Ugly Pajamas and Furry Slippers: China’s Youth Revolt With ‘Rough’ Workwear – Curious

IN mainland China has a new kind of videos”Get ready with me” – those with “rough” work clothes.

(In the video you can learn more about: Why are more and more Chinese choosing to live in our country?)

Young people in China are putting on their worst pyjamas, furriest slippers and heading to the office in rebellion against everything from bad bosses and poor working conditions to low pay and long hours. And they are happy to show their creations online.

For months, Chinese social media users have been posting under hashtags like grossoutfitforwork uglyclothesshouldbeforwork ootd (outfit of the day) and asking others to share their own solutions, launching a competition to see who wore the worst.

The hashtag “grossoutfitforwork” has attracted over 140 million views and tens of thousands of discussions on the Chinese social media platform Weibo alone. In late February, a post by Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok) user Kendou S, who claimed she had been reprimanded by her boss for “the nasty ones” her clothes, which she said she wore to combat the cold weather, went viral.

In a follow-up video, which has been liked 752,000 times and reposted over 1.4 million times, Kendou S shows off one of her outrageous outfits – revealing layer after layer of mismatched items – a fluffy white hat, gray balaclava, crumpled red gloves, puffer coat, pink quilted jacket, wool sweater dress, plaid pajama bottoms, leather-lined slippers and knee-high socks.

In response to similar posts, one woman, who posted a photo of herself wearing a neon yellow vest and baggy knee-length shorts, wrote: “My colleague says I dress like a savage,” while another commenter, who showed off a dirty yellow and blue jacket, said : “The boss gave me 50 yuan (about $7) to wash my clothes and forbade me to shake hands with customers anymore.”

“I earn such a small salary, with ugly colleagues, what else do you expect from my clothing?” – reads another post.

After embracing “Tang Ping” or “lying flat” – a philosophy that rejects the rat race and consumerism in favor of a less stressful life, young Chinese throw “resignation parties” and are even paid to become “full-time children”. The “ugly suits” appear to be the latest attempt by some disillusioned Gen Zers to voice their opinions as the country sees a bleak economic outlook and record high youth unemployment.

Young people in China face a tough job market, with the government reporting in January that the unemployment rate among 16-24 year olds was 14.9% in December 2023. This figure, which was released after a five-month hiatus, does not include 62 million full-time students. This indicator previously reached its highest value of 21.3% in June.

“They’re kind of like: why bother when the prospect of work and future life doesn’t look so bright”says Bohan Qiu, 29-year-old founder of Boh Project, a Shanghai and Seoul-based creative services, public relations and consulting company for fashion brands and more.

“They used to see (the job) as chasing the dream … and (companies) motivated everyone to fight for the (economic) pie. Now people are like, ‘No, it doesn’t exist or it could be a lie.’says Qiu.

Although the examples circulating on social media are more extreme, Qiu believes casual work attire has always been popular in China and will continue to be. According to him, this will be especially relevant in workplaces where overtime and long hours in front of the computer are the norm, as well as with the younger generation who got used to working remotely during the pandemic.

Qiu added that while his employees don’t dress the way the people in the viral videos do, they tend to dress up. According to him, workers are known to come in tank tops, shorts, slippers and the like, and this is accepted, “as long as they look cool”.

Even those who post their ugly outfits on social media have no problem looking good – outside of the workplace. Many of them have posted that they just prefer it the “bathing suit” or “the smell of work” not on their favorite clothes.

And while Chinese state media were quick to criticize the trend of “laying down” or “letting yourself rot”, the People’s Daily called the phenomenon of dressing ugly at work a form of “self-promotion” and said that as long as employees “dress appropriately, they have the right attitude to work, do not affect other people and do not affect matters of principle”, no problem.

Qiu, who works in the fashion industry, also finds himself dressing badly after moving to Shanghai. He says many of the smart suits he wore in Hong Kong now languish deep in his wardrobe.

And as the temperatures rise, some have started sharing their brutal outfits for spring.

One Douyin user posted a photo of a particularly ugly combination: soiled mustard socks and torn black sandals with garish plastic trinkets.

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