People who pop out to the supermarket or the cash machine in their pyjamas are the subject of heated debate in Gisborne, with the town split as to whether it's acceptable to parade sleepwear in public.
While some businesses are accepting of the trend, because they can't do anything to stop it, others have said they're "disturbed" by it, Heart of Gisborne manager Ken Huberts says.
Some businesses had told him it wasn't a "good look" for Gisborne.
"From an outsider's perspective I guess sometimes it can be seen as people not having the right attitude," Mr Huberts told the New Zealand Herald.
Gisborne's deputy mayor Nola Aston said that she didn't think it was the council's place to make a bylaw forbidding the wearing of pyjamas outside of the home.
"I think it's more than just the pyjamas, it's people judging people, and I don't think it's a council thing," she said.
"Pyjamas have become a fashionable thing ... I can remember when mini-skirts came in and there was a huge furore because people could see their legs," Mrs Aston said.
"They're probably more covered up in pyjamas."
Alka Mehta, the owner of Aberdeen Superette, said sometimes people went into her store about 11.30am wearing pyjamas.
She said it "didn't look good" but there was nothing she could do or say, because she would lose business.
NZN
