Matching pajama sets are a staple of holiday gift guides, yet where do they fit into a Binghamton student’s wardrobe? The correlation between pajamas and holiday gift guides may stem from the idea that the holidays are a time when people tend to have off from work and school, and are therefore more prone to staying in. So why not buy your loved one something cute and comfortable to lounge around in?

Pajamas are a form of self-expression, printed with your favorite childhood cartoon characters. But in college, where laziness is an epidemic and “getting ready for bed” turns into passing out from exhaustion (or inebriation), the necessity of owning something solely for sleeping becomes minimized.

Johanna Jordan, a junior majoring in human development, remarked that pajamas as a set are very insignificant to her.

“My mom definitely bought me a set last year,” Jordan said. “I was excited about the comfy pants and quickly forgot about the matching top.”

Dane Banks, a junior majoring in English, also confirmed that while she does like pajama sets, the matching factor quickly loses its novelty.

“I think they’re adorable,” Banks said. “But after I wear the matching set once, I generally incorporate them into the rest of my pajama wardrobe and end up mixing and matching.”

In a Pipe Dream survey, only 5 of the 100 respondents claimed to wear matching pajamas to sleep, while 62 said they wear a ratty t-shirt and a variation of bottoms, including sweatpants, shorts or underwear and 36 reported wearing either underwear or nothing. 76 students admitted to receiving pajamas as a holiday gift, while only 24 said they had asked for them.

This year, websites like Macys.com and Bloomingdales.com continue to include matching pajama sets in their holiday gift guides, whereas Asos.com and Urbanoutfitters.com, more alternative apparel sites that cater more to college-age students, do not include pajama sets or any form of sleepwear in their gift guides. However, underwear is featured as a gift for both women and men on both sites.

Asos.com and Urbanoutfitters.com have gotten the memo that less is more in the bedroom for college students. But perhaps pajamas are not being marketed to college students because they are an unnecessary expense in a world in which you are constantly hoping that by the end of the night your clothes will end up on the floor. Also, with the appropriation of loungewear into the public sphere, there is no boundary between sleepwear and loungewear, and thus the two categories merge for the 18 to 24-year-old bracket.