コーデ

• Reading: コーデ
• Romaji: kōde
• Kanji breakdown: From English 'coordinate' → コーディネート, shortened to コーデ
• Pronunciation: /koː.de/

Meaning

An outfit combination or coordinated look; short for コーディネート (coordinate).

コーデ is the standard abbreviation of コーディネート and is used constantly in Japanese fashion to describe an outfit or look. It appears everywhere — fashion magazines, Instagram captions, shopping apps, and daily conversation. It is often combined with modifiers to describe specific styles (ゆるコーデ, リンクコーデ, etc.). Virtually all Japanese speakers who follow fashion use this term daily.

Examples

1. 今日のコーデ気に入ってるからインスタに載せよ。 I'm loving today's outfit so I'm posting it on Insta.
2. このスカートに合うコーデが全然思いつかない。 I can't think of any outfit that goes with this skirt.
3. コーデ迷ったらワントーンにしとけば間違いないよ。 When in doubt about your outfit, go monotone and you can't go wrong.

Usage Guide

Context: fashion, social media, shopping, daily conversation

Tone: neutral, everyday

Do Say

• 今日のコーデめっちゃかわいいね！ (Your outfit today is super cute!)
• デートのコーデ一緒に考えて！ (Help me plan my date outfit!)

Don't Say

• ビジネスメールで「コーデ」は砕けすぎ — 「コーディネート」と書く (In business emails, write out コーディネート in full — コーデ is too casual)

Common Mistakes

• Pronouncing it as 'code' (like programming code) — the ー elongation is important: kō-de

Origin & History

Shortened from the English loanword コーディネート (coordinate). The abbreviation became standard in fashion magazines and street snap culture from the 2000s onwards, and is now universal in fashion contexts.

Cultural Context

Era: 2000s onwards, now universal

Generation: All ages in fashion contexts

Social background: Universal

Regional notes: Used across all of Japan. Ubiquitous in fashion media, Instagram hashtags (#今日のコーデ), and shopping apps like WEAR.