I was so excited and thrilled --- this book is written for me.

First, I put a tag on the preface. It says “We, in the real world, had been shying away from wearing makeup or being dressed up, because we felt that meant meeting other people’s expectations.” but “Once we found out that makeups and clothes are the keys to the door to the versions of ourselves we would like to be, time for primping ourselves up became very enjoyable for us.” Reading this book was the biggest cathartic, liberating experience for me after Mamie Amamiya invented a terrific word “kojirase joshi” (girls who are too self-concsious and have low self-esteem.) The book refreshed me like a bottle of strong sparkling water. A woman who was not confident in herself was vanished.

I thank the fifteen people in this book for that --- the one who do through makeup like a celebrity, the one who is enthusiastic about makeup and diet in order to become popular among girl idols, the one who wears homely clothes at the office so that she would not be criticized about clothes. . . The anonymous essay describing in detail the reasons why they dress up deeply moved my feelings. I read each episode again and again and put a lot of tags. The words from these extremly strong and stylish people are all precious.

“My face is mine. It is about whether I can enjoy it.” --- The woman whose nickname is Mika Kano (a famous Japanese buxom beauty)
“When I’m wearing and enjoying what I like is the moment when I feel I shine most brightly.” --- The woman who loves lolita fashion
“When beauty positively influences your work motivation, you have a good work-beauty balance.” --- The woman who is dressed in XXX for work
“What’s the problem if you like it? Self-affirmation is the best beauty essence.” --- The woman who struggles in Dubai

Whether you dress up or not is your call. Women can either hung around without makeup, or wear sexy clothes, or mimic something at work, or try to attract somebody by wearing cirtain clothes. That is all about expressing yourself. There are choices, liberation, and equality --- the rights we should enjoy. The women’s very personal desire and preferences for what/how to wear should be affirmed. Here, the people with different values acknowledge one another. The readers too will be sure affirmed by this book full of warm sisterhood.

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Original article written by Megumi Matsumoto (Director and Researcher at Kitanihon Broadcasting)
Translated by A. Tawara