hanfu

Recently, the wombat-consort spontaneously started to download kagedreams' fansubs of Saiunkoku Monogatari and we've been watching them. Some of the clothing styles are very reminiscent of Fushigi Yuugi, esp. a sort of open overskirt that looks like a long apron worn backward and has some analogues in Vision of Escaflowne, so I finally remembered to poke around the web to find more info about that, such as which Chinese dynastic era is the primary costume influence.

I'm still not sure about much of the stuff that was my initial target, but I'm rather tickled to find out that there's now a movement to bring traditional Chinese clothing back into use. I'm even more tickled that by general consensus, the qipao/cheongsam (generally the first style that comes to mind as a typically Chinese outfit) is rejected as being too newfangled and alien because of its origins during the Manchu regime, which was only established in the mid 17th century. N00BZ.

Addendum: Holy kamoley. I can't think of any plausible occasion for which I would possibly wear these, but still.

And furthermore: Yowzah. *Sixteen pages* of yowzah.