Working Girl’s Fashion in Japan
Posted by: kirin on 
Oct 7th, 2011 | 
Filed under: Fashion, Tokyo Kawaii TVWorking Girl’s Fashion in Japan
05/MAR/2011 on air
**OL is a Japanglish word (abbreviation of Office Lady) that means female office worker.
What kind of fashion do Japanese OL (female office workers) enjoy at work? Tokyo Kawaii TV conducted a street survey in Ginza. It seems that most of stylish workers suffer from strict dress code given by the company they are working for. For example, someone was told by one of her senior workers that she should not wear mini skirt at the office. Some people say their hair color is specified with specific color numbers so their hair color should not be too bright or inappropriate. Someone covers her deco nails with Band-Aids because they are considered too loud at work. At most of the working places in Japan, boots, jeans and bare legs are prohibited by the company dress code.
Yu-san represents a OL circle. She uses genuine diamonds for her 3D deco nails. (A piece of diamond costs 25,000yen!) 11 OL colleagues gathered one day to discuss the powerful coordination that is appealing to men on Valentine’s Day. Yu-san has been studying how to attract men by kawaii office fashion for 4 years. She was successfully married to a good-looking guy working in the same company and now her interests are shifting to cooking.
However, there is a company that is totally free from company dress code. This company runs the largest scale online fashion shopping site in Japan called ZOZOTOWN. Employees in this company truly enjoy fashion while they are working. Some people even cosplay while they are working.
The man with ink bottle headdress custom-ordered it for 300,000yen (about USD4000 at current USD/JPY rate) at his own expense.
Akiyama-san is a buyer but she also represents her Mori Girl fashion shop. The company director understands how important it is for each worker to enjoy fashion by him/herself in order to fully understand apparel and fashion brands. Otherwise it was impossible to involve as many as 1500 brands into one huge online mall.
False lashes are OK to be worn at work as long as they look natural. In this case the false lashes that OL love to use should be totally different from Gyaru type of false lashes. Koji developed false lashes especially designed for OL with a famous makeup artist TAKAKO and they sold over 1.2 million pair of lashes in 5 years.
TAKAKO’s kawaii OL makeup.
She uses partial lashes at the corner of eyes and applies them lower than the eyelines so the eyes look kind of droopy. Then she uses air brush to apply eye shadow.
TAKAKO’s cool OL makeup.
She uses navy color eyeliner and applies partial lashes over the eyelines. Then at lower eyelid, she applies glittering shadow from inner corner of eye to the iris.　”The corner of eyes make woman look great! Any kind of woman can become sexy with a pair of false lashes at the corner of her eyes!!”
TAKAKO emphasized.
Apuweiser-riche is a OL fashion brand designed for the early 20s. The concept matches OL life. For example, some outfit is easy to coordinate for a busy morning when one overslept. Their reversible skirt is used inside out at an evening date with a boyfriend from the same office after work. (to make a difference between on and off work.) “We are very serious about creating a hot seller, and the difference by the centimeter makes difference!” 1 cm difference can be a hot seller or not.
Speaking of OL, it was common that they were wearing company uniform before 1989, when economy bubble burst hit Japan. For the past 18 years and even today, Japan has been suffering from economy recession, which made it difficult for many companies to continue providing uniform to their female workers. Company uniform used to be too plain with single color and it was uncool about 10 years ago. Joie reviewed office uniform by asking honest opinions from OL on the street. What kind of uniform do they like to wear? They want something kawaii but too much lovely is not good. They had a chance to do a presentation at a local clinic where there are female workers from age 20s to 60s. The female workers are unhappy about their current uniform because it’s too simple and conservative. They try 10 different samples. Pink is supported by the 20s, but the 60s are reluctant or hesitant. However all of them agreed to renew their uniform.
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Kirin’s opinion:
I like the free atmosphere that ZoZoTown office offers. I wonder why such easy-going company should not increase in Japan. Especially when it’s office work and the workers only see colleagues everyday, what a big deal if one is dressed with what he/she likes? Well, this is a question when I was working for a company as an exporter long time ago when I was always told by the seniors that I should not wear this and that at the office. haha!
I also have the experience of working at a company that provides uncool company uniform. If I was wise enough to listen to what my heart felt then, I wouldn’t choose to work for the company. But I followed what my parents said and I convinced myself to work for the company. It was very uncomfortable to dress what I hated. Moreover, it’s everyday, every week, every month, day after day…all the female workers were dressed with the same plain uniform and male workers sneakily compared which girl looked sexy with the uniform…ugh I was sick of it. I left the company before the 5th month. lol I think I really hate that others decide what I should wear everyday. It was not so long since then that I decided to be freelance, because I never wanted anybody else to decide what I should wear everyday and what time I should be at office and what time I can have a nap (which usually is not allowed at any companies I worked for) and etc. If the company uniform was what I liked, my life might be different? I don’t know…:p
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October 7th, 2011 at 6:45 pm
I loved your opinion. I kind of think the same. In many companies, the clothes you wear are a sign of distinction, even if nobody but your colleagues see what you wear. I think this is a waste of money for the employee. I would rather wear a uniform instead of having to buy expensive suits just to sit on a chair in front of a computer. As long as you don't go naked lol, you should decide what to wear, which can be the same you wear in your daily life. Either way, you should have two closets haha
October 8th, 2011 at 1:24 pm
Yeah, if we have to visit someone such as client, I understand we have to be dressed properly. But when it's only among co-workers, why can't we wear jeans for example? I have no idea how many times I was told not to wear jeans, funny shaped shoes, boots and etc. Oh, but they didn't notice my wig when I was wearing it. (lol)
October 9th, 2011 at 8:00 am
They look so cool and mature * A */
October 10th, 2011 at 10:56 pm
Ha… I'm a super lazy person when it comes to fashion. If possible, yes I rather have uniform and not to EVER think about what to wear in the morning! @_@" Haha…
I think (for the clinic workers), they should consider lavender. A nice pretty color but not too cute (for the 60s).
Some of the female teachers have to be careful about their choice of clothing. I think their skirts are a little too short these days. =P
October 12th, 2011 at 1:23 pm
I see, lavender is nice.
October 17th, 2011 at 11:48 am
I work in a multi natonal bank so they get pretty conservative. But even then, I don't think they've ever imposed such strict clothes regulations! Then again, I'm in the head office where we don't meet clients, so I can guess we can be a bit more slack around here.
But I wanna say thank you so much for the video! That was the one episode I've been dying to see. When I watch japanese dramas, all the OLs are always so imaculately dressed, hair and make up perfect… it made me wonder how the real Japanese ladies dressed up for work.
Turns out the dramas are not too far off. It definitely inspired me to make more of an effort to dress up for work. I even wore falsies (fake eye lashes) today! My team mate noticed and said they looked really good. =D and it was such a bargain compared to having those eyelash extensions!
October 19th, 2011 at 12:56 pm
I think dress code can be more strict if we were to work for a bank in Japan.
Yes, OLs are spending good amount of money for outfits, bags, shoes, cosmetics, beauty experiences such as esthetic salon, hair salon, nail salon, gym, yoga, eating out, travel, and etc. I think OLs in their 20s and 30s like to spend money and so the companies like to watch what they are seeking.
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