The Fashion Project

I'm an English teacher in Japan. It can be pretty confusing to know what to wear, since people in general dress more formally and put more effort into their appearances than they do in America. Experience has taught me that there are three dress codes.

#1: We Care Too Much-Formal Code. You have to wear a suit or at least slacks with a matching jacket, and men have to wear a tie. Women can wear a blouse and cardigan with a skirt or slacks, but a jacket is better. Women have to wear stockings, even with a long skirt. In schools with a lot of business students or in locations such as downtown Tokyo, you simply have to look like you just attended a funeral.

#2: We Are Keeping Up Appearances- Business Casual Code. Most schools fall into this category. Men still usually have to wear a tie except in the kid's classes (and sometimes in summer you can skip it too), khakis are an appropriate alternative to slacks as long as they don't have cargo pockets. Collared shirts are preferred, but polo shirts are also okay. Women can get away with long sleeve t-shirts without printing, as long as the skirt or trousers look more formal.

#3: Ehh... Don't Wear Jeans- Casual Code. This dress code applies most often in the public elementary schools, where the Japanese teachers wear warm-ups and sweatshirts in class. T-shirts, athletic pants, shorts, and hoodies are all fine, as long as you don't wear jeans. I don't know why they have this policy, since most of the time, jeans look way better than ratty sweatpants, but that's the rule.

In my case, I had just finished the academic year and was doing some part-time work for a school that likes to think of itself as a Code #1 business, but most teachers fall firmly into #2. I ended up working 6 days a week for 5 weeks straight, and by the time I got to week 4, I just didn't care anymore. I didn't want to slip into one of my two business jackets for one more stinking day, so when I was at a satellite school (i.e. far away from the head office, out in the country where a boss was likely to never go) I just went with my classic Code #3 look. I wore whatever I wanted, except jeans.

On this day I was actually wearing "jeggings" which are leggings that look like denim. And since my experience of walking for 30km in high heels following the March 11 earthquake, I never, ever wear shoes I can't walk in. So, I wear tennis shoes even with a suit. I don't care if it's tacky. When I have a car in the US, then I'll go back to cute shoes. In the meantime, comfort reigns.





Blue t-shirt, powder blue long sleeve t-shirt, green khaki skirt (yes, it does have cargo pockets, haha!), denim leggings, white and blue striped tennis shoes all come from various Japanese stores. Yellow satin hijab is from Singapore. The wooden bracelet accessory was a purchase from what I call an "Indian store" which imports from India, Indonesia, Vietnam, China, and various other southeast Asian countries.