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THEME : In Japan, the school uniform is a social marker that identifies school affiliation. It generally consists of a jacket paired with trousers or a skirt, with variations for each school in the choice of colors and cut, or the crest and emblems displayed. Thanks to these subtle differences, the Japanese can identify at a glance which school a student belongs to. To ensure that all students in a school wear the same uniform, it is essential to mandate it through regulations. The costs are borne by the parents. The first institution to adopt these conditions in Japan was the private Gakushūin school, historically attended by boys from the Japanese aristocracy. The uniform was imposed there in 1879 (a jacket with a stand-up collar, trousers, and a hat), adopting the cut of the Western-style uniform adopted by the army during the Meiji era. Once adopted by the country's largest educational institution, this uniform quickly became a model for middle and high schools throughout Japan. The first girls' uniforms used a feminized hakama to more closely resemble a skirt. This was a new garment, created at the beginning of the Meiji era based on the wide trousers worn by samurai since medieval times. In the 1920s, the female uniform became more Westernized as high school girls adopted the sailor suit, which was enjoying a surge in popularity. Contemporary documents show that some girls were already willing to break school rules to wear the uniform they considered ideal, generally with a skirt much shorter than the regulations stipulated. In the second half of the 1960s, the first uniforms with blazers appeared. Inspired by Western clothing, they initially became popular in private or urban schools. The trend was towards simplicity, with blazers often in navy blue and simple skirts. Today, both types of female uniforms exist: the blazer and the sailor suit. |
HAIRSTYLE: For this type of cosplay, pigtails or a ponytail are preferred.
UNIFORM: I found this uniform in a manga shop in Paris; I chose it for its color, of course. I'm thinking of eventually ordering a "real" one online, because the quality of this one isn't quite up to scratch anymore...
SOCKS: What's more typical than a pair of knee-high socks?
SHOES: Traditionally, female students wear leather loafers with a heel (a low, square heel, of course). Here, I opted for indoor mules with charming pink flamingos...
