Another popular piece of conjecture runs thus: Pajama wearers do not venture far from home and since they are mostly downtown dwellers they are actually sending a subliminal message about their social status. As you may have heard, Shanghai people are extremely status conscious and the location of their home is an important element of this. Downtown is seen as desirable. In other words, you don't catch a suburban (read, lower-status) person in nightgowns on Nanjing Road, the city's equivalent of New York's Fifth Avenue. So, wearing pajamas is tantamount to pinning a badge declaring: "I'm a classy and authentic Shanghainese."
Each of these hypotheses may have some truth to them. I tend to go for the idea of pajamas as a fashion statement. Shanghai residents would never forfeit class for comfort. Back in the era when most lived in slum-like conditions, they would make sure everything was immaculate the moment they stepped outdoors. They would rather be caught dead than wearing something to be laughed at.
My guess is, when pajamas first came to Shanghai, they made a strong impact and were seen as modish, but their correct use was not widely known. Then came the long period of isolation when such information was hard to come by and eventually pajamas on the street were accepted in an entirely different context, compared with the West.
What the Shanghai government and critics of pajamas on the streets are intent on doing is hitching a ride on the global locomotive and closing the gap between self-perception and outside perception. Something a fashionista, like Anna Wintour, could do with a wave of her hand is now a headache for the administration. It makes me laugh to think of her issuing the edict: "Let them wear Prada!"
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