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Chapter 45 – Matching Outfits

Scratch scratch scratch.

Swipe swipe swipe.

Shortly after the Taisho era shifted to Showa, I’m spending my time like a proper child, drawing pictures.
This is one of my relaxing moments.

My past life was that of a “rekijo” (history girl), and so, to some extent, I was a bit of an otaku.
I wasn’t anywhere near professional, but I drew pictures, was fairly active on social media, and even brought self-published books to pilgrimage sites.
 

Naturally, I also poured effort into obtaining works from respected illustrators.

Because of that, the pictures I draw now are far removed from what a little girl would draw.
On top of that, they’re far removed from the style of this era. 

But even if you asked me to draw childish pictures now, they’d just end up looking obviously fake.

I saw that for myself and quickly gave up on trying to pretend.

And to make things worse, I’m now better than I was in my previous life.

In terms of fundamentals—such as technique or talent—the villainess I reincarnated as is simply full of them, and that even shows in things like this.
I’m honestly at a level where I want to try oil painting.

Still, when I draw the beloved “favorites” that my past self devoted her heart to, using the villainess’s skill, it brings me a bit of comfort.

But I can’t let 21st-century things be seen in public, so they’re stored deep in the back of my toy box.

What I do show publicly are my thoughts on the fashion of this era—styles I wish could shift more in line with my personal taste.

It’s not like I have any complaints about the fashion of this era.
No matter the time period, stylish people are always stylish. 

People like that were way out of my league in my previous life.

The mobo and moga I sometimes see in magazines or during rare outings are incredibly cool.
There are quite a few of them I’d love to take pictures of—videos too, if I could. 

Their appearance is something I’d want to preserve even a hundred years into the future.

I even begged to be taken to Ginza, and once I started having more financial leeway, I began hiring people to take photos and videos for me as a way to document things.

And after seeing them up close or reviewing the footage I had taken, I realized something: there are more people in Western clothes out on the streets than I expected.
Maybe it’s because this is the glamorous imperial capital, but I had imagined that outside of civil servants, soldiers, and policemen, most people would be in traditional Japanese wear or a mix of Japanese and Western styles. 

The office workers in Marunouchi look like they could walk right into the 21st century without standing out.

But still—still!

I often find myself thinking: if only they wore this instead, or added that extra layer, or wore that accessory, or tweaked that coordination just a little—I have so many opinions I want to give.

Yet most of the time, the fashion is correct for the era.
I’m just the odd one out because of my knowledge from a future life.

And since I’m an otaku as well, I can’t help wanting to see otaku-style fashion and accessories too.

Many people in the city still wear traditional Japanese clothing—female students in hakama, high school and university boys in school uniforms, and policemen with sabers at their sides.
Those kinds of outfits actually give off a cosplay vibe and score high points with me, but that’s not what I’m finding lacking.

Female students are starting to shift from the classic Taisho-romantic hakama style to the well-known sailor uniforms.
Boys too begin wearing school uniforms around middle school age.

On the other hand, my older brother continues to be the perfect handsome guy. He looks too good in his military uniform—but that alone isn’t enough to satisfy me.

Fujoshi are such a handful.

That’s why I want cute things.
Not just “kawaii,” but cute in the specific sense I care about.

If someone put cat-ear headbands on Youko-chan, who is already unbearably adorable, I would probably die from the sheer emotional overload—either that or suffer a noble death from the sheer beauty.

No, actually, not just Youko-chan.
Even the little ikemen boys in our household right now could make the villainess inside me die a glorious death just from looking at them.

However, when I once asked someone to make that kind of thing, what I got back were just parts that looked like they came off a monster cat from one of those ghost manga drawn by that famous manga artist born not long after me.

So I draw.
I draw guided by the soul of a 21st-century otaku.

“Here, take this and give it to the designer, okay?”

“…Understood.”

“If you’ve got something to say, you can go ahead and say it.”

When the maid Shizu briefly showed a subtly conflicted expression, I responded with a kind of pressure disguised as cuteness—so powerful it could’ve ended with a heart emoji.

It seemed to work, as she reluctantly opened her mouth.

“Isn’t it showing a bit too much skin? I fear it might be considered indecent.”

“Eh, even this is no good? Let me see it for a second.”

“Here you go.”

Yeah, opinions from people of this era are important.

Still, I really don’t understand why the Ootori family hasn’t brought any clothing companies or shops under their umbrella.

Once I have enough money to spare, I seriously want to create a brand just for myself to match my gorgeous appearance.

Even if it ends up being mostly cosplay.

“Alright, retake’s done.”

“…Very well. I’ll take care of it.”

“Huh? Still no good?”

“It’s not that it’s no good, but… everything’s so modern or rather, nonsensical.”

An unexpected, further rejection. But I can’t back down now.

Thanks to not giving in, all the female servants at the Ootori mansion switched to classic maid outfits last year.

Next, I want to push for cute headbands instead of those caps.
And the maid aprons could definitely be cuter too.

That would be quite the spectacle.

Looking back at how, until now, the maid outfits were just simple aprons with a little frill on top of kimonos, this feels like a whole different world.
Even though the headbands aren’t implemented yet, I can clearly feel that my request was worth it.

