Getting Cozy
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Mickey Sills knows the pajama game – and he’s playing it better than most. A self-taught designer, Mr. Sills is the creator of Scanty, a new loungewear label that’s meant for more than bedtime.
The pieces themselves are straightforward: tank tops, long underwear, and flair-leg drawstring pants, all made of extremely soft cotton. But the prints are so bold that these PJ’s can be worn as clothing with casual wear.
“We take pajamas to another level,” Mr. Sills said. “When women roll out of bed, they can say, ‘I could wear this top with my jeans.’ Or when they’ve got it on, they can sleep in it.”
Mr. Sills, who digs Harley-Davidson motorcycles, has a design sensibility that seems to spring directly from his active California lifestyle. The waffle-knit long underwear, for example, features a bright blue and white ski-slope pattern; other pieces come with a repeated design of snowflakes and skiers on a dark blue background.
“Designs are very personal. They have to have a certain feel or theme that sparks the imagination,” Mr. Sills said.
That would explain his prints based on tattoo art: “I have tattoos. I’m a 47-year-old hippie,” he said.
The tattoo prints strike a catchy balance between bedtime cuddly and rock-‘n’- roll sexy. A pair of drawstring pants has a repeated bleeding-heart design with a banner that reads “Scanty” (instead of, say, “Lucille”) set on a background of bubble-gum pink and small white dots. The red tank top that goes with it has a repeated dagger and banner tattoo.
Mr. Sills is no newcomer to the sleepwear industry. He founded the P.J. Salvage line of loungewear in 1995, which he then sold in 1999. After undergoing major heart surgery last year, he decided to start afresh with Scanty. The goal was to create a line of clothing that gives women versatile pieces with an edgy look that can go from bed to bar. And Scanty does that indeed.
Shirt-and-pants sets range from $70 to $80. Camisole-and-boy-short sets range from $50 to $60. Available at Only Hearts (23 Mott St., 212-431-3694, and 386 Columbus Ave., 212-724-5608) and Infinity (1116 Madison Ave., 212-517-4232).
