Q: pajama construction.

This is just a guess, but I think what you are describing is the back-neck facing, which is extra large in commercially made men's (and women's) pajamas in order to make them look good when folded, and lying on the shelf at the store. If the extra large facing were not there, you would see the "wrong" side of the fabric below the collar/neckline.

The yoke in the back of a man's shirt actually does serve a purpose, and the same type of yoke *could* be used for a pajama top if you desired it.

HTH,

Beverly

Oh ho. I did not see that it is sewn inside the jammies, and faces into the inside. No structural function.

I can see the function of a yoke. It is analogous to the function of the clavicles that connect the sternum, humerus bones, and scapula bones. It allows a garment to take shape by orienting other panels, and flexing differently because of the reorientation of warp and woof.

Thanks.

Yes, I really think it's primarily cosmetic, although *some* sort of facing is usually needed to finish off the neckline. If there is a collar, however, the facing becomes superfluous...except as it provides cosmetic cover for the *wrong* side of the fabric. ;-)

What a delightful analogy! Not one I would have thought of, are you a physician by any chance?

You're welcome!

Beverly

A good reason for NOT putting the yoke in pj's is comfort: I wouldn't like to try to sleep with that seam across by back!

Shirts were not always constructed thus. I'll have to have a hunt about and see if I can find out when the yoke first appeared and when it became the norm. I suspect when hard tailoring developed in the early

No, but I do have the anatomy coloring book. Software engineer by trade, mathematics by avocation.