fashion

Beach Wear I “Need” to Make

Diane Harper

I say “Need” advisedly, because I don’t really need more things to wear to the beach. I have multiple robes, onesies and wrap skirts. But I don’t own beach pyjamas, and now that I know they exist, I want some.

Sam has written about swim dresses before, but those are quite different from the elegant, yet voluminous and comfortable pyjamas of the 1920s and 1930s.

On the left, 1930s silk beach pyjamas on display at the Australian National Maritime Museum. On the right, women wear beach pyjamas in 1934 (Hulton Archive/Getty)

Beach pyjamas were shocking when they first appeared, because they crossed gender lines. Until the 1920s, only men wore the lightweight pants with drawstring waistbands that had been adopted by British colonials from Indian Muslims in the 1800s. But “modern girls” who used them could roam unhindered around beachside towns.

I have some fabric in my stash that would be perfect, for pyjamas. And I think I have something that will make a suitable accompanying top, inspired by these gorgeous looks.

Left: a woman wearing pyjamas and a wide-sleeved cropped jacket stands in front of a beach umbrella (Séeburger Brothers). Right: young Moga (Modern Girls) walk down a Gonzales street in 1928 dressed in “beach pyjama style”(Kagayama Kyoto).

I rather like the idea of tackling one of my 25 in 2025 projects (reduce the fabric stash) by sewing something feminist, even if it doesn’t turn out as cute as one of these:

A postcard from the 1920s or 1930s, found on lamodepyjama.blogspot.com

Published by Diane Harper

Diane Harper is a retired former public servant who lives and swims (and bikes) in Ottawa. In her hobby life, she is Siglinde Harfnerstochter, a 6th C Merovingian housewife from the city of Metz. Her primary interests are cooking, textile arts and bonecarving. Siglinde lives in the canton of Caldrithig, Barony of Skraeling Althing, Kingdom of Ealdormere.