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The summer holidays are almost over. The cold, wet days are finally rolling in.

While we’ve been reaching for a sweatshirt in recent weeks because this August hasn’t quite been the 30-degree heatwave promised, we’re ready for the incoming pyjama-clad duvet days watching box sets.

And if we’re going to be living in our pjs from now on, why not make them stylish?

But the weather isn’t the only culprit making us lust after snow days spent in a onesie and not moving a muscle, in fact, Primark’s latest drop of ultra chic, Gilmore Girls-themed pyjamas are also to blame for our winter wish. 

Whether you’re a fan of the cosy show, which ended 18 years ago, or you’ve got a soft spot for all things chic and snuggly, we’ve whittled down the absolute best pyjamas to invest in now for the colder months. 

From short sleeve options to long, full-coverage sets and even nighties and from brands spanning New Look, Fat Face, Anthropologie and more, here are the nightwear staples that not only look great, but will keep you warm and cosy this season. 

All you need is to bank the box sets, bookmark your favourite cosy winter movies, and stock pile the snacks. It’s time to hibernate!

The best pyjamas to buy right now

ASOS DESIGN pyjama top co-ord in red gingham

It’s giving Damson Madder vibes, but for nighttime, though we would easily wear the top out with jeans. It’s perfect for a festive sleepover with your girls.

Shop £12 (WAS £24)

New Look Loungeable Black Ribbed Shirt and Trousers Pyjama Set

There’s an uncanny resemblance to Skim’s long sleeve PJ set, just New Look’s version is almost £100 cheaper.

shop £36

Next Oatmeal Pumpkin Long Sleeve Pyjamas

All you need is a pumpkin spiced latte and Hocus Pocus on replay on a wet and windy October weekend, are we right?

shop £22

M&S Cotton Modal Zebra Print Revere Pyjama Set

We’re dreaming of those starry nights captured in this print, so this set gets our vote of confidence for a cosy nightwear set.

shop £32

Fat Face Pink Breakfast In Bread T Shirt

If you like to mix and match your pyjamas then you'll appreciate Fat Face’s Breakfast In Bread slogan t-shirt, which you can wear on its own, with shorts, or long PJ bottoms. Alternatively, size up a few and wear it as a nightie.

shop £25

Fat Face Eva Ivory Pastry Pyjama Bottoms

Just in case you do want to shop the full matching set at Fat Face, which we obviously do because these jogger-like bottoms will prevent any draughts creeping in.

shop £36

Cyber Jammies Auburn Womens Pumpkin Print Pyjama Set

Cyber Jammies has launched the most fitting pair of pyjamas for autumn we have ever seen. This set is emblazoned with amber leaves and pumpkins to really get us in the feel for autumn. Plus it’s available in children’s sizes so you and your mini-me can match.

shop £52

Next Pink Pumpkin Long Sleeve Pyjamas

The louche fit sweatshirt-like top and jogger bottoms makes this the perfect set for lounging at home this autumn, and wearing to bed. It delivers on comfort, style, warmth and affordability.

shop £26

Next Mocha Brown Jersey Button Through Pyjamas

We love a button front pyjama shirt and loose fit bottoms, but this mocha shade screams hot chocolate and marshmallow season.

shop £34

By Anthropologie Oversized Button-Front Pyjama Shirt

If you are one who likes to splurge on their nightwear, this is the pyjama top to do so. The bottoms are sold separately for £58. What we love about this PJ set is it offers a relaxed straight fit so you don’t get caught up at night, but the print is subtle and not too overwhelming for the minimalists among us.

shop £58

Piglet in Bed Berry Gingham Pyjama Shirt

A gingham print pyjama never goes out of style, and we particularly love this berry tone that is in keeping with the warm jewel tones of autumn/winter. Shop the matching trousers, or shorts, separately. Plus, you can buy a matching set for your partner, as well as a full bedding set to really show your appreciation to gingham.

shop £47.40 (Was £79)

These pjs really are everything you need to prepare for snuggle season.

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When the medical team collected me from my mother’s house in January 2015, I was wearing my dead grandfather’s tasselled cowboy jacket with my bare torso exposed, a shoelace as a headband, and there was a smear of crimson blood across my forehead.

The blood was fake. The out-of-hours team had not been called for a physical health issue, but a psychological one.

I was 20 years old and had recently dropped out of the University of Brighton due to poor mental health.

Months of mania – fuelled partly by the stress of the perceived loss of my future and partly by an addiction to smoking enough cannabis to tranquilise Snoop Dogg’s dealer – followed. 

After the mania came the madness.

