Bammies: the Business Pajamas You Can Wear From Your Home Office to the Board Room

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No one likes taking off their pajamas in the morning. Swapping out your delicious cotton basics for a rigid wool skirt and stuffy blouse? It's a tough obstacle to conquer during the first 45 minutes of your day. If only there was a set of business pajamas that was socially acceptable to wear to the office and felt as delicious as the sleepwear you were forced to ditch. But wait….

Allow us to introduce you to Bammies, a local line that’s creating workwear you can take from your home office to a board meeting and any social event in between. Its inaugural six-piece collection launched mid-January and offers comfy yet chic wardrobe staples you could mix and match, all priced between $80 and $170.

"It’s really about being who you are and not being apologetic for that. If you’re worried about how tight your skirt is, or that the waist is bunching up, or that your cleavage is out and you’re at a meeting or on a date, you’re not actually tuned into or conveying who you truly are if you’re worried about the message you’re sending," says Julia Ford-Carther, co-founder of Bammies.

The idea for Bammies came about serendipitously when Ford-Carther met her now-business partner, Rosario Chozas. Chozas co-created the Women in Technology conference (WIT) for Emerge Americas and produces monthly WIT Rendezvous meetups for budding female entrepreneurs in tech. Julia was the Senior Editor of Ocean Drive Magazine at the time they launched the program, and was tapped in to host the first rendezvous. Chozas and she hit it off immediately, doing what any two people on the cusp of a budding friendship would do– they met for coffee. Rosario let Julia in on her idea for Bammies, just a seed at the time, and before she finished Julia was sold. They circled back a few months later and incorporated the company in July.

That’s right. In just six months the two were able to string together a fashion line that is not only practical, but is stylish as well. And Bammies isn’t even their main project; it’s a side hustle that compliments their other many endeavors, all focused on empowering women.

"That’s why this works. That was always [Chozas’s] MO from the beginning," admits Ford-Carther. "She wanted it to be fun, stress-free. A project of love, mission-driven, purpose-driven. Anything crazy or stressful, we’d pull the plug. It’s been a dream, one of the funnest things we’ve done."

Chozas has a strong background in fashion. Born in Argentina but raised in California, she spent her 20s working in advertising and wardrobe styling in Buenos Aires, eventually producing runway shows for Buenos Aires Fashion Week. During that time, she co-founded Maison Aubele, an image, fashion, and design institute in Buenos Aires, and the White Professional Color Lab, an image color consultancy with big name clients like L’Oreal, Fox Latin America, and IBM. Now a Miami resident, Chozas juggles many hats overseeing WIT, the Miami chapter of Vital Voices, and The Jewels Productions, a content and media studio that ties in simultaneously with Ford-Carther's own endeavor, SLF Media.

Ford-Carther comes from the media world. After graduating from Stanford University, she launched her career as a beauty editor in LA before moving to Miami to become the Senior Editor of Ocean Drive Magazine. In September she left her role to focus on her own endeavor, The Self Love Formula, a website focused on helping you be your best self through dating, fashion, beauty, entertainment, and career advice and features. With it comes SLF Media, which creates mindful content for companies and brands.

"Bammies is the third prong to my empire," says Ford-Carther. "We want to be able to give the tools, styles, pieces, and clothes that will help women communicate who they are authentically and with ease. There's a comfort factor to it. There's an [authenticity] factor."

The collection is available for pre-order now and is set to drop on February 19th. Chozas and Ford-Carther put a lot of emphasis on pieces that are structured, yet soft; easy to clean (read: no more dry cleaning!) yet sophisticated for any occasion.

"We got way more immersed in fabrics than we ever knew we wanted to," says Chozas. "What we wanted to do was to combine fabrics that had that softness to the skin combined with the practicality of fabrics you could throw under a truck and put on that won't be wrinkled."

Ok, they didn't actually test their fabrics by running them over with trucks, but you get the point. The Logan pant has a jersey feel to it, the blazer is made out of a smooth wool blend, the Consuelo pant is comprised of a brushed cotton that maintains its structure, and its white button-down shirt is made with the same weight of a men's poplin shirt– comfortable, yet sturdy.

"The way they were designed doesn't matter if your style is more boho or goth," says Chozas. "Whatever you've got rocking, Bammies is done in a way where the designs are modern and fresh but yet very classic."

Maybe you work in your pajamas all day; maybe you keep it business caj. Whatever your style, your clothing should empower you, never hinder. Like Rachel Zoe says, "Style is a way to say who you are without speaking," and it may just be time we start speaking the language of being comfortable with ourselves. Perhaps Bammies is on to something here.