https://www.sefaria.org/Bava_Metzia.114b.8?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en
How come no one is trouble by the apparent redundancy of having explicit commands for both night-clothes as well day-clothes? Give me one, and I -- on my own -- can deduce the other.
Granted that the two sets of clothing are not exactly equivalent because a person on the one hand can sleep in his jeans at night, but can not wear his pajamas when plowing the field during the day, but so what? Furthermore there are in fact day-jobs where pajama-wearing would in fact be ok, such as remote software development.
Paul Davidowitz, Long Beach
1) Paul, Baruch she'Kivanta! Your question is asked by Rashi in Maseches Temurah 6a (DH H"G L"A), whose text there in the Gemara according to Abaye is that there is one verse for day clothes and one verse for night clothes, and "v'Tzerichi" -- "both verses are necessary." Rashi writes "Lo Itparish Lan" -- "it is not explained to us" what this "v'Tzerichi" means. In other words, Rashi is asking why we need one verse for day clothes and a different verse for night clothes.
2) Rashi answers that we do need two verses, because if the Torah would have told us only that he must return day clothing (for example, an item he needs during the day, such as a plow), we would have said that the reason why one must return this is that he requires it for his livelihood, but we might have thought that one need not return night clothing. Conversely, Rashi writes that if the Torah would have told us only that one must return night clothing, we would have thought that this is because he is "Mitzta'er," it is physically uncomfortable to sleep in daytime clothes and that is why the Torah commands to return the night clothing, while there is less dicomfort involved in wearing night clothes during the day.
3) Clearly, it is rather surprising that Rashi refers to a plow as "day clothing," but I suggest that we may be able to understand that the idea is that we may have thought that the Torah tells us to return day clothes because he needs his work clothes to help him make his living. Conversely, I might have thought that the Torah tells us to return nightwear because the lack of this is more uncomfortable.
4) I would like to add one point. I am not going to enter the question of whether there may be a Halachic problem involved in sleeping in daytime clothes, but I will note that the Mishnah Berurah (OC 91:11) writes that it is not correct to pray wearing a "Shloff Rak," a night shirt. This could be another reason why one should give back the day clothes in the day (and this Halachah could not be derived from that of giving back the night clothes), because otherwise he will not have the right clothes for davening.
Shanah Tovah,
Dovid Bloom
The Achiezer (1:22:3, DH Ulam) cites the Rashi.
Kol Tuv,
Dovid Bloom