A sudden proclivity for tribal face paint, a repeated impulse to send videos of myself crying to my favourite authors and an obsession with running half-naked around my town at midnight leaving £5 notes under plant pots meant that my ‘I’m not crazy – the rest of the world is!’ mantra had worn impossibly thin.

Like many who suffer from psychosis, I had convinced myself that I was a god. A divine being sent to earth to stop a planet-destroying meteor by – wait for it – mapping the stars in the sky against the moles on my forearm.

It was my plan to throw myself from the top of Stonehenge. Instead of falling, I’d sprout wings and fly off into the night sky to stop the imminent meteor, thus proving my recent deification and saving the planet in one fell swoop.

I was resolute in my godliness. If I could be as depressed as I was after leaving university, sick and penniless, and turn that depression into waking up every day blissful, then I must be a god.

I also blamed, in part, my recently adopted ritual of standing barefoot in the garden and staring directly at the sun for five seconds – a practice that I’d thought was a forgotten form of photosynthesis – for my perceived anointment (in reality, it was burning my corneas and I now have astigmatism).

In the end, it was the restorative power of friendship that saved me

Obviously, I hadn’t been anointed. I wasn’t happy, I was high on cannabis and psychosis-delivered dopamine.

But it’s a lot easier to cope with newfound divinity than with the truth: That I was unemployed, uneducated and having a very public mental breakdown.

My mother decided to call our local GP to inform them of my erratic behaviour. They arranged an immediate home visit. After an assessment, the medical team persuaded me to take anti-psychotics with the argument: ‘If what you’re experiencing is real, taking medicine won’t stop it, will it?’.

But it did stop it.

After taking my prescription, the descent back down to earth began with a slight gradient over the first few days, before plummeting harshly.

I became utterly sedate. Then bedbound. Then almost comatose.

I had experienced depression before, but this new version – the lowest low after the highest high – was a different beast entirely.

I lost the ability to perceive, think and feel. My internal monologue was silent, and, to add insult to injury, due to post-psychosis amnesia, a common side-effect of the illness, I had lost all of my memories, too

The only feeling that remained in the bleakness was a dull, underlying terror. Who was I? Would I ever know again?

I would play films on my laptop without watching them, so as not to feel alone with the silence of my mind.

Over the next three months, from dawn till dusk, The Devil Wears Prada played from a half-broken laptop screen to an audience of none.   

In the end, it was the restorative power of friendship that saved me.

My friends reached out repeatedly, only for me to swat them away – but my best friend Ruby didn’t take no for an answer.

I winced when she came round and entered my den. I hadn’t showered or left bed in a week. The room was a tip – dirty plates and underwear mosaics littered the floor.

She, meanwhile, was pristine in her normality. Matching clothes. Clean hair. Makeup.

Without hesitation, she climbed into my pit next to me. She said she wanted to be there, that she missed me, and knew I’d be better soon. She tucked herself in underneath the dirty bedsheets and played old Sex and the City episodes on the laptop.

At first, I couldn’t enjoy her company; but she persisted.

After a couple of weeks, I laughed. She reminded me that, in my madness, I’d stolen a plasma ball from Home Bargains and was convinced I could use it as a communication device to chat with Nicki Minaj.

We howled. The absurdity of the situation overcame the devastation, and silliness began to eschew sadness.

This became routine; Ruby would come round, tuck herself into bed, and regale me with stories of my exploits, always with tenderness, kindness and humour.

Eventually, my brain started to repair. Bit by bit, my memories returned and my humanity trickled back.

I started showering. I reached out to all my other friends. I got a job.

Miraculously, not only did the intense post-psychosis depression dissipate, but so did the pre-psychosis, low-level depression that had haunted me since my teenage years.

There is a hard line in my life between who I was before and after this period. It left me bruised, confused, but with a new perspective. My worst fears had been realised: I had publicly humiliated myself and seemingly destroyed my future, but I had survived.

Ten years later, after eventually graduating from university in Manchester, my novel Spiralling is set in that same city, published with HarperNorth.

A relationship comedy, the story follows Gabriel: A young man who suffers an emotional trauma, and attempts to rebuild after losing everything except for that glittering constant that I clung to at my lowest ebb.

Having a laugh with a good friend.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk. 

Share your views in the comments below.

A man has sparked a debate after proposing to his girlfriend in the middle of her workout, as he couldn’t understand why her face didn’t light up when he pulled out the ring and got down on one knee

Metro journalists select and curate the products that feature on our site. If you make a purchase via links on this page we will earn commission – learn more

K-Beauty is booming, and to help shoppers explore leading brands and viral products, Boots has released a brand-new beauty box that is packed with so many trending products we don’t even know where to begin.

