Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you. I really am starting the Mukashibanashi project. I know I probably should write about my experience at the Anime Expo 2010, but I secretly made a resolution to write about this topic if I saw this at AX.
I kind of figured there's probably still people cosplaying Sailor Moon, but I wasn't sure if I'd actually see any. I did. And you might be able to guess what the topic is by now, at least partially.
(Before I start on the actual post, let me just remind you that Mukashibanashi is derived strictly from my own memory, and memories do fade or get dressed up with the effect of time. If possible, try not to take everything seriously.)
Students in Taiwan, at least in my time, have the privilege of not having to think about what to wear to school in the morning. Every school has its own design, and there's tales of girls aiming for particular schools when doing the high school entrance exam for their cute or pretty looking uniforms, according to my Mum.
The uniforms for my elementary school were pretty much the same for both boys and girls: plain white button-up shirts with black shorts for boys or dark blue pleated skirts for girls. Short sleeves in the summer and long sleeves in the winter. The uniform for the lower grades up to maybe Gr.3 (can't remember) have suspenders. Both boys and girls wear long pants in the winter. There's no school jacket so students just wear their own jackets.
The uniforms for my junior high school were a bit more interesting. The design for the boys uniform is basically the same as the elementary school uniform, except for the colour of the shirt. Instead of white, it's light lime green. I know, not the most appealing nor complimenting colour on a person. The dark blue jacket helps concealing the green somewhat in the winter.
The girl's uniform is sailor style in white except for the two dark blue bands on the collar and maybe the short tie (can't remember). It's still pleated skirts for the girls in the winter, only with thicker fabrics. Same jacket style as the boys (I think), and same white socks to just beneath the knees as the boys. There's a rule for the shoes but I can't remember what; I think it has to be white.
The delinquent girls in anime or manga are always depicted as wearing overly long pleated skirts, but it's actually the opposite in my junior high school. The usual length of the pleated skirt is around the knee area. A few 'delinquent' wannabes would wear them near mid-shin, but most of them would scroll up the waist or cut off the bottom to shorten the skirt to near mid-thigh. Mid-thigh is probably nothing in the distorted modern standard, but it was a sign of rebellion in my time.
I used to think that all school uniforms are similar to the ones I had seen, until a Taiwanese from my high school (in Canada) read the draft of a story I was writing and wanted to know why I picked the style for the lead male's school uniform (white shirt and black pants). So the myriad and sometimes senseless uniform designs I've seen in anime and drama aren't just limited to Japanese schools! They do exist in Taiwan as well!
On a side note, my junior high had hair restrictions. Guys had military cuts, and girls' couldn't be longer than 2~3cm under the ears. No perming or dyeing as well. It was a pain to maintain the hair. There's a girl in my class who had naturally lighter hair so it appeared dark brown, and she also got questioned by the teachers. Apparently, hair restriction isn't enforced in all public schools, either, as I recently found out!
For reference, both the elementary school and junior high I went to were public schools. I think there's one or two private junior highs in my county that didn't have hair restrictions; one of the reasons that some people from my elementary school took the entrance exams for them.
I've been meaning to post this earlier, but Blogger hasn't worked for me since I came back. I finally got fed up waiting for a fix and went searching the forum today and found a work around to get past the issue.
There won't be a template to follow for Mukashibanashi posts, since it's mostly just incoherent babbling as I tap into my frontal lobe (which reminds me of Full Frontal from Gundam Unicorn and his ridiculous hairdo XD). As such, beware of abrupt endings or incomprehensible analogies and references. You know how old people like to rant about anything? There you go. XD
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