A pyjama soliloquy, live shows and a baking recipe.
Plus a general endorse to see more thing IRL not streamed on your laptop.
Hello, it’s great to
see you again!
Editor – Phoebe Tully
—
If you missed out on seeing Divas, that’s not my fault.
After cashmere socks and martinis, I don’t think anything has received as much repeated attention here as Bernadette Robinson’s latest one-woman show.
I saw her opening night in Brisbane last week and it was just as extraordinary as I remembered her show Songs for Nobodies was 12 years ago. Imagine someone singing Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black and then Maria Callas’ Vissi d’Arte from Tosca. The same person. If you can still get tickets, get them.
And then in one of those “it doesn’t rain, it pours” but in a really good way situations, I also saw Cirque du Soleil for the very first time this past weekend. It was their first show on ice, and it probably goes without saying that it was incredible, but I’ll say it anyway: it was incredible. I bought tickets back in December, and it just happened to be the same week as Divas. Lucky me.
When I was a child, my parents used to take me to Disney on Ice shows. When I tell people this and they know what Disney on Ice is without me explaining it, I now realise it was a thing a lot of kids in the 90s did. But in my memory, it was basically my parents, the characters and me. It still in my memory feels like it was a show put on just for us. I hope I’ll never not appreciate the transportive effects of live productions in a world with so much easy-access streaming. There’s truly no business like show business; let’s give those nutters our money.
The joy of dedicated sleepwear.
I don’t understand either how or why people don’t wear pyjamas. Devoted sleepwear is one of the small joys of life. There is something about getting into a silk nightie/matching cotton set/Harry Potter-themed flannelettes that sleeping in today’s t-shirt just can’t give you.
Remember that scene from Roman Holiday, when Audrey Hepburn’s character is wishing she could sleep in pyjamas (instead of nightgowns that make her feel “200 years old”)? Combine this Breakfast at Tiffany’s scene with her character sporting a sleep mask ($) and man’s tuxedo shirt, and I’ll take one of everything please.
It is one of my ambitions in life to have both enough space and enough money to have an entire section of my wardrobe devoted to sleepwear. Nighties, pyjamas, slippers, robes, eye masks, you name it. All hung on coat hangers and lovingly folded like other items in my wardrobe. The luxury.
Can you make your sleepwear work double-time and occasionally wear it out of the house? Of course. This is your personal Sleepwear Kingdom; you can do what you want with it. Your silk jammie top with jeans for a Sunday morning coffee run? Go for it! Your silk robe worn as a duster for drinks with friends on a Tuesday night? Chic! But the important thing is that you wear it to bed. That’s the real joy.
Here are some un-asked-for tips for building your own sleepwear wardrobe:
I had matching flannelette pyjamas bottoms with my partner for a few years and I don’t know if I’m embarrassed about it or not. We had mis-matched tops, so… maybe half embarrassed? Anyway, if you live somewhere cold, a flannelette set ($$) is a good place to start because it’s practical. Mix and match flannelette bottoms with a regular top ($) if you’re just dipping your toe into the sleepwear cult. You’ll come ‘round.
Once you start down this road, you’ll realise a robe is a non-negotiable. Everyone needs something to turn a “can’t be effed to get dressed” day into a “glamorously lolling about” day; a robe does that for you. I recommend something silk ($$), and also something a bit warmer ($$) that gives hotel vibes. And also something ($$$) to show your appreciation for someone bringing you a coffee and a croissant in the morning, which you refer to as your “peignoir”, not your “dressing gown”.
You’ll probably want something on your feet eventually. Perhaps a pair of classic slip-on velvet slippers ($$), monogrammed of course, and preferably in hunter green. Or cashmere socks, to which I have devoted an entire edition previously.
If you’re into nightgowns, Eberjey’s TENCEL nighties ($$) are the stuff of sleepwear folklore (a concept I just made up). Or you could go down the silk road (not the Silk Road) with something full-length ($$$) or short ($). Or you can go down the Holly Golightly path with a night shirt ($$), hopefully twill and hopefully with a made-up family insignia on the pocket.
Eberjey also make plenty of TENCEL pyjama sets ($$$). But would this be me if I didn’t recommend something in black and white stripes? No. Especially when it’s a matching silk pyjama set ($$$). Also, a summery cotton set ($) because this is a seasonal sleepwear wardrobe.
Finally, everyone needs a pyjama-but-make-it-lingerie set ($$) that makes them feel like they’re in Paris, luxuriating around the apartment with no plans for the day apart from the wine bar that doesn’t open until 4.00pm. Specific, but important.
DO | spend a morning indoor rock climbing followed by lunch with your friends. Most places have a range of climbs from beginner to advanced, so everyone can choose their own pace, and worse-case scenario you still have lunch to look forward to if no one breaks an arm.
MAKE | a batch of apple and ginger madeleines to warm up the apartment and make everything smell amazing even though you haven’t open the windows for a month.
READ | Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
WATCH | North by Northwest (1959)
LISTEN | Sophie Hansen’s Roadtrip Montage playlist