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Black Butler - Blog Posts
okay, hear me out, Black Butler anime, and everything’s the same except for Lizzy doesn’t have piss-green as a hair color.
she’d be different for me obviously 🙄🙄
"Grelle literally kills ppl" ok? I could fix her
Girlboss tbh
RIGHT, they were kinda like “okay well I guess this is happening now…I’m just not gonna think abt it or talk abt it :)”
LIKE CMONN…your telling me no one was like “what the fuck dude?!!?!”
are we really not going to get one moment where the servants talk about the crazy shit that went down at the manor like how rciel came back from the dead and undertaker being a fucking supernatural grim reaper species or grell crashing through the window with a chainsaw
LMFAOO, do they really?
Me watching ppl collectively bitch about me in a comment section
DO IT PLEASE, I’VE BEEN TRYING TO FIND SOMEONE WHO HAS DONE THIS BUT I HAVEN’T SO FAR. IM BEGGING YOU 🙏
I agree though dude, I WAS JUST THINKING ABOUT THIS THE OTHER DAY, ALOIS HAS SO MUCH POTENTIAL, and it makes me so disappointed it got wasted on whatever season 2 was
I’m this👌 close to rewriting the entire second season of black butler. I swear Alois has so much potential- AND I GOT THIS PAINFULLY WHOLESOME IDEA OF ALOIS AND O!CIEL HAVING A SIBLING LIKE RELATIONSHIP MY GOD
White middle-aged conservative dudes and SebaCiel shippers are similar in the aspect they’re like “this is MY au where problems dont exist so stop talking” and they’re like 45
headcanon for modern Sebaciel: Sebastian is in jail for trying to date a minor and Ciel is living his best life being a happy 13 year old 🥺💕
Redesign Prompt RESULTS!
Alright, thank you everyone who has voted, the results are now in! Overwhelmingly our winner is Ranmao 🐈!
First of all, I need to insert a few caveats here. Unlike with Victorian fashion, I do not have years and years of studying of Qing dynasty-fashion behind me. So whatever results I show here are the product of a fortnight of reading up and meticulous studying of contemporary photographs. a.k.a. I am merely scraping the surface here. But! I do promise that everything shown here is done to the best of my ability to be responsible as a content provider.
Now without further ado, let us dive into Ranmao’s current design, the blatantly obvious inaccuracies, and how I propose to redes…ign… her outfit while keeping the original intact as much…. as possible???? Heck, this is not even worthy of being called a ‘redesign’, this is straight up designing from scratch!
Hair
Let us start with her bangs. Her bangs are in fact surprisingly accurate, as late Qing dynasty women would wear their bangs in a variety of Bettie bangs trimmed well above the eyebrows. Having sides of the bangs growing longer framing the face was usual too, though they would be cut slightly thicker than Ranmao’s. Though, we don’t know how much hair Ranmao has, so I see no reason to alter it.
Twin braids are very much associated with the “China doll look”, but they seem to have been branded into our image of the “Chinese Girl” because it was the go-to look for unmarried women in Republic China (which is many years later than Ranmao’s time, and also has more surviving images.)
In Ranmao’s time, unmarried girls would either wear the bottom part of their hair down, or have everything tied into a single braid behind them. Girls who preferred a more feminine look would often decorate the sides or the top with flowers or other ornaments depending on their wealth.
Yana’s notes say that the flower in Ranmao’s hair is a Chinese peony, which is also called the Empress of Flowers in Chinese as well as Japanese culture. I could find sources on how the peony was the symbol of the Empress of China, and how one better avoid wearing any type of peonies around the Empress herself for fear of being suspected of disrespect. But I could not find any evidence of such flowers being banned for other people, so presumably it was more an ‘unwritten code of politeness’ rather than fashion law.
Hence, I kept the pink peony design for Ranmao, and decorated them in the way Qing women would have.
Neckline
By far the most interesting thing I learned from this redesign attempt was that the “mandarin collar” - the thing that pops up first in most people’s minds when thinking about Chinese fashion - was in fact not at all common.
In this academic work on Chinese fashion history, Finnane writes that the ‘high collar’ was “not a common feature of costume before the twentieth century.” Instead, most costumes would have had a round neckline.
Finnane, Antonia. Changing Clothes in China : Fashion, History, Nation. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008. p. 93
The ‘high collar’ gained popularity in early 1900s in China after the Europeans brought with them the beauty standard for high collars, as well as slim-fitted silhouettes. The Chinese increasingly adopted this type of collar and the slim silhouette (the well known ‘china dress/qipao/cheongsam’), and the relatively many early photos that survived helped engrave this stereotype into our minds.
Sleeves
I do not think it requires any mention, but 19th century Chinese fashion did not include boleros… For many of the original designs of Ranmao I can sort of see where Yana got that image from, but this bolero-look truly beats me.
The sleeves worn in the late Qing period were relatively wide, though they were starting to slim down over time. Late Qing women enjoyed much more flexible clothing rules than earlier Qing women, and the width of the sleeves was in great part determined by personal preference, season, but mostly one’s wealth.
Needless to say, the larger the sleeves the more fabric and embroidery it would require, and thus more expensive. Also, the wider the more it would get into the wearer’s way.
I don’t know how much thought Yana put into Ranmao’s original design in relation to her function as elite bodyguard, but considering how the original has zero practicality and only serves to maximise Ranmao’s attractiveness, I have no qualms about giving Ranmao fairly large sleeves too. Besides, let us assume that Lau is responsible for providing Ranmao with clothes. Illegal money tends to fill the pockets quite deeply, I don’t think he can’t spare a few pounds for big sleeves.
