Japan Fashion: Business

There are actually two styles when it comes to business which are primarily dictated by the changing of weather and seasons. In the summer and hotter months, there is a style that they have declared as 'cool biz' with a double entendre meaning both chic and cooler to wear in the warmer months. And then in the autumn, winter, and spring, there is normal business I suppose.

Cool biz is Japan's idea of wearing attire better fitting for the warmer weather. It primarily consists of white button down short-sleeved business shirts. Ties and blazers are no longer required and thus you will not see them anywhere near as much. Of course you still have to wear black slacks or dress pants. Shorts just don't seem to look professional in any setting. Business women typically will always look a little dressier than this, sporting blouses, skirts or pants, and vests if they are true business women. I also think their blouses and scarves or ascots tend to be a bit more colorful in this season. And yes, some do wear little ascots (most likely for business purposes) very much like airline hostesses.








Normal business wear is almost always black or navy, though perhaps if you are a women, you might have a bit more color choice with grey, charcoal, England sky, and lead colors. Though if you are a man and can find those colors I suppose you can wear them too. As with the cool biz season, women seem to be slightly, and only slightly, a bit more colorful when it comes to normal business season. As I said, they never really range much from the dull traditional business suit colors, but you do see a bit more of a variety. In the winter, blazers are a must have for almost all business professionals and will normally be accompanied by a little pin in the upper left lapel signifying exactly which company you work for. Ties or bow ties are also a necessity if you are to be taken seriously, though bow ties are sincerely out of fashion here and are more difficult to find. You will see more people wearing bow ties at weddings and such. If you and looking for one, you will find it slightly more difficult to acquire, with a much more diminished selection to neck tie comparison. Otherwise in normal business fashion, long sleeved button downs are back in fashion with those same slacks you have been wearing year round. But as far as neckties go, it really seems like any will do. I have this one guy in my office who wears the strangest tie; it looks like an extremely tight worked knit with this reddish-orange thread and a few other colors splashed on it, and then where it normally would come to a point, it tassels. Yeah I know what you are thinking...wtf kind of tie is that. One person even said pics or it didn't happen. well I am working on it is all I can say to that.
Also as a pro-tip for business fashion, most people, especially working people, will have a extremely nice suit. I mean not just you normal suit. One day I was told that it was graduation ceremony and to dress up. So I sport a blazer and some matching pants and a nice blouse. Yeah, they meant really dress up. One guys suit looked like a vintage mobsters pin stripe, complete with pocket-chief. Another guy had black velvet accents on his suit. A man! The women all wore pearls. It was a most bizarre scene. But be warned if you are ever asked to dress up, might want to break out the nicer of your two suits and shine up those shoes, and for ladies to put on a bit of perfume and some fashionable accessories.