The Pajama Game

First it was suffrage, next cigarettes, and then man's final inalienable rights: to know baseball, follow the market, haggle over prices, talk and be heard, swagger, stare, shout at will and stay out all night. And with women behind their wheels, at their desks and in their way, with their razors confiscated and even their private clubs invaded, men conceded defeat, loosened their belts and handed over their pants as well.

All that, of course, was long ago. Today, what used to separate the men from the boys barely separates the boys from the girls. For pants, by now, are a staple in every woman's wardrobe, so popular from coast to coast and in between that the far out teen-ager is the one who sticks to dirndls. Still, there are pants that will not do, and while shorts and slacks in every length and any size (so long as they coincide roughly with the wearer's own) are sportswear standards, there are places that not even the handsomest of them can go, or at least go unnoticed. On an afternoon stroll in midtown Manhattan, for instance, or out to dinner, a theater or nightclub. There is one place, however, where pants are actually being urged to make themselves at home--and that is at home.

There, full-length, generally full-skirted pants are the newest, chicquest, sleek and swishest way to stay in style. And there are hundreds of styles to choose from--harem trousers and bellbottom slacks, pantaloons, culottes and jump suits among them. Dressed-up pajamas all, most are sold with tops and accompanying overskirts; available in fancy fabrics like embroidered lace (by Courreges, for $800) as well as lighter weight silk jersey (by Pucci, for $210), Fortrel and cotton (by Sportwhirl, for $35) and Arnel knit (by Loomtogs, for $36), they bloom with checks and flowers, glitter with pearls and gold, or stand out like the moon, all white and stark. Graceful to look at and com fortable to lounge in, the party pajamas fit loosely, serve only as a costume, not (like last year's hiphuggers) as a tourniquet.

They are, in short, a long and lazy-looking high-fashion triumph. They may not seem quite so devastating on the girl next door as they did on Garbo. But on Garbo, after all, pants weren't pants but a way of life.

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