These were originally gonna be private but I like the outfits so much I'm posting them here.
Since the Likes Espio gang is going to Chun-nan in the fic I decided to give them some new good ol' fashioned cultural fits.
By the way, get ready for a history tangent :)
So this is a shenyi, a type of moderately formal Hanfu robe popular during the Warring States period. It is known as 'deep garment' in English, which translates to 'wrapping the body deep in cloth'. Up until the Han Dynasty, the shenyi would be form by royal families, aristocrats, etc. Although more common among women who wanted to hide their bodies while they walked. It lost it's popularity throughout history but reappeared in 2003 when a man wore a raojinshenyi in the streets.
Then ruqun, or more broadly, the yichang, is a set of Hanfu attire consisting of an upper garment(usually a short jacket) and a lower garment(a long skirt). It is the most common of Hanfu, worn mostly by women but also by men as well. The ruqun, along with it's varieties, have been and established part of Chinese culture for thousands of years as the two-piece garments symbolized the greater order of Heaven and Earth.
The cheongsam is a more modern form of Chinese attire, also know as a qipao dress. It was developed in the 1920s and overlapped with the Republican Era, popularized by the socialites and high society women of Shanghai(fitting for someone like Dinah). It's a form-fitting dress that was originally inspired by Manchu traditional clothing called the qizhuang.
Another piece of modern Chinese clothing, the male counterpart of the cheongsam. The zhongshan suit, also know as the Mao suit, is a tunic suit introduced shortly after the founding of the Republic of China in 1912. It typically has four pockets and five buttons(I didn't actually draw five buttons, sorry!), the pockets representing the Four Virtues of proprierty, justice, honesty, and shame; the five buttons symbolizing the five branches of China's former government, those being Executive, Legislative, Judicial, Examination, and Control. It's typically worn by men or government leaders as a symbol of national sovereignty.
The aoqun is a variety of the ruqun, a specific way of wearing the ao(short jacket) over the qun(skirt). While the classic ruqun has it's jacket tucked into the skirt(ru is often used as synonymous to ao), the aoqun has it's jacket worn over the skirt. Although since the ao is defined by the Xinhua Dictionary as 'an upper garment with multiple layers', it is often worn during the cold seasons.
And that's all! I'm sure you know who all these ocs belong to, so just enjoy them being stylish :>
