You guys don't mind if I make a fantastic display of my suit/uniform/men's clothing fetish, do you? Of course not.
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| It would be a hilarious understatement and ridiculous preaching of the obvious to say this outfit borrows considerably from military tratition. It's one of the more elaborate of the outfits in the series, and by far the most military, though the style trickles down to the student council, who all wear some variation on the theme. Epaulettes, shoulderboards, and shoulder straps are strewn across the cast, and everyone has the cords (aiguillettes). Of course, in any military, the color of the uniform's trim, the braiding of the cords, the number of buttons, and every other minor component of the outfit signifies rank or honors given. Since you'd first have to pick a country and time period to start going into those details, it's unlikely they were considered in the design of anyone's outfit here. The designs are instead based largely on aesthetics, though Akio's is also based, very loosely, on Dios' uniform. (As is Utena's, in different ways.) |
Hey, I know this is the kind of thing I wear when I want to take a drive through the country, pose suggestively for the camera, or duel with an adolescent girl. |
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| 1. The epaulettes. Ankle rests? |
Seen pictures of people in military uniform? Well congratulations, you've probably seen epaulettes. Though French in origin, just about every nation's military has at some point used them somewhere. They might be on the left shoulder, the right, or both. They can be fifty billion different shapes, colors, with fringe, without fringe, whatever, and it's basically a catch-all term now for 'stuff that goes on your shoulders to tell people your rank'. That Akio's epaulettes, or anyone else's in the series, mean anything is unlikely. They seem to be designed to complement the characters and their personalities. (Miki, the least military character in the series, has the least, well, epaulettey epaulettes. They're really shoulder straps. Touga and Saionji have similar ornaments, but the arrow design on Saionji's points toward him, and Touga's point away. Probably not deliberate, but funny how it works out.) Akio's monetary status considered, it's likely the gold here and on the rest of the outfit is real.
| 2. The collar and trim. These colors should be familiar. |
The collar is a fastened standing collar. Why? Because ten buttons, a belt, and a fly didn't amount to enough obstacles.
Also, the colors in Akio's trim are red, black, and gold. Why? Because the fuscia, orange, and electric blue ensemble wasn't working for him, and didn't remind the viewer of his usual outfit.
| 3. The green jewel. He jacked it from Dios. |
Akio's uniform borrows a bit from Dio's outfit, and here's the biggest throwback to the prince's garb. An enormous irregularly shaped sea green gem. It could be a few gemstones, but it seems natural to assume it's emerald, since that's the most valuable stone by weight. Why would it be peridot or anything else when it could be emerald? (Yes, they occasionally come in that shade.) The color is the same as the ball that holds his hair back in his everyday outfit, and similarly brings out his eyes.
Somewhere between Dios and Akio, the gem was reset. Akio has it set in red, Dios had it in gold. (Akio's outfit has far more red in it than Dios', whose accents were almost all the same sea green of the jewel.) There's no telling what the significance of the gem was when Dios wore it, and there's certainly no evidence suggesting why Akio kept it. He's not exactly the sentimental type, but then that's a ridiculously large rock to be calling an emerald, and it does bring out his eyes.
| 4. The aiguillette. It's French. |
(Credit to Alexis for alerting me to the proper name.)
You know you can say just about anything in French and get a girl going.
Anyway, what we're talking about is the cord most of the rest of the cast wear on their uniforms. The term can apply to any ornamental braid, but it usually describes one going from the collar to the front of the shoulder. A cord going under the shoulder is a shoulder cord as far as most are concerned, but it started as a noose the Flemish army had to wear as a threat against misconduct. Later it was used by Napoleon as a military honor, and was called a fourragère. It's still used by the French as a mark of distinction, though others have adopted it as part of military dress.
Though most of the cast wears some variation of an aiguillette, Akio's the only one with a shoulder cord (or fourragère). Touga has a cord that goes under his arm, but it starts at the collar so it doesn't count, though Touga's every bit as likely to have served in the French military as Akio is. I would mention what a red cord means to the French, but that's delving a little deep. Akio just wears it because it looks good. I hope.
| 5. The jacket. With lots of buttons. |
Ah-ha! Something I don't need to research at all! This is a standing collar, double-breasted jacket.
The dotted line is the trim. It doesn't go all the way down.
Akio has trim tracing up both breasts of fabric, including the one underneath, giving his jacket a symmetrical appearance, or what I've heard described as a 'button-on bib look'. But it is one solid jacket, and there's no little bib piece in front. Otherwise the jacket when opened wouldn't look like this. Wouldn't that suck?
The jacket has tuxedo tails, or what you'd usually have attached to a tailcoat. This is a style that started with people riding horses. The split up the back let the coat fall to the sides instead of bunch up, so it does somewhat follow that Akio's uniform, which is something of a reference (mockery) of a prince's garb would include features meant to facilitate riding horseback. Furthermore, the excess of fabric in the back could be the 'grown-up' version of the short cape Dios wears, which would look stunningly ridiculous on Akio. Tails however, are a dead fashion, and even tuxedos aren't often made with them anymore. Once again, Akio proves his total disinterest in how current his clothing is.
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