Wider sleeves would expose much of ‘a lady’s precious skin’, as such a more fitted layer would have been worn underneath. (The sleeves under the wider sleeves obviously did not have to be orange-ish. This was merely coincidence that both my redesign and the visual source have this colour.)
Silhouette
The figure hugging silhouette x Chinese clothes was - as mentioned above - not at all a thing in Ranmao’s time. In fact, the accentuation of the “female curves” was considered very inappropriate if not downright ugly in the Qing dynasty.
Finnane, Antonia. Changing Clothes in China : Fashion, History, Nation. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008. p. 94
Yana’s notes mention that the thing Ranmao wears is just an European corset and that that is the only thing ‘English’ about her attire.
Well… I don’t know where the idea that Victorians wore corsets on the outside comes from, but I myself admittedly was fooled by this a few years ago too… I promise you all now however, Victorians decidedly did not wear their ‘bras’ on the outside. I think even now this look is considered rather ‘questionable’ by most people.
Instead, Qing dynasty clothes were mostly cut wide and straight, loosely dangling around their bodies offering maximum comfort and space. You feared Ranmao killing you in her corset? Now tremble before her now blessed with maximised agility.
Trousers
Well… I considered ‘translating’ Ranmao’s attire to 2020 standard like I did for O!Ciel, but that would not be Tumblr-filter approved. Skirts so short they could be mistaken for a belt are nothing too surprising today, but wearing one with a split that deep is probably a bit too revealing even by today’s standards.
By the late Qing dynasty, men and women, rich and poor alike predominantly wore trousers. Long robes (skirts) were definitely in fashion too, but they were reserved for those who could afford to not have much agility. If you were a farmer, robes would not have been your first option. Perhaps the way long skirts were viewed by the Qing Chinese was not unlike the way we see them now; ‘more classy’ ‘more feminine’ and ‘less convenient’, but not the only way to express femininity.
In these pictures below we can see relatively rich women, married and unmarried alike, all wearing trousers.
Ranmao is predominantly a fighter, and as trousers are plenty feminine in Chinese fashion culture, I don’t see why she would not choose to wear trousers instead of a restricting long skirt. Hence I gave her a pair of trousers.
Shoes
Like I said before, “the shoes are correct…” But the anklets definitely are not!
Golden or silver anklets are something that are worn by very, VERY young children in China. Even to this day it is customary among many Chinese people to gift newborn children at least one piece of pendant, bracelet or anklet, for it is believed to bring the child luck. More practically, this piece of jewellery will become the child’s first piece of property then, which can be sold later SHOULD they ever run into a financially difficult situation.
These anklets or bracelets would not be removed from the child unless they have outgrown them, which happens fairly quick. Ranmao who is probably full grown should have outgrown them at least ten years ago. Hence, seeing these things on Ranmao would probably make it look like she is still wearing diapers or bibs.
Chinese people would likewise not have worn shoes barefoot. Instead, they would have worn cotton socks which were mostly white.
DOUBLE HAMMERS
HERE COME THE WEAPONS! Luckily Yana wrote the following note or I would never have guessed what they are for my knowledge about Chinese weapons is next to nothing.
“These are【SUPER】heavy. They are weapons called 双錘 (double hammers) and they in fact exist. I heard these were used by power-type warriors.”
So, I googled 双錘 and it turns out that the type Ranmao is holding do indeed exist! But… only in fiction and theatre.
The hammers that were used in actual combat were either very thin and long, or short and plump. Such hammers were one of the most primitive metal weapons in China, and quickly fell out of favour among Chinese warriors when more practical weapons such as the metal spear, sword and bows were invented. The hammers mostly retained their value because of their weight in heroic tales and myths about legendary warriors and deities.
I don’t have the full details, but apparently according to some legends or myths, one of such big-ass hammers could deal a force of 200kg, and thus 400kg combined. Regardless of this being realistic or not, it sure does sound very cool! It is therefore no wonder this primitive weapon retains its popularity even today.
Nowadays when these hammers are used, they are either the blown up theatrical versions, or the smaller versions for the sake of preserving martial arts.
I had a bit of a dilemma as to which version to give Ranmao, but in the end I settled with the short and heavy ones because I wanted to keep the idea of this small and innocent looking girl wielding solid metal balls. Two cheer-leading sticks would simply not have the same weight, figuratively and literally.
Alright everyone! Did you enjoy my response to your votes? I hope you did ^^ Non-European fashion history really is not my strong suit, so my deepest apologies if I messed anything up.
Pray tell if I did, I am always happy to learn ^^
being interested in Black Butler in 2021 is genuinely so surreal, like I decided to try to search up content for it on Pinterest…yeah not doing that again.
THANK YOU, I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE
Rereading Kuroshitsuji and I am so gay for Jane
EXACTLYY IT SEEMED SO OUT OF PLACE?
i don’t think i will ever get over the concept of the phantom five being in the victorian era
I just got to chapter 96.5…. DO THEY WANT ME SUFFER OR WHAT???? STOP THIS 😭
Spoilers: Book of Circus
WHASQDK THE FUQHK IM GONNA CRY BROSKAPZ&/& DOLL DESERVED BETTER BROA SHE JUST DID OKA6??!/? WHY
My thoughts exactly! I’m always so embarrassed when people ask me what my favourite anime / manga series is, because of the associations with the fan base. I don’t even bother saying it these days, I just go with Death Note, Kamisama Kiss, or My Hero Academia - although these ALSO have associations that aren’t great…
