Uniform Updates for the Star Army of Yamatai

Reading these articles brought up an interesting thought in my mind here...

The Star Army of Yamatai is a predominently female organization (most of the personelle are nekovalkyrja, who are all female) and yet the uniforms have been steadily trending towards a male uniform ( tunic, pants, more male looking cut) rather than keeping more feminin styled uniform.

Ah, thanks Gunsight. It's what's bothered me for the longest time and haven't been able to state as well as that. This more gender neutral clothing doesn't really suit the Star Army because the bulk of it is Nekovalkyrja. IIRC, Yui even made one hell of a demonstration where there were so many Neko in formation, that they went on as far as the eye could see. If most of the Star Army are women, why shouldn't the clothing suit them more?

Yessss!

So.. Now I'm thinking I need to scribble some catgirl uniform idears.. For fun :3

You guys just want skimpier uniforms, don't you?

well, this is a group of predominantly male writers who are writing about an army that is predominantly female...

All of the Star Army's unisex uniforms are worn on duty when style doesn't matter (even girls want to wear a jumpsuit when they're getting their hands dirty in Engineering). Everything else is designed for Neko. When male officers need to wear, say, a Type 35 or old Type 30, they are given pants that don't look as good with the uniform as a skirt. Of course, this makes sense considering all the uniforms were designed with Neko in mind.

I agree. This is essentially all about them. They come first, since they're the majority of the Star Army, and it should honestly show in the clothing that they wear. It's actually unusual that their primary uniform doesn't even suit them, and it would be even more unusual if they did not complain about not looking good. Like, some sort of vast hivemind taking over and saying, "You are fine with wearing this unisex uniform with reduced appeal and comfort!" unusual.

The Type 35 suits them fine, though, and it's not unisex in practice (women almost always choose the skirt, and I've never seen a male without pants). They look good in it, too.

To be frank, it looks better on men with pants than it does on women with skirts. One of the things that kept me from making my next post in my "Star Army Uniforms: A Look Back" thread is that eventually, I'd end up doing the Type 35, and my observations of it are not all that flattering.

Its time to look to Starfleet for the ultimate true unisex uniform.....

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It was too far ahead of its time that even Roddenberry pulled it.

Dumont said:

You guys just want skimpier uniforms, don't you?

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What's wrong with skimpier uniforms? I've been told multiple times that Yamataians have no problems at all being naked Clothing is apperently optional.

Dumont said:

You guys just want skimpier uniforms, don't you?

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Edto Xar'Sivaree said:

What's wrong with skimpier uniforms? I've been told multiple times that Yamataians have no problems at all being naked Clothing is apperently optional.

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As much as I would enjoy that as-is, it simply wouldn't fit the story or add anything to it except some cheap entertainment. These uniforms still have to be practical after all, which means clothing with more clothing on them. Truth be told, they don't actually have to be skimpy at all. Both the Type 30A-C Duty Uniform and Type 22 Female Bodysuit don't show skin, yet are attractive because they have designs that emphasize the person wearing it. The Type 22's did this very overtly considering what it is, while in comparison, the Type 30's did this more subtly, and