While you can shop an ever-expanding selection of K-Beauty brands in store, the leading beauty retailer has gone one step further and curated another limited edition K-Beauty Box. 

Filled with leading Korean skincare labels such as Anua, Purito and Biodance, this is one you’re not going to want to miss.

Boots K-Beauty Skincare Edit

The seven-piece beauty bundle features skincare heroes from sought-after K-Beauty brands, including Biodance, Anua, Tocobo, and many more. The limited edition bundle contains full-size products that target dehydrated skin, pigmentation, breakouts and dull skin. 

shop £35 (Worth over £89)

Worth over £89 but yours for just £35, the seven-piece bundle includes highly sought-after beauty must-haves, including Biodance’s Hydro Cera-nol Real Deep Sheet Mask and the Tocobo Calamine Pore Control Cleansing Oil.

The set covers a range of skincare needs – you’ll find cleansing oils to remove the day, sheet masks to give your skin a boost of hydration, serums to combat excess sebum that can lead to breakouts, and even suncare must-haves.

The best part is that all seven products in the Boots set are full-size, which is a rare find when it comes to beauty boxes. 

The K-Beauty Box is available to shop now exclusively at Boots.com. If the previous box is anything to go by, we anticipate this drop will sell out in rapid time. 

Plus, those who have an Advantage Card membership will accrue points with this purchase, which you can redeem against future products. It’s a win-win!

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Metro journalists select and curate the products that feature on our site. If you make a purchase via links on this page we will earn commission – learn more

We’ve made it known we have designer taste, but our lemonade budget doesn’t allow us to make three-figure splurges willy nilly. We’re sure we’re not the only ones. 

Next has caught our attention with its designer-inspired footwear, which made us double take – honestly.

The Forever Comfort Leather Cutout Hardware Detail Slingback Heels retail for £49, and look very similar to YSL’s Babylone Breteuil Slingback Pumps that fetch £860 – a staggering £811 difference. 

Price tag aside, both pairs of shoes have similar features, though we know our preferences. 

Forever Comfort® Leather Cutout Hardware Detail Slingback Heels

Made from soft leather, these pointed slingbacks tick all the boxes: sleek metal toe detail, comfy buckle fastening, and a wearable 7cm heel. Available in black and burgundy, plus half sizes for the perfect fit.

BUY NOW FOR £49

Next’s slingback heels have been crafted from soft leather that offers a textured finish, whereas YSL’s Babylone Breteuil Slingback Pumps are a combination of calf and lambskin leather that offers a shiny finish. 

Both designs feature a pointed toe, as well as a slim stiletto heel, though the heel height differs between the designer and high street creations. Next’s heel height measure 7cm, while YSL’s are a staggering 9cm. 

Both heels are a slingback design, which is a hugely popular style in recent months. While it’s difficult to tell the difference between the high street and high end version, at closer inspection this slingback detail between the two slightly differs. 

Next’s heels feature an adjustable buckle fastening at the back, whereas YSL’s slingback is elasticated. In our humble opinion, we think the buckle fastening is the better alternative, as wearers can ensure a secure fit. Whereas an elasticated back can give after numerous wears. 

Both the Next and YSL heels are available in black and burgundy tones, which complement all outfits. We would pair the Next heels with wide leg jeans and a T-shirt, shirt, even an oversize blazer, a midi skirt or dress. 

Why Next’s slingback heels get our seal of approval is they can be worn for any evening out whatever the weather. Simply slip on a pair of tights for colder evenings out. So it’s safe to say we will get our cost per wear out of the Next slingbacks.

Considering Next’s heels are £811 less than the original YSL version, we think they will sell out fast. At least, we’re adding these shoes to basket immediately. 

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‘I feel like I’m dying.’  

That’s the message I woke up to from my daughter, Sophia, one Wednesday morning in March 2023.    

Normally I would have put such a text down to ‘teenage dramatics’, but on this occasion she was, terrifyingly, right on the money.  

Looking back, Sophia’s symptoms began on the Monday evening.  

She’d been to an evening training session with her lacrosse teammates and had been complaining about achy limbs.    

Presuming she’d just overdone it, she took herself back to her hall of residence for dinner and bed.   

On Tuesday morning, however, the vomiting started.  

She messaged me to say she was being sick every half hour and at first I assumed it was norovirus. However, because she was three hours away at university in Manchester, I felt powerless to help her. All I could do was tell her to keep hydrated and keep messaging her to make sure she was okay.  

Over the next 24 hours her aches, sickness and high temperature continued to worsen and, by the time she sent me that text on Wednesday morning, her symptoms had begun to progress into dizziness, confusion, a stiff neck, slight rash, and cold hands and feet.  

