Walking through my local Daiei, I thought there was something a little funny about the display in front of the elementary school book bags. Sure enough, the “girl” in the faux private school uniform definitely got drafted from the boys’ department. Maybe they wanted to ride the cosplay theme set by the anime-style mannequins used in the fashion “uniform” department on the floor below.
I got interested in the whole world of manga/anime and gender bending visual kei bands while researching Nightshade, the first book in my mystery series. I’m still looking for an opportunity to include this mannequin! Maybe in Book #4…
I am so enjoying reading your blog – I don’t even remember how I stumbled upon it, but reading about the cultural differences is NUTS! Also, those second mannequins are TERRIFYING.
Aren’t they amazingly weird? And don’t you think it’s even stranger that there’s a whole teen fashion line of faux private school uniforms o_O Serious manga fetish goes mainstream. I mean, I saw this at Daiei, which is like finding cosplay wigs at Target.
And I’m so happy you posted – I went over to your blog and couldn’t stop reading!
Haha… that one is over the top! Good catch!