Gen Zers in China are picking 'gross outfits' over corporate glam because they don't get paid enough to look fly

The hashtag "gross outfits at work" has been taking over Chinese social media platforms such as Douyin and Xiaohongshu.

• Gen Z workers in China are dressing down when they head to the office.
• They're swapping their blazers for woolen jackets, and high heels for fluffy slippers. 
• Dressing shabbily may also be a quiet rebellion against China's workplace culture.

Toeing the line between smart and casual office attire can be hard, especially as the boundaries of acceptable workplace outfits have been shifting in recent years toward more casual options.

But a new trend flooding Chinese social media takes casual to the next level, with young workers sharing videos of themselves wearing their "grossest" clothes to the office.

Experts say it's part of a wider rebellion by young people against the rigidity of the workplace and the grueling working hours it takes to succeed.

The hashtag "gross outfits at work" has been taking over Chinese social media platforms such as Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, and Xiaohongshu, an Instagram-like app.

"They are getting criticized by the boss for their gross outfits," one Douyin user said amid fits of laughter in a video she'd posted on March 7.

In the video, the user panes across five of her colleagues. All five were dressed similarly — puffa jackets, plaid pajama pants, and fluffy slippers.

One of the women even showed off her long socks, which she said was the "biggest highlight" of her outfit.

"When you are hot, you can just roll down your socks to cool down. And when it gets chilly, you can just pull up your socks," the woman said in the video. "It looks cute, and yet, you don't lose that feeling of sexiness."

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.

In a separate Douyin video, which was posted in February, a woman could be seen touting her "gross outfit."

"When you head to work, you have always got to wear an oversized woolen jacket," she told the camera. "I got mine when I was pregnant, actually."

But not everyone was a fan of her chosen attire.

"Your dressing is so disgusting," one of her colleagues said in the background.

Dressing down to avoid ruining your favorite outfits with the "stench" of work

Across Chinese social media, young people are sharing their feelings toward work using the phrase "Ban Wei," which is used as a way to refer to the "9-to-5 vibe," consultancy firm Red Ant Asia wrote in a recent guide on Chinese internet slang.

It refers to the changes people can go through when they start working a 9-to-5 job — ending the day feeling lethargic and giving up on their appearance due to fatigue.

It translates literally into "work smell."

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."

"Chinese netizens said these "disgusting" outfits are a silent protest for their exhaustion and lost souls as a result of working a crappy job day after day," Lin explained in the caption of her video.

Yet, the same people showcasing their gross work outfits are those who wear more fashionable attire for social occasions, Jack Porteous of China-focused consultancy firm TONG Global told Business Insider.

He says it's part of a broader trend of showing off their "complete transformations" between personal and professional life.

Donning 'gross outfits' may be the most comfortable form of corporate rebellion yet

"Young people's limited personal time, long work hours, and prioritization of mental well-being are leading many to reserve more time for sleep and rest over curating work-specific outfits," Porteous says.

Chinese youths are graduating into one of the toughest job markets. In February, China said the youth unemployment rate for December stood at 14.9%. The figure, which hadn't previously been published since June, excluded full-time students from the calculation.

And the troubles don't end even for those lucky enough to snag a job.

Chinese employers are known for their notorious "996" work culture which demands workers willing to observe a grueling work schedule, clocking in work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. for six days a week.

Short of just "lying flat" or "letting it rot," the "gross outfits" are perhaps the closest Chinese professionals can get to venting their grievances without outright quitting their jobs.