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くだけた服装よりも着飾りましょう
カジュアルな服装で勤務する風潮が世界中で高まっているが、どのくらいカジュアルでいいのか、という混乱も招いているようだ。きちんとした身なりで働くことにも、多いに意味があると思うのだが…。
Dress Up, Not Down
By Juliet Hindel
A Japanese friend of mine who works at an American bank in Tokyo recently told me that her
Japanese male colleagues were finding it hard to cope with casual dressing at work. She said
some of the middle-aged managers were coming to work in their formal suits and ties as they had
always done, and only changing into casual shirts and trousers in the office bathrooms.
Casual dressing is sweeping through the business world like a wave. It started with
"casual Friday" when employees were allowed to dress down before the weekend.
Then the quintessentially casual style of Silicon Valley e-culture, where a T-shirt and
chinos are the norm for both the company president and the youngest recruit, influenced even
the stuffiest organizations to abandon the somber suits and ties that had been their
uniform.
But I'm not sure that this "casualization" is necessarily a good thing. Of course, in the
summer, when it's hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk, people should be allowed to leave
their jackets and ties at home. But dressing up in order to have a sense of occasion should
still be an important ritual.
My foreign friends who visit me in Japan always remark on how well-turned out everybody is.
They are amazed at the neat schoolchildren in their starched sailor suit uniforms, the
elegance of the stationmaster who sees the trains off from the platform, even the ladies who
clean the trains have crisp, natty,pink outfits.
People in the service industries in Japan who wear uniforms also perform formal bows as part
of their duties.That bow would have far less impact if they were wearing a grungy outfit. A
smart uniform can instill a sense of pride in your job, however menial.
Uniforms aside,Japan's national dress, the kimono, is a masterpiece of formality. The
sartorial elegance of a Japanese woman or man dressed in a timeless piece of traditional
tailoring is an impressive sight anywhere in the world.
Casual dressing at work hasn't been introduced without hitches.In London, some firms have
found that employees take the word "casual" too literally and come attired for the beach
rather than the boardroom.
Companies have announced dress codes that some of the younger staff members see as defeating
the object of dressing down. "The managing director wants us all to dress as if we were at his
golf club," said one friend of mine in London.
Personally, I like to get dressed up to go out in the evening to the theater or dinner. The
preparation required makes the occasion seem more special than if I went wearing the same
clothes I'd had on all day. But these days I look out of place because everyone around me is
wearing casual clothes.
I'm hoping, however, that I'm ahead of the trend. My fashion prediction is that formality
will return with a vengeance and the days of dressing down are numbered.
A Japanese friend of mine who works at an American bank in Tokyo recently told me that her
Japanese male colleagues were finding it hard to cope with casual dressing at work. She said
some of the middle-aged managers were coming to work in their formal suits and ties as they had
always done, and only changing into casual shirts and trousers in the office bathrooms.
Casual dressing is sweeping through the business world like a wave. It started with
"casual Friday" when employees were allowed to dress down before the weekend.
Then the quintessentially casual style of Silicon Valley e-culture, where a T-shirt and
chinos are the norm for both the company president and the youngest recruit, influenced even
the stuffiest organizations to abandon the somber suits and ties that had been their
uniform.
But I'm not sure that this "casualization" is necessarily a good thing. Of course, in the
summer, when it's hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk, people should be allowed to leave
their jackets and ties at home. But dressing up in order to have a sense of occasion should
still be an important ritual.
My foreign friends who visit me in Japan always remark on how well-turned out everybody is.
They are amazed at the neat schoolchildren in their starched sailor suit uniforms, the
elegance of the stationmaster who sees the trains off from the platform, even the ladies who
clean the trains have crisp, natty,pink outfits.
People in the service industries in Japan who wear uniforms also perform formal bows as part
of their duties.That bow would have far less impact if they were wearing a grungy outfit. A
smart uniform can instill a sense of pride in your job, however menial.
Uniforms aside,Japan's national dress, the kimono, is a masterpiece of formality. The
sartorial elegance of a Japanese woman or man dressed in a timeless piece of traditional
tailoring is an impressive sight anywhere in the world.
Casual dressing at work hasn't been introduced without hitches.In London, some firms have
found that employees take the word "casual" too literally and come attired for the beach
rather than the boardroom.
Companies have announced dress codes that some of the younger staff members see as defeating
the object of dressing down. "The managing director wants us all to dress as if we were at his
golf club," said one friend of mine in London.
Personally, I like to get dressed up to go out in the evening to the theater or dinner. The
preparation required makes the occasion seem more special than if I went wearing the same
clothes I'd had on all day. But these days I look out of place because everyone around me is
wearing casual clothes.
I'm hoping, however, that I'm ahead of the trend. My fashion prediction is that formality
will return with a vengeance and the days of dressing down are numbered.
Shukan ST: Sept. 22, 2000
(C) All rights reserved
chu.htm
- Dress up
- 着飾る、盛装する
- (Dress)down
- くだけた服装をする
- male colleagues
- 男性の同僚
- cope with 〜
- 〜に合わせる
- middle-aged managers
- 中年の管理者
- trousers
- ズボン
- is sweeping through 〜 like a wave
- 波のように押し寄せて〜を襲っている
- quintessentially
- 典型的な
- Silicon Valley e-culture
- 米インターネット関連企業の社風。シリコンバレーはカリフォルニアの世界有数の半導体産業地域
- chinos
- チノパンツ(厚手の綿のズボン)
- norm
- 典型的なスタイル
- recruit
- 新入社員
- the stuffiest
- 最も堅苦しい
- abandon
- やめる
- somber
- 地味な
- hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk
- 歩道の上でじかに目玉焼きが焼けるくらい暑い
- sense of occasion
- 特別なときだという感覚
- ritual
- 儀式、作法
- remark on〜
- 〜について言う
- well-turned out
- 身なりのよい
- are amazed at〜
- 〜に驚く
- starched
- のりを利かせた
- sailor suit uniforms
- セーラー服の制服
- stationmaster
- 駅長
- sees the train off from 〜
- 〜から電車を見送る
- crisp
- パリッとした
- natty
- こざっぱりした
- outfits
- 服装
- perform formal bows
- 改まったお辞儀をする
- duties
- 任務
- 〜would have far less impact if〜
- 〜だったら〜の印象が弱くなってしまうだろう
- grungy outfit
- 薄汚い服装
- instill
- しみ込ませる
- however menial
- どんなにつまらないものでも
- 〜aside
- 〜はさておき
- masterpiece
- 最高傑作
- sartorial
- 衣服の
- timeless piece of traditional tailoring
- 伝統的な仕立ての、時代を超越した副
- impressive sight
- 感銘を受ける光景
- without hitches
- 問題なく
- take the word 〜 too literally
- 〜という言葉を文字どおりに取りすぎる
- come attired for 〜
- 〜にふさわしい服装で来る
- boardroom
- 会議室
- dress codes
- 服装規定
- see as defeating the object of〜
- 〜の目的が台無しになってしまうと考えている
- preparation required
- そのために必要な準備
- look out of place
- 場違いに見える
- am ahead of the trend
- 流行を先取りしている
- fashion prediction
- 流行の予測
- with a vengeance
- まさしく
- days of 〜 are numbered
- 〜の日も終わりに近づいている