きれいめ

• 読み: きれいめ
• ローマ字: kireime
• 発音: /ki.ɾeː.me/

意味

A clean, elegant, polished fashion style; smart-casual with refined feminine or androgynous elements.

きれいめ describes a fashion style that is polished, put-together, and elegant without being overly formal. It occupies the space between casual and dressy — think tailored trousers with a nice blouse, structured bags, and minimal accessories. The style is popular among working women and is considered universally flattering and appropriate for many situations. It is one of the core Japanese fashion categories, often contrasted with カジュアル.

例文

1. デート用にきれいめコーデ考えなきゃ。
2. きれいめカジュアルって一番使えるスタイルだよね。
3. きれいめな服が似合う人って大人っぽく見える。

使い方ガイド

場面: fashion, shopping, work style, dating

トーン: polished, practical

正しい言い方

• きれいめコーデが一番好き、清潔感あるし。 (I like polished outfits best — they look so put-together.)
• 顔合わせだからきれいめで行くね。 (It's a formal meeting so I'll go with a polished look.)

避ける言い方

• 「きれいめって地味じゃない？」は好みを否定してる (Saying 'isn't that style boring?' dismisses someone's aesthetic preference)

よくある間違い

• Confusing きれいめ with フォーマル — きれいめ is smart-casual elegance, not full formal wear

起源と歴史

From きれい (clean/beautiful) + め (tendency/leaning toward). A longstanding Japanese fashion term that describes the clean, polished aesthetic valued in Japanese style. It has been a core fashion category for decades.

文化的背景

時代: Long-standing, core Japanese fashion category

世代: All ages, especially women in their 20s-40s

社会的背景: Universal, slightly aspirational

地域メモ: Used across all of Japan. One of the fundamental fashion style categories in Japanese magazines alongside カジュアル, ストリート, and モード.