How TikTok transformed these $5 pajama pants into the uniform for middle schoolers

There was a time when dressing for middle school meant begging your parents for the cutest outfits: perhaps a Hollister graphic tee or the latest Air Jordans. These days, the look is somewhat more casual. At 7:50 a.m. in New York City, you’ll find hoards of tweens rushing to school in matching pajama pants. Eleanor Woodsworth, 11, of Brooklyn, says that the trend started several months ago. She and her friends would collectively pick a pattern from the retailer Five Below, which sells pajama pants for the pocket-money-friendly price of $5.55. They would then proceed to wear them to school together. “It was kind of like a friendship bracelet,” she says. “It was a way of showing we’re all in the same friend group.”[Screenshot: TikTok]Woodsworth isn’t alone. On TikTok, there are hundreds of videos of people visiting Five Below to load up on matching pajamas to wear with their friends. The pants play into the broader trend of “family matching” holiday pajamas that many brands have created over the past five years. “We’re noticing they’re not just being worn at home, but also out with friends,” says a Five Below spokesperson, about the popularity of these pajama pants.The specific appeal of the Five Below pants also comes down to price. At a time when many people are feeling the pinch of inflation, the pants are a way to participate in the holidays without having to break the bank. “They’re so cheap, everyone can afford them,” says Woodsworth. @itsginatok These are the cutest $6 pajama pants! 😍 #fivebelow #shoppingonabudget #shopping #bargainshopping #fivebelowfinds ♬ Funny – Gold-Tiger In one telling video, a user talks about how Five Below’s holiday pajama pants are cheaper than those at Target, whose recent earnings report showed a significant decline. Analysts say that Target’s branding as a more “premium” store, with slightly more expensive prices, has turned off consumers, who are now flocking to cheaper retailers, like Walmart.For tweens, the more affordable alternative is Five Below, which specifically targets the teen market. It was founded in 2002 under the name “Cheap Holdings,” and is branded as a cooler cousin to Dollar General or Dollar Tree. The name of the store comes from the notion that most products in the store costs $5 or less—although these days, products can go up to $25.According to a spokesperson for Five Below, the company helped cultivate this obsession with matching pajamas. “We are actively marketing our latest and greatest collections across our social media channels,” she says. “Especially TikTok and Meta, as those are mostly viewed by younger consumers.”But Five Below’s rock bottom prices are no match for a new wave of Chinese startups, like Shein and Temu, which manufacture products at even lower prices. These companies don’t have the overhead of brick-and-mortar stores, and they also avoid paying taxes thanks to a loophole in the tax code call the De Minimis rule. As a result you can snag four pairs of pajama pants at $13.46 with free shipping from Shein’s website. Amazon now has a competitor to Shein and Temu called Haul, which promises to offer “crazy low prices.”This world of ultra fast fashion is an environmental catastrophe. The reason all of these companies can charge so little for pajama pants is that they are made entirely from polyester, a cheap plastic fabric that is not durable. “They’re definitely not good quality,” Woodsworth remarks. “They look nice, but I don’t think they will last long.”When the pants rip or pill beyond usability, the customer will throw likely throw them in the trash, where they will inevitably end up in a landfill. Since polyester does not biodegrade, the pants will break into smaller and smaller fragments of microplastic, which will end up in the food chain, poisoning animals and humans. But that’s assuming the customer wears them out. It’s possible that, like many middle school trends, they’ll just go out of style. Remember the obsession with Stanley tumblers? Tweens have already moved on to another bottle brand called Owala. “There’s always a new trend happening,” says Woodsworth.