Wouldn’t it be awesome if millions of people could choose to work in a T-shirt and boxer shorts whenever they wanted?
Companies just have to allow WFH and that could happen.
Nah…
I have to say, I find it weird how focused Americans are on dress codes in offices. In Germany that’s pretty much not a thing, unless you have direct contact to customers (bank teller, etc).
Granted, as a developer standards are lax anyway, but I don’t even own a dress shirt or suit.
Could you get away with whatever you went to sleep in though? That’s the advantage of WFH. Get up, do your work, don’t bother getting dressed unless there’s a meeting. If you need a shower and a change, you can do it on your break.
I agree that American office dress codes are bullshit, but being allowed to be as comfortable as you like in your clothes is, I am guessing, frowned upon even in Germany.
I worked a hybrid schedule. I didn’t bother getting dressed until the other half of the day I went into the office. And I was more productive at home because I was more comfortable in every way including the fact that I could just do my work in boxers and a T-shirt.
Not getting dressed at least somewhat is a sign of depression.
When I still went to the office, I wore the exact same cloth I would wear when I was just going outside. Clean, not significantly more holes than intended.
Nonsense. It’s a sign of comfort. Why should I get dressed if I don’t have to go anywhere? I’ll get dressed if I need to go somewhere.
You get up and work. Unwashed, dirty clothes. That’s not comfort, that’s concerning.
And yes, you and your clothes are dirty after sleeping in them. You sweat about half a liter every night.
Okay? Your clothes are dirty after wearing them all day too. I shower and put on clean clothes before I go to bed.
… And then you sleep in them, thus making them dirty. That’s not that hard.
For those who don’t know, it’s not quite new (except for the word that describes it, Ban Wei 班味). Because of the long working time, a lot of Chinese companies (especially in the tech sector) allow very casual dressing, plushies, even folding beds in the office. Sounds good but is actually horrifying.
At least read the article before commenting. They’re dressing this way on purpose against the wishes of their employers.
Another woman said the best part of wearing her fluffy sweater to work is that she can head straight to bed once she gets home.
“It’s so convenient for both work and home. I have essentially reached a state where the office and my home have become one,” she said.
It is not protest for the sake of protest, but mostly “convenience”.
You have completely flipped the context of the quote. It’s not just comfort for comforts sake, it’s also a way of protesting the 996 work culture of China.
The article is definitely stating that this is a protest, your quote is about a fringe benefit.
Social media users have joked that if you wear your favorite outfit to work, it’ll be contaminated by the “Ban Wei” as the office vibe creeps into your personal life.
The remaining option: wear your gross clothes to the office.
Candise Lin who creates content on TikTok exploring cultural trends in China, broke down this viral trend in a recent video.
She used an example of one blogger who said that they only wears clothes with holes in them to work to reflect their “crappy job and shabby pay.”
Clearly stated like 2 paragraphs after your quote.
It is definitely protest. But they choose these outfit to protest because they are comfortable, as oppose to vampires costume, which would also violate the dress code.
This is related to what OP is saying. These outfit already exists because of toxic work culture, they are taking it to the extreme.
Pick a position and stick with it for more than a single comment:
It is not protest for the sake of protest, but mostly “convenience”.
It is a protest using existing social expectations of dress code, it’s not just about comfort.
“Protest for the sake of protest” is nonsense. By definition they’re doing it for the sake of something. That something is not convenience, it’s the 996 work culture like the subject of the article.