I phoned her immediately, but all I could hear on the other end was silence followed by a weird moaning noise. Then my phone started pinging with messages that were just a jumble of letters.  

That’s when I started to panic.  

Switching to FaceTime, I just wanted to see that my little girl was okay. Instead, I was met with an image I will never forget: a blank staring face, a wide-open mouth and glazed over eyes.  

I could tell that Sophia was in her room, alone, but as she was unable to move, speak or type coherently I wasn’t sure how I could help her. 

We suggested Sophia try to type 999 to her flat WhatsApp group, alerting her flatmates that something was wrong. They got the message and came to her room to help her. We also contacted the halls’ security team who phoned for an ambulance. 

I stayed on FaceTime and answered all of the paramedics questions on Sophia’s behalf. I felt totally helpless – interrupting with questions of my own seemed the wrong thing to do when the priority was getting to the bottom of what was happening. 

After what seemed like a lifetime of tick boxes and checks, I heard the paramedic saying the words ‘heart attack’. I was shocked. 

As soon as I heard that the ambulance had arrived, I grabbed a few things and jumped in the car for the long drive to Manchester. 

By the time we arrived at the hospital Sophia had been diagnosed with sepsis, which doctors suspected had been caused by meningitis – the swelling of the protective membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord.  

Meningitis symptoms

Symptoms of meningitis include:

• A fever, cold hands and feet
• Vomiting
• A stiff neck
• A severe headache
• Intense muscle pain
• Confusion and irritability
• Drowsiness
• Pale, blotchy skin, or a rash that does not fade when a glass is rolled over it
• An aversion to bright lights
• Seizures

Find out more via Meningitis Now

They immediately put her on IV antibiotics as a precaution and moved her to intensive care, but because she was too ill to undergo the tests we didn’t get a formal diagnosis of bacterial meningococcal meningitis B (MenB) until 36 hours later.  

Fortunately, as they’d put her on the correct antibiotics from admission, it saved her life.  

She spent nine days in intensive care and the high dependency unit and a total of two weeks in hospital. However, there were some complications.  

Sophia was left profoundly deaf in her right ear – a common problem for those who’ve had meningitis – she needed emergency surgery on her right hip for septic arthritis and also suffered from myopericarditis (an inflammation of the heart and surrounding structures). 

But, she was alive, and to us that’s all that mattered. 

When she left the hospital, doctors told us to expect at least a year of recovery. She continued with the antibiotics and endured numerous appointments with a variety of consultants, MRI scans and blood tests and spent a few weeks on bed rest. 

After six weeks she was readmitted to hospital for another seven days due to a suspected bacterial infection and inflammation around her heart, meaning the recovery process started all over once again. She was devastated. 

That June she had cochlear implant surgery to restore her hearing and thankfully, after a restful few months, she was given the all-clear on her heart. She could go back to playing sport and join in with university life.  

Her return to university in September was nerve wracking for us all: she was excited to be with her friends again but apprehensive about getting ill and while I wanted her to be a normal teenager, I was terrified of more setbacks. 

Other than an unexplained episode of heart attack-like symptoms after Christmas though, she has not had another incident since January 2024 and so she is now living an otherwise normal student life. 

She spent the last year in Spain and Portugal as part of her Modern Languages degree, still takes part in sport and enjoys going out – although she knows her limits and rests when needed.  

But it’s terrifying to think how close we came to the alternative.  

Meningitis and septicaemia are life threatening medical emergencies that can take hold very quickly – one in six people with bacterial meningitis will die and many others are left with life changing after-effects such as limb loss, deafness, blindness or acquired brain injury.  

In that regard, Sophia was lucky and we are so fortunate that she was able to answer my call that day.  

But I want everyone to know the signs and symptoms of meningitis and sepsis and the importance of seeking early medical attention. Do not wait for a rash to appear, by the time one does blood poisoning has usually already developed. 

I also want to encourage people to get the MenB vaccine. Currently only babies under the age of one can get it (and even then, that’s only been available on the NHS since 2015). Teenagers and young adults – who are most likely to contract MenB – meanwhile, must book and pay for it at most pharmacies.  

I find this infuriating, especially as 9 out of 10 cases of meningococcal meningitis in the UK are caused by MenB. More must be done to raise awareness of this life threatening infection and vaccines should be offered as standard to our young people.  

We can never give our children 100% protection – Sophia was vaccinated against the other types of meningococcal meningitis – but we can dramatically reduce their chances of contracting it. 

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing James.Besanvalle@metro.co.uk. 

Share your views in the comments below.