Meaning and nuance of 身を包む


I found the sentence

> バスから降りた、制服に **身を包んだ** 少年少女たちは全員この門をくぐり抜けていく。

translated as:

> All the boys and girls in uniform got off the bus and passed through the
> gate.

What would be the difference with some equivalent expressions like: 身につける、or
others ? Does 身を包んだ add some kind of nuance ?




I don't see any deeper nuance to the phrase 身を包む. It literally means 'to wrap
yourself up', or in other words 'to wear'. To me, it simply conveys that they
were dressed in uniforms. You don't mention the source but I am assuming it is
from a novel perhaps? As with English, writers often use alternative ways to
express something if they feel it is too prosaic. If that were the case here,
instead of using 制服を着ている少年少女たち which is perhaps a little prosaic, the writer
might have wanted to choose a more 'literary' phrase like 制服に身を包んだ.




I don't see any deeper nuance to the phrase 身を包む. It literally means 'to wrap
yourself up', or in other words 'to wear'. To me, it simply conveys that they
were dressed in uniforms. You don't mention the source but I am assuming it is
from a novel perhaps? As with English, writers often use alternative ways to
express something if they feel it is too prosaic. If that were the case here,
instead of using 制服を着ている少年少女たち which is perhaps a little prosaic, the writer
might have wanted to choose a more 'literary' phrase like 制服に身を包んだ.

