I’ll start by disclosing that this story isn’t going to be NEARLY as interesting as you’re suspecting. But the title isn’t misleading either. This is the story of why I decided to design classic, and dare-I-say even subtly elegant, bamboo loungewear and bamboo pajamas.
I started Faceplant in 2008 with cotton pillowcases with messaging on them. At the time, this was a unique gift idea that no one else was offering. We put them in a beautiful fabric bag and added fun messages, so they’d be like a love note left on the bed. The idea was to read something positive, so you’d feel positive, before you Faceplanted into your pillow each night. (ed: We still sell them. They’re still cute.)
Well, the company took off quickly. Sales grew faster than I could have dreamt. I hired my first full-time employee, Mary Alice. (ed: Mary Alice is still with the company and now has the big desk in the corner office.) Mary Alice showed up at my front door every morning around 8:30 and we worked side by side to fulfill and pack customer orders. Orders had to be packed by 3:45 so we could run them to the local FedEx office for the 4pm pick-up. We had a young son at the time, and he loved crawling in the boxes and trying to climb the pallet racks that had outgrown our garage and taken over most of the house. After hours, I’d design new messages, manage inventory production, hire reps and manage other aspects of the business, all whilst being the best Mommy I knew how to be.
Now any Mom out there can read between the lines to see that there was sparse little me-time left in my day. Most days, before Mary Alice arrived at my house, I’d change some diapers, play pat-a-cake, start a load of laundry, feed a baby boy and if I was really lucky, might have time to brush my teeth. Getting dressed was a luxury I could scarcely afford, and I’d usually just pull a worn college sweatshirt over my pajama bottoms to start my day.
Although we dropped our outbound shipments at FedEx, deliveries arrived at the house every day. The overnight shipments arrived at 10 am and ground shipments showed up around 2. When the 10 am FedEx delivery arrived, I felt a bit awkward opening the door in my tattered pajama pants and ratty sweatshirt, but by 2 pm, my mild discomfort grew to outright shame. He was far too polite to ever say it, but I could clearly imagine the thoughts of my FedEx guy: “Seriously? What kind of slack-ass can’t be bothered to get dressed before 2 pm – ever?”
Now I realize that simply making the time to actually get dressed in the morning would have been a reasonable solution. But that didn’t seem reasonable at the time and I decided instead to shop for nicer pajamas. And I found pajamas that were cute enough, but they were still… well… pajamas. I found flannel or cotton with fun prints. Alternately, I found sexy va-va-va-voom nightgowns that may have led to the type of FedEx-guy-story you THOUGHT this was going to be.
After enough searching, I realized there was a true need for cozy pajamas that are comfortable enough that you enjoy sleeping and lounging around the house in them, but classic and cute enough that you don’t mind showing them off. And voila! Faceplant Dreams loungewear was born. We choose to work with luxurious bamboo fabrics because: 1) We love that bamboo is organically and sustainably grown. 2) The fabric feels amazing and looks elegant. 3) It has enough stretch and wiggle room to be completely cozy.
The next time you’re snuggled comfortably in your Faceplant Pajamas at home and the doorbell rings, I hope you’ll smile as you remember the embarrassing story of Faceplant and the FedEx guy.
Sweet Dreams Always,
