I have been going round asking men what they wear in bed at night. Only two of them thought I was trying to chat them up. And that is the thing about nightwear - it is a surprisingly intimate topic. What you wear in bed says a lot about you because it says a lot about what you do in bed. Crudely put, your jimjams broadcast your sexual habits and expectations. I will come back to what night attire to wear in front of the au pair later, but the reason why we are considering this subject at all is that formal nightwear is meant to be making a comeback.

In recent years the “loungewear” look has been dominant. Men have been pairing loose pyjama-style bottoms with a favourite T-shirt. But now retailers are reporting a surge of interest in the more formal look. Sarah Dolan-Abrahams, a buyer at Figleaves.com, the biggest online underwear retailer, says that classic brands such as Derek Rose are gaining in popularity. Traditional companies such as Brooks Brothers and New & Lingwood, in Jermyn Street, London, are also reporting a surge in interest.

Matched pyjamas have an ancient and noble history. Since the Middle Ages men had worn nightshirts but then in the 18th century, colonials started introducing pyjamas to Britain. The word pyjama stems from the Hindi word paejama, meaning “leg covering”. By the 1880s retailers were offering the two-piece jacket and “loose trousers tied at the waist” that we recognise now. By the 1930s pyjamas had become a key part of a man's wardrobe. They were even worn at home as elegant evening attire in materials such as silk and cotton. I doubt that particular fashion trend will ever return, but what about pyjamas? I hadn't worn a pair since I was at boarding school and I had always thought that I would turn into my father if I wore them. But since I am a father, perhaps it was time to set aside such fears.

And since I was journeying back into nightwear history, what about trying a nightshirt? One man I questioned said he wore a nightshirt and could not recommend it highly enough.

So I started my nightwear experiment with a £95 cotton nightshirt from New & Lingwood. It was roomy and very long. It was explained to me that a proper nightshirt needed to be long so that it did not fail to keep my lower half warm if it rode up a bit in the night. It was also important that the garment was long enough to keep everything under wraps when you sit down. I slept well in it, but unfortunately my wife's reaction doomed it from the start. She giggled, she pointed and fell asleep still giggling. Men do not like being laughed at in bed, especially if the phrase “Wee Willie Winkie” is involved. She even burst out laughing when she saw me again in the morning. Never again.

But the pyjamas were much more successful. I had expected to feel old before my time (I am 41), but in my Brooks Brothers blue drawstring broadcloth cotton pyjamas with navy piping (£69) I felt rather classy. It put me in mind of James Stewart (above), which, as fashion looks go, is pretty good. They were warm on these recent particularly cold nights. They were also “wrinkle resistant”, in a nod to the non-iron shirt market. I also tested a pair of New & Lingwood twofold cotton poplin pyjamas (£115) which were, as the price suggests, at the top of the range. As a colleague who also tried out a pair put it: “It is a bit like lying in really nice sheets without having to make the bed properly.” As with shirts, you get what you pay for. But, here is where we get to the au pair, they felt too intimate to wear down to breakfast. Somehow they were nightwear for the bedroom only and I took to wearing a dressing gown.

I can only explain this by guessing that the formality of proper PJs makes you more decorous all round. Perhaps here is the cure to binge drinking. Gordon Brown should tuck the nation's youth into bed at night in brushed cotton.

Am I now a convert to pyjamas? Not completely. I tried some silk pyjamas and felt rather silly. I know they are supposed to be the height of luxury and sophistication, but I thought they were just too...slippery. If you want to cling on to your youth for a little longer, there are some great pyjama bottoms around. My favourites were a pair of seersucker bottoms from Brook Brothers (£35) and a pair of red checked bottoms from Gap, only £19.50. Gap do great T-shirts too.

Now where did I put my pipe and slippers?

One glimpse of his PJs and I thought: marry me

By Sarah Vine

I married my husband because of his pyjamas - well, OK, that wasn't the only reason, but it definitely had some bearing on the matter. I was on a skiing holiday, one of those 12-to-a-chalet jobs, a typical boozy, twentysomething affair. I was sharing a room with my best friend; my husband-to-be was sharing the attic with two other (single) men. It was, as you can imagine, somewhat chaotic. And yet, amid the general mayhem, my future spouse maintained an admirable high standard of pyjama-wearing. While other members of the group would stagger down to breakfast wearing last night's wine-stained shirts, he would appear in full Turnbull & Asser cotton piped. There was even, I seem to remember, a matching dressing gown.

Such attention to detail was, I decided, a good sign. I appreciated his ability to bring order into chaos; and I admired a man who, in the prevailing testosterone-charged atmosphere, felt solid enough in his masculinity to consume his breakfast eggs in a calm and orderly fashion while dressed head-to-toe in sharply pressed powder blue.

A man's night attire says a lot about him. A T-shirt and boxer shorts are all very well, but probably not a sign of someone who wants to settle down. Nor are they ideal in company - as there's always a danger that any sudden movement may expose the wearer - and any casual observer - to embarrassment. If the boxers are the same that he's been wearing all day, then he should probably be avoided altogether on hygiene grounds. An old-fashioned all-in-one, aka the romper suit, is just plain worrying, as are satin pants worn with a casually knotted dressing-gown: too Donald Trump. A nightshirt brings to mind images of elderly Victorian gentlemen with spindly ankles and varicose veins importuning soft young brides, as well as the wrong kind of nightcaps. Naked is acceptable if it's hot or you're on holiday (except in cases of extreme hirsuteness) but what if there's a fire? No, nothing beats traditional cotton pyjamas: winceyette in winter, poplin in summer. It's just the way things should be.

The seven ages of male nightwear

Boy: as soon as you are out of nappies, your parents force you into “cute” pyjamas from The White Company.

Teen: just some pants and, if possible, nothing at all - to put your parents off coming into your room.

Student stud: nothing. Saves on washing and you are always ready for action (you wish).

Young lover: ironed boxer shorts. Easy enough to whip off, but roomy enough to disguise your enthusiasm.

Living in sinner: a T-shirt and cotton bottoms. You are not trying quite so hard now.

Married man: something warm, something comfortable. Does it really matter what you look like?

Elder statesman: Formal pyjamas. Your dad had it right all along. These really are very comfy. And you used to wear them as a boy.