The onesie was a sales sensation a decade ago but now the all-in-one is making a high street comeback as this winter’s hottest trend is literally thermal fashion, a category that includes hooded blankets, heated ponchos and microwavable slippers.
With Britons desperate to reduce their energy use by keeping their heating off for as long as possible or turning the temperature down, retailers have risen to the challenge with stores packed full of warm clothing and gadgets before the lucrative Christmas period.
Lakeland, a retailer better known for its kitchen paraphernalia than fashion nous, has sold out of the first shipment of its £90 electric heated poncho although another consignment is expected in November. The retailer’s website shows 1,800 people have considered buying the jacket equivalent of an electric blanket in the past 24 hours.
With its research showing six in 10 consumers intend to turn down the thermostat, Lakeland is also selling £30 slippers with inserts to zap in the microwave and “keep toes wonderfully toasty for hours”. Another innovation is a £25 extra-long hot-water bottle that can be wrapped around the back or feet and is likely to appeal to home workers.
John Lewis said onesies, which are normally a popular Christmas gift, were already flying off the shelves with sales more than tripling last week as the new higher price energy bill price cap kicked in. In another sign of the times, slippers were the most searched for item in women’s shoes on its website.
“With the cost of energy such a concern, we are seeing customers spend with heat in mind,” Claire Miles, the head of category fashion at John Lewis, said.
“Onesies used to be bought as a lighthearted Christmas gift but this year they are being bought much earlier in the season, along with hooded blankets, perhaps indicating people are buying them with the more serious intention of keeping warm.”
The department store chain said hooded blankets were also a bestseller. These shapeless but warm wearable throws have won a younger audience thanks to the Australian brand Oodie which makes them in colourful designs featuring cartoon avocados, sloths and pizzas with a “giant pocket for snacks”. As one wearer told the Guardian: “It makes me feel like a big marshmallow.”
The big high street names have all come up with their own version with Primark’s “snuddie” starting at £15 while Marks & Spencer is selling a teddy fleece “snuggle” for £25.
The snuggle is now the most-viewed homeware product on the M&S website and the retailer says it has already sold nearly four times as many as last year. One enthusiastic reviewer gives it five stars and urges “buy one and save on your energy bills”.
Primark also reports strong demand for warmer clothes as the weather gets cooler. “Our snuddies are proving particularly popular, with demand already ahead of the coldest months last year,” a spokesperson said. “We’ve also seen an increase in demand for slippers, thermals and warm accessories like hats, gloves and scarves as customers get ready for winter.”
