ボディコン

Japanese

Etymology

• Clipping of ボディーコンシャス (bodī konshasu)
• Wasei eigo (和製英語; pseudo-anglicism), derived from body +‎ conscious
• Originated in the mid-1980s as a slang term

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ボディコン [bòdíkóń] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [bo̞dʲikõ̞ɴ]

Noun

ボディコン • (bodikon) 

1. bodycon
2. a style and fashion subculture among young Japanese women from the mid-1980s to the early-1990s
   • 1989 January 23, “Nouveauté File: Iwada Mari”, in Oricon Weekly, volume 11, page 7:

     ボディコンの服(ふく)も持(も)ってません？
     麻(ま)里(り)　持(も)ってます。ボディコン好(す)きな人(ひと)がいて、"着(き)ろよ"って言(い)うから買(か)ってはみましたけど、着(き)てません（笑(わら)）。

     Bodikon no fuku mo mottemasen?
     Mari Mottemasu. Bodikon sukina hito ga ite, "kiro yo" tte iu kara katte wa mimashita kedo, kitemasen (wara).

     Don’t you have any bodycon clothes either? Mari: I have some. A friend who’s into bodycon said, “You should wear it” so I bought them, but I haven’t worn them (ha ha).

   • 1992 November, Kenichi Kurosawa, “L↔R: Minekawa Takako”, in Monthy Pati Pati, page 162:

     レコーディング時(とき)によく着(き)ていた服(ふく)
     何(なに)を着(き)ても基(き)本(ほん)的(てき)にかわいい♡（能(のう)地(ち)祐(ゆう)子(こ)風(ふう)）しかし本(ほん)人(にん)がボディコンを着(き)たいと言(い)い出(だ)し

     Rekōdingu toki ni yoku kiteita fuku
     Nani o kite mo kihonteki ni kawaī ♡ (Nōchi Yūko fū) Shikashi honnin ga bodikon o kitai to īdashi

     Clothing she wears when recording
     No matter what she wears she’s fundamentally cute (like Yuko Nochi) ♡ But she says she likes to wear bodycon

Usage notes

The ボディコン subculture emphasised sexiness, decadence, nightlife, and female self-assertion. It was widespread amongst young Japanese women during the Japanese bubble economy from the mid-1980s to the early-1990s and was predecessor of the ギャル (“gyaru”) subculture.