As the year-end banquet season approaches, business at the costume rental stores in the Ximending area of Taipei City has begun to pick up. Some store owners have revealed that the Korean style is very popular for this year’s pre-Lunar New Year parties. With Korean dance hit Nobody by Wonder Girls the top choice for party performances, sequined dresses with tassels are the must-have item for every store. Another Korean dance hit Sorry, Sorry by Super Junior is also popular at the parties. Meanwhile, King of Pop Michael Jackson and Taiwanese entertainer Chu Ko-liang, who staged a comeback last year, are hot targets for impersonators.
According to storeowner Chen Hsiu-chin, people are financially much better off than last year. As most year-end parties are in January, the number of office workers visiting her store has increased significantly. They take photos, try on the costumes then return go back to their offices to discuss the outfits. She says business is up by 30 percent recently.
Business is always brisk during the lunch hour. Some employees from a high-tech company in Xindian, Taipei County came all the way to Ximending during a lunch break to look for Irish dancing costumes. They said that this year the company is resuming its tradition of inviting its employees to give a performance. Each department’s performance is top secret, and they only know that one department is set to perform Nobody. As for their Irish dance, they have even hired a dance teacher to coach them.
Storeowners reveal that public relations, advertising, direct-selling, and insurance companies, as well as bars and restaurants, are the industries most likely to invite their employees to perform. Among those industries, high-tech firms are the most conservative, leaving employees in a quandary when they encounter rows of racy costumes but don’t want to expose too much flesh.
After Nobody became a big online hit, Taiwanese entertainers lined up to impersonate Wonder Girls and now local companies are doing the same at their year-end parties. Chen said that her store has almost 20 spangled dresses because of the Nobody fever. But they are not just for women — even an 80kg man can dance in the largest size dress and give his colleagues a good laugh.
Sensational newsmakers will be another highlight of the party season. Storeowners have all prepared Michael Jackson’s signature outfits, from clothes to gloves and even wigs. Chu Ko-liang has been equally popular, with some customers showing photos of the entertainer to make sure they get the right outfit.
In the upcoming year of the tiger, the costumes of cartoon tiger characters are also popular. This year, Chen made a costume of Disney cartoon character Tigger.
Cross-dressing is almost always welcome at year-end parties. Chen said that the largest size cheerleader suit is big enough for a 100kg man, so even a man with an ample beer belly can still strut his stuff in it.
Chiu Min-ling, another storeowner, said that nurse and flight attendant costumes are popular with women customers while men like to squeeze into Chinese cheongsam dresses to show off their figures and give people a laugh. The rationale behind the cross-dressing is that if their bosses are in a good mood, they may offer better gifts in the company raffle.
(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG)
尾牙季將至，台北市西門町的服裝出租店業績開始攀升，業者透露，今年尾牙宴大吹韓風，韓國舞曲「Nobody」榮登指定表演節目榜首，店家必備流蘇、亮片小禮服；先前爆紅的「Sorry,Sorry」也是尾牙High歌。另外，驟逝的麥可傑克森及重出江湖的豬哥亮，堪稱今年最熱門模仿對象。
業者陳秀琴分析，今年景氣比去年好，尾牙多集中於一月，最近上門的上班族明顯增加，多半先拍照、試穿，再回公司討論，出租服裝的業績較平常增加三成。
一般公司的午休時間，服裝出租店卻是忙得不可開交，有新店科技公司的員工利用中午跑到西門町，尋找類似愛爾蘭踢踏舞的服裝。科技公司的員工說，今年公司恢復由員工上台表演，各部門表演節目都是「極機密」，目前只打聽到有部門要表演「Nobody」，他們自己為了表演踢踏舞，已經自費聘請老師學舞。
業者透露，科技、美髮、餐廳、酒店、公關、廣告、直銷、保險等行業，較常於尾牙宴安排員工表演，其中，科技業最保守，一進門看到整排衣服完全沒了主意，只說得出「不要太露」，其他行業較放得開。
韓國女子團體Wonder Girls的舞曲「Nobody」於網路爆紅後，演藝圈掀起一股模仿潮，就連公司尾牙宴也紛紛仿效。陳秀琴說，店內為了「Nobody」訂製近二十款亮片小禮服，不只女生穿，最大尺寸還能讓近八十公斤的男生穿著跳舞，「笑果十足」。
尾牙宴的另一重點是緊扣新聞人物，業者今年趕製麥可傑克森的招牌裝扮，服裝、手套、假髮一應俱全，同樣熱門的還有豬哥亮，甚至有民眾直接拿豬哥亮照片下訂單。
虎年到，以虎為主題的卡通扮相出租率頗高，陳秀琴今年還特別做了一套跳跳虎的服裝。
男生反串的扮相也歷久不衰，陳秀琴說明，啦啦隊服最大尺寸可供一百公斤的人穿，即使有啤酒肚的男性也能輕盈上陣。
業者邱敏玲指出，很多女性上班族特別喜歡租護士裝、空姐服或旗袍裝讓男同事反串上場，藉此展現他們「婀娜多姿」的身材，希望尾牙宴盡情搞笑，老闆心情大好，摸彩時就能不斷加碼。
（自由時報記者林相美）
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