing my “Lisa Plancich, Etiquette Writer and Editor” hat, I get many requests about what to wear. Though no one asked me if it’s acceptable to pair teddy bear pajamas with bunny slippers, many have asked WHY people are opting to do so. My response is: “I have no idea”.

If you are in your backyard enjoying coffee or getting the mail, you are on your private property and can categorically wear what you are comfortable wearing. Etiquette would dictate that you wear a robe with jammies and slippers to exit your front door and get the mail. For a quick run to get the morning paper that’s on the front walk, we all get the desire to grab it and enjoy it in the comfort of our own home, and yes in our pajamas.

Many people leave the gym in sweats or yoga pants and quickly run a few errands before going home to shower and change. We all get that. Chiseling time to workout and capitalizing on the 24 hours we all have makes wearing workout clothes acceptable when pressed for time. But let’s make this perfectly clear…sweats and yoga attire are not pajamas. Getting up, getting dressed and leaving your home is not the same as rolling out of bed and wearing what you slept in. Wearing bedridden clothing out in public is not an approved etiquette-friendly decision. It's not approved in any kind of code, actually.

Broken down, donning PJs, in daylight, in public, tramples all over a huge fashion code. Not just fashion but a productivity code also.

You are what you wear. If you’re opting for pajamas, whether in class or the grocery store, you are dressed schlumpy. And schlumpy is as schlumpy does. Vegging on the couch and watching the game is schlumpy-acceptable. Getting in your car and running errands in PJs says, “My convenience is more important than your comfort level". And if you find that last sentence offensive, talk to Jerry Springer. He’s more that interested in paying you to spew why you have every right to wear what you want. Society in general, however, would like you to go home, shower and put on something you didn't sleep in.

It’s not just about self-respect; it’s about respecting those around you. If you have little regard for those around you, wear pajamas and slippers and announce to the world you don’t care if you’re offending, you're going to wear what you want. Odd are, with an attitude like that, it's not just your attire the general population takes offense at.

It’s the public areas, where you are walking around in something others changed out of because they slept in them, that you are compromising your image and their comfort. If you are going to get out of bed and change into clean, unslept in pajamas, that may be more hygienic. But unless you wear a sign that says “These are clean, the slept in ones I changed out of”, people are still going to question your motivation for wearing something that’s made for the bedroom.