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5 Matching Christmas Pyjama Sets For The Whole Family
Christmas Eve pyjamas have turned into a proper tradition in a lot of British houses, as fixed as the stocking at the end of the bed and the photo on the stairs that no one is allowed to skip. Matching sets all look much the same in a tiny photo on a phone, though, so we went through 5 of this year’s styles one by one, collars, cuffs, pockets, prints and all, so you know exactly what turns up before you order for the whole family.
1. Navy Christmas Tree Top With Fair Isle Bottoms
Navy is the colour that makes this one look grown up. The top is a long sleeved round neck in a deep navy blue, and a light grey trim runs round the neckline, the cuffs and the hem, which is the kind of finish you normally see on a proper sleep top rather than a printed T-shirt.
On the chest there is a Christmas tree drawn in white, but it is not a solid tree. It is made of swirls and tiny dots wound round and round like a string of fairy lights, with a little star at the top, and down at the bottom of the tree stands a small Santa in red, holding the end of the lights as if he has just finished decorating it. The child’s top has exactly the same tree, only smaller and sitting a little higher on the chest.
Polar bears are what most people spot first on the bottoms. The trousers are navy with a white Fair Isle style pattern running in bands from the waist to the ankle, rows of snowflakes, polar bears walking in a line, small Christmas trees, tiny hearts and zig zag borders in between. The adult trousers hang straight and loose to the floor, while the child’s pair finishes in a navy ribbed cuff at the ankle, so they will not trail on the carpet. Fair Isle, by the way, is the little island between Orkney and Shetland that gave the knitting pattern its name, which makes this the most British looking set of the 5 even if the bears are not from round there.
2. Green Word Tree Top With Green And White Striped Bottoms
If you want the brightest photo on the stairs, this is it. Everything about the set is laid out in the chart below, because there is a lot going on and it is easier to see side by side.
| Part | What you get |
|---|---|
| Colour of the top | Bright Christmas green, long sleeves |
| Print on the top | The words Joy, Love, Peace, Believe and Christmas stacked in white, getting wider as they go down so they make a tree shape |
| Lettering | A mix of curly script and plain capitals, with “Believe” in bold across the middle and “Christmas” in swirly writing at the bottom |
| Top of the tree | A small red star |
| Men’s neckline | Plain round neck |
| Women’s neckline | Criss cross straps across the front, making a small V |
| Children’s neckline | Plain round neck |
| Bottoms | Wide green and white horizontal stripes, like a candy cane |
| Adult leg | Straight, with the women’s pair a touch shorter and narrower at the ankle |
| Boy’s bottoms | A drawstring tie showing at the front of the waist |
| Props in the photo | A Santa hat, a reindeer antler headband, a Christmas tree headband and novelty Santa glasses |
Those props make the photo, but they are for the picture, so do not expect them in the parcel.
3. Red Top With Tartan Bottoms, And A Bandana For The Dog
A French bulldog in a red and black check bandana is sitting in the front of the product photo for this one, and that is the reason most families will end up choosing it. If the dog is getting its own Christmas photo this year, this is the set.
- The top is plain bright red with long sleeves and a round neck, with no big print across the front.
- The only design on the top is a small printed pocket on the left of the chest, red with white snowflakes and a green edge, with a little Santa peeping out over the top of it.
- The bottoms are a red tartan with black lines and thin white lines running through it, the kind an American listing calls plaid and most of us call tartan, though a proper tartan belongs to a clan and this one belongs to no clan at all.
- The man’s trousers have a drawstring tie at the waist, the adult legs are straight, and the girl’s pair sits loose down to the ankle.
- The dog’s bandana is a triangle of bolder red and black buffalo check, a bigger check than the trousers, so it goes with the set without the dog being dressed in exactly the same thing.
- The headbands in the photo are reindeer antlers on the mum and the girl, and the dad has a Santa hat.
Will the dog keep it on long enough for the photo? The bulldog in the picture seems to have managed it, so there is hope. With such a plain top, this is also the one set you could wear in January without anyone guessing it was Christmas pyjamas.
4. Cream Set With Pink, Red And Green Trees All Over
Little layered trees cover every inch of this set, top and bottoms, and it is the only one of the 5 where both pieces are the same print, so it reads more like one outfit than a top and trousers.
Each tree is built up in layers of pink, red and green with a small brown trunk, so they look like little stacked cakes, and in between them is a scatter of tiny gold stars, sprinkles, small bows and ribbon curls, almost like confetti on a cream background. The tops have long sleeves, a small chest pocket on the left in the same print, and on the adult tops a short button placket at the neck instead of a plain round collar.
| Adults | Child | |
|---|---|---|
| Top | Button placket at the neck, chest pocket | Round neck, chest pocket |
| Bottoms | Wide straight leg, side pockets | Gathered cuff at the ankle |
Cream does have one catch. It will show the cranberry sauce if anyone eats breakfast in it, so this might be the set for the photo first and the food second.
5. Black Word Tree Top With Black And White Striped Bottoms
Teenagers who refuse to wear anything green will probably agree to this one. It has the same word tree as the green set, Joy, Love, Peace, Believe and Christmas stacked in white with a small red star on top, but on a black long sleeved top, so it looks much less like fancy dress.
The women’s top again has the criss cross straps across the front of the neckline, while the men’s top and both of the children’s tops, a boy’s and a girl’s in the photo, keep a plain round neck. The bottoms are wide black and white horizontal stripes, about the same width as the green set’s stripes, straight and loose on the adults and slimmer down to the ankle on the children. Both parents have their hands tucked into their pockets in the photo, so it looks like this set has side pockets, which would be handy for keeping a phone close on Christmas morning.
Props again, for anyone wondering: a Santa hat on the dad, a Santa headband on the boy, a star headband on the girl and the same novelty glasses on the mum.
Before You Order For The Whole Family
A few things are easy to miss when you are ordering 4 sets at once in November, and they are the ones that cause the most hassle in the week before Christmas.
- Order the children one size up, so they still fit next year and the ankle cuffs on the navy and cream sets stay where they should.
- Check whether the adult sizes are men’s and women’s or one unisex fit, because unisex usually comes up large on women, and on the green and black sets the women’s top is a different cut anyway.
- Look for the last order date for Christmas delivery, as a lot of these sets ship from abroad and can take 2 weeks or more.
- Order the hats, headbands, glasses and dog bandanas separately if you want the full look from the photos, unless the listing says they are included.
- Wash everything once before Christmas Eve so the colours settle and the creases from the packet drop out.
Get the order in by the end of November and the hardest job left will be getting everyone, dog included, to stand still on the stairs.
