š¬ Can I confess that, once I knew about the Victorian trouser etiquette, that I assumed the reason Ciel wears shorts, is bc he still has the body of a 10yo? I know it's just Yana's choice, but suspense of disbelief made me think that's a good enough reason. He looks like a 10yo, which makes people view him as even more childish, and even less of a threat. And if he looks like 10, but dresses like an #Adult in the streets, people might focus more on him, than him just wearing childs wear.
Itās difficult to reconcile all of that with how our earl is trying so hard to be seen as an adult. And his shorts are about the only truly childish thing in most of his outfits. Heās got heeled shoes to add a little height, and heās not wearing much of the brighter, more childish colors.
Most of the fancier outfits weāve seen him in are from official art thatās never seen in the manga itself (fancy cover art outfits donāt count as canon within the storyline). Those strike me as Yana-san just wanting to make fantasy outfits for him ā ones he wouldnāt really be okay with wearing otherwise!
The main culprits here (within canon) seem to be whoās dressing him up like heās a doll: Sebastian literally chooses his outfit for the day and gets him dressed; Nina designs and makes most of the clothes (including the dress for Druittās party); Lizzie also plays dress-up with him by buying an outfit she sees and basically forcing him to wear it (ch2). Thereās even a later scene (after the circus arc) where Sebastian says some of these clothing choices have gone too far, arguing with Nina to say her choice of ribbon color (red for his necktie) is too childish looking. Since Nina likes to design for women, as well as for boys under 15ā¦ and because sheās a personal fan of wearing shortsā¦ sheād probably want to keep our earl in shorts as long as she possibly can. Itās a delight to her that heās not growing (and that his waist size actually went down).
Truth is, sons of the British royalty and aristocracy are expected to wear shorts until they are 8.
So, heās being dressed most of the time more like heās 7, thanks to the shortsā¦ but with some styling details that are more mature.
The oddest outfits (for him) in the manga canon (not including the party dress) are probably:
The one that Lizzie buys. Itās more like the fanciful outfits that Yana-san puts him in for official art, but they are never part of the manga canon. But where on earth did she see an outfit like this, as ready-wear, and decide to get it for him? It might be one of the things Yana-san wishes she could change about the early chapters, before serialization, but the mere fact Lizzie saw an outfit like thisā¦ for boys his sizeā¦ hanging in a shopā¦ suggests that some designer thinks this is good fashion for an aristocratic kid his size (not necessarily a kid his age), but Lizzie sees nothing wrong with dressing her (then) 12 year old cousin like heāsā¦ 10? 7? So she picks it out for him as a gift.
The one designed by the tailor working for the demon cultist who buys the twins. And that gives me the eeriest feeling that itās this same designer and tailor who later has a shop, where Lizzie sees the outfit for ch2, a couple years later. Both outfits are made for a 9/10 year old boy (size), and both have details that wouldnāt be typical of boyās clothesā¦ at any age. Perhaps Yana-san knew exactly what she was doing with that other outfit in ch2? In January 1886, that demon cultist is killed, and his tailor no longer has this wealthy client who appreciates their skills and designs. Just like Nina works for the Phantomhives but also has her own shop, this other tailor might have already had one, too. Still, a major client has been lost. The outfits for ready-wear might be a little less flashy than the ones the cultist ordered, so that they will better appeal to the general populationā¦ but these are still unusual fashions.
Itās no wonder, to me now, how our earl got so angry in ch2, particularly over the ringā¦ when heās wearing an outfit that might give him vibes from the night of horror we finally saw in ch135ā¦.
Keep in mind he dresses more appropriate for his age when he goes to Windsor to receive his title (11 or 12) and again when heās at Weston (13). Even Nina gives him longer shorts (in ch66) than usual, so the long shorts and tall boots make that outfit completely cover his legs.
Seems to me that our earl particularly enjoys making Sebastian wear odd things, or at least placing him into situations where he has to change out of the butler uniform. He was too embarrassed by what Lau had for him to wear to be able to get a laugh at Sebastianās expense. Everyone with our earl was forced to wear clothes they arenāt used to. But there are at least three times heās had the chance to really turn the tables on the demon: 1. Lizzie shows up with a pink hat with fake strawberries hanging from it (ch2), 2. Lizzie shows up after the Campania with the nightgown, slippers, and sleeping bonnet (extra chapter), and 3. Nina makes Sebastian try on a bunch of outfits, and some of them are just bizarre (ch116). That last one has our earl even asking what the demon thinks about being treated as a doll.
I think that, most of the time, our earl just puts up with the clothing decisions made by others, and Iām not sure why these other people (particularly Sebastian, Nina, and Lizzie) think itās a good idea to dress him up like a little kid, instead of the titled earl heās supposed to be. People probably think heās just very eccentric, because he should be wearing full trousers all the time now.
My, my. Methinks their creator is the one who really wants to play dress-up. No wonder the god of their world is smiling when misfortune strikesā¦.
Anyone else think itās weird that Finny also usually wears shorts, even though heās a servant and working in the gardens? Heās wearing short trousers, that end just below his knees, and long boots that go up to the shorts. He should have full length trousers with knee patches.
