Practical, easy to wear and stylish? What more could you want from a work shirt?
Before the pandemic hit, the idea of working remotely seemed like a luxury afforded to but a lucky few. But in a post-pandemic world, teleworking is something of the norm, with new and unique ways to work remotely. Want to have an important budget meeting a room surrounded by cats? That’s a thing. Fancy calling your boss from the top of a ferris wheel? That’s a thing too.
So with all these fun ways to enjoy working remotely, you might think you’ve seen it all. Our reporter Yuichiro Wasai thought the same thing, until he stumbled across a unique looking listing online — a shirt that was described as “perfect for remote work”.
▼ Sleeves and body of shirt not included.
At a glance, you might think that this is simply a joke product, as there are no sleeves or even a torso section to this shirt, which is called the Fake Dress Shirt. If anything, it looks more like a bib.
But Yuichiro is here to tell you undoubtedly, unequivocally, unquestionably, that this shirt works.
▼ No, this isn’t a picture of Harry Styles — it’s actually our reporter Yuichiro!
No really, stay with us on this one. Yuichiro is sure that most people reading this are firmly in the “absolutely no way” camp, but he’s determined to show off how amazing the Fake Dress Shirt is.
For a start, this shirt is extremely easy to wear, and doesn’t go overboard with its features. There is minimal fabric coverage, but maximum office-casual vibes. It covers up the absolute bare minimum, and gets the job done without a bunch of unnecessary elements, like sleeves.
Yuichiro’s arms and torso may be completely exposed, but his chest area is closely guarded. After all, it would be quite ungentlemanly to attend an important work meeting with his nipples exposed, so Yuichiro felt really suave whilst wearing this shirt.
It also pairs really well with a business suit, as displayed here. To the casual eye, you wouldn’t be able to tell that under that jacket, Yuichiro’s arms and torso were completely bare!
Yuichiro decided to test it out for real, and attended a SoraNews24 online meeting wearing his new shirt. There isn’t usually a strict dress code for our meetings, as you can see from the other attendees. But as they say, “clothes make the man”, and Yuichiro felt more powerful and confident wearing his outfit. His words carried more weight, and the general atmosphere of the meeting felt more professional and important.
Just from this experiment alone, the Fake Dress Shirt has passed the test, but Yuichiro wanted to take things further…
▼ … and see how the Fake Dress Shirt looked without the jacket!
As you can see, it worked just as well, provided Yuichiro kept his camera at just the right angle, and didn’t use his arms to gesture. He could take part in the meeting without losing any of his debonair pizzazz, or sense of authority.
Of course, when working at home it’s important to give yourself a break every now and again, and thankfully the Fake Dress Shirt allows you to do whatever you need.
▼ No longer do your arms need to be caged by oppressive, tight sleeve fabric, and you can swig a cup of coffee just the way God intended!
▼ Do you need to take a phone call whilst leaning casually against a wall? No problem!
▼ No need to worry about getting your lunch all down your shirt when most of it doesn’t even exist!
▼ With the Fake Dress Shirt, you can enjoy a spot of photography…
▼ … or even some light yoga! A real business shirt could never.
While in any ways the Fake Dress Shirt is the perfect item of clothing for any remote worker, the only downside is how long it took to arrive after it had been ordered. It took just over three weeks for the Fake Dress Shirt to arrive at Yuichiro’s house, which he theorizes might be because of high demand for the product.
The Fake Dress Shirt costs 1,980 yen (US$15) and can be ordered online from Rakuten here. Especially for readers currently enjoying hotter climates, these shirts are ideal. For those of us in slightly chillier regions who want something a little warmer, check out these business pajamas instead!
[ Read in Japanese ]