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So, in _Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei_ (i.e. _The Irregular at Magic High
School_ ), the girls' school uniform incorporates this strange translucent
cape-like feature. See, for example:

![girl wearing strange translucent cape-like
feature](https://i.stack.imgur.com/6aVHUl.jpg)

![different girl wearing strange translucent cape-like
feature](https://i.stack.imgur.com/QDQkxl.jpg)

That translucent cape-thing is very unusual as far as school uniforms go -
I've never seen anything like it. Does it serve any particular purpose in the
context of the show (like, it makes you better at magic or something), or is
it just ornamental?


CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-22T06:23:56.570
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the-irregular-at-magic-high-school
Does that weird translucent thing the girls wear serve any specific purpose?


So far from the light novels that have been published, nothing has been
explained nor been mentioned about that piece of translucent garment. The
first time I saw that, I was also asking like you are, because as far as I
remembered, nothing about it was mentioned in the LN. I confirmed with others
who have read the LN, and they said the same thing. So, for now IMHO, it's
just like you said: "ornamental". Correct me if I'm wrong.


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2014-04-22T08:09:58.507
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According to [the tweet from the official
account](https://twitter.com/dengeki_mahouka/status/64639399228473344):

> 女生徒の制服は、上着の下にキャミソールタイプのレースを着用します。これは生徒が任意でいくつかの種類から選べます（もちろん着けない生徒もいます）。
>
> The female students' uniform consists of a camisole-type lace underneath
> their jackets. This is optional and students can choose from several types
> (of course, some students do not wear this).

![Seifuku?](https://i.stack.imgur.com/RduPnl.jpg)

![Miyuki!](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ervY5l.jpg)

Therefore I don't believe there's a functional purpose to it.


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2014-04-23T22:03:47.290
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Since there seems to be no word of god, let's go:

The gown has to do with the type of magic the girl uses.

So we have

  * The blue snowflakes for elemental magic
  * the green faeries (dots, whatever) for spirit, body and mind magic
  * The orange flowers for earth and physical, physics magic

The girls:

  * Shiba Myiuki - elemental magic. Uses snowflakes.
  * Saegusa Mayumi - movement, projectiles and matter summoning. Orange flowers.
  * Ichihara Suzune - body and mind manipulation. Green fairy.
  * Mitsui Honoka - Light manipulation. Orange
  * Watanabe Mari - mind manipulation via aromas. Green
  * Shibata Mizuki - spirit and magic sight. Green.

The list is not exaustive. Feel free to add more examples.


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I, too, thought the capes would be explained further, as it does seem to
correspond to the owner's magic. I wish they had been, since the audience
would be able to then identify approximate magic types on sight, or be
intrigued by a new, previously unseen color. Prime storytelling opportunities
have been missed there.

There is only one girl I've seen who doesn't wear it, and that's Erika. There
are multiple reasons to explain why she would not wear it.

  1. She's the only Course 2 (Weed) girl character we've seen, so it may be a Course 1 (Bloom) exclusive uniform piece.

  2. If it's truly based on magic, which does seem to play a part in the colors, Erika's style is sword and weapon-based where the other girls use a different type of non-weapon magic.

  3. If it's completely optional, Erika has exactly the kind of personality that would forego the cape by choice.

As far as the texture goes, it's always looked like a sheer fabric attachment
to me rather than lace. If it's supposed to be lace, they didn't do very well
in animating it. Looks closer to tulle, maybe? Or, actually, my vote is for
chiffon. Chiffon flows the same way as they portray in the anime.


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For a moment I thought that the women's capes represented the grade they were
in (something like the Mahoutokoro capes, in the Harry Potter Universe). But
it is not like that, Miyuki, Honoka, Mizuki, and other first year characters
wear other "ornaments".

I think it's about the type of magic the wielder wields. But if that's the
case, why is Lina's (Angelina Kudou Shields) camisole so different?


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