I genuinely hope this trend spreads through the aristocracy and the business world.

(But honestly, it’s not “haikara” [modern in a Japanese sense], it’s “modern,” and the word “nonsense” could be used here too.)

Well, Shizu’s common-sense criticism is nothing new, so my attention is mostly focused on things like this.
However, from Shizu’s point of view, the fact that “bunny ears” are okay is a big win for me. 

Of course, the tail is a must, but avoiding that style that looks like swimwear or a leotard was probably the right call.

That being said, since there probably isn’t a casino city in America yet, there’s no place to wear bunny girl outfits, so maybe going with “bunny ears” was a bit too forward.

(“Bunny ears” might be okay, but the bunny girl look is still far away. As for swimwear, I think the bikini didn’t even exist until post-WWII nuclear tests, so cute swimsuits are still a long way off.)

In a drawing, I can put anything I want, but even when it comes to swimwear, since the fabric covers so much, from my perspective, it’s more like an extension of clothing.

(As for underwear, it’s still common to see things like pumpkin pants or drawers, and before that, in Japan, even underwear itself… Swimsuits with little fabric might not appear until I’m an old lady. This still requires quite a bit of enlightenment!)

While watching Shizu leave to handle the necessary paperwork to mail my design sketches to the appropriate people, what I’m thinking about is how to change the fashion of Showa-era Japan, and even the world, into something more suited to my taste.

On one such day, the long-awaited item finally arrived at my doorstep.
I quickly gathered the necessary people and had them change into it.

What arrived was the “uniform” specifically for our Ootori children.

“So cute! Youko-chan looks like an angel. No, she’s already an angel. I can almost see a halo and wings!”

“Thank you, Reiko-chan! And thank you for this wonderful outfit!”

“I should be the one thanking you!”

Saying that, we both hugged each other tightly.
She was so cute, I almost wanted to take them home right then, but I remembered this was my mansion. 

Still, my excitement was at its peak.

And then, an even more exciting moment arrived.

“Hey, Reiko. What’s with these clothes?”

“Setting aside the color and pattern, the tailoring is similar to a gentleman’s suit.”

“Ah, so you and Youko-chan have matching outfits like us, huh?”

Ryuuichi-kun, Gentarou-kun, and Koshiro-kun, the three boys, came from another room wearing matching outfits, just as Koshiro-kun had said.
The clothes were slightly larger, anticipating their growth, making them even cuter than before.

“Wow, you all look great. As expected,” I said.

“What’s so great about it? We just put on clothes,” Koshiro-kun replied.

“Onii-chan, you look wonderful!” Youko-chan said.

“R-really?” Ryuuichi-kun, who tends to tease me, was still all soft when it came to his little sister, Youko-chan.
But since he looked so cute today, I decided to let it slide.

Beside him, Koshiro-kun twirled around while saying, “Really?” 

With his flair, it looked like a scene from a fashion show just from that simple gesture.

Gentarou-kun, standing a bit further away, looked cool and collected, but his face, just behind his newly added glasses, had turned slightly red, so I couldn’t help but feel amused.

And now that we were all together, it was time for what we had planned.

“Alright, we have a photographer waiting in the next room, so let’s take some photos.”

Yes, we were going to preserve these adorable looks forever.

And this was one of my rituals—creating a page for the past explanation in the game.

The matching outfits everyone was wearing were the same as the ones worn by characters in the otome game “Tasogare no Ichizoku.”
This game is “family-themed” and not a “school-themed” one, so you don’t see characters in matching school uniforms.

But the game designers, thinking it would be a little lonely without this, created a setting where the characters wore the same outfits during their childhood while attending school.

It’s unfortunate that the other two love interests are missing, but I’ll make sure to push these outfits on them eventually.

The outfits we tried on are close to the image of high school uniforms commonly seen in the 21st century.
The blazers were in a light brown tone, and the skirt or pants were in tartan check. 

And the shirts and high socks were white.
The girls wore red ribbons for ties, and the boys had ties similar to those worn by office workers, in navy blue.

Given the time period, I do wish the girls’ skirts were a bit shorter, but for children, this works just fine.

“Alright. Thank you for your hard work.”

With the usual words, the photo shoot wrapped up, and the kids quickly began to get noisy.

“For me, I’d love to introduce this at Ootori Academy’s elementary and middle schools.”

“Don’t be unreasonable. Some of the kids there aren’t from rich families.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

“So, uniforms aren’t just school blazers, huh?”

“For girls, it’s been sailor uniforms lately, like what sailors wear.”

“I think I might want a sailor outfit too.”

“Well then, let’s make one next time. It’ll definitely be cute! Hey, Ryuuichi-kun, which outfit do you like better for this spring?”

“O-oh, I guess this one’s fine.”

Just like I asked Youko-chan’s big brother, starting this spring, Youko-chan and Koshiro-kun will finally be entering elementary school.

They’ll go together wearing these outfits and spark a movement!

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Mobo, Moga
Abbreviations for Modern Boy and Modern Girl.
Refers to young men and women at the cutting edge of fashion trends in the 1920s.

Generally indicates stylish, Western-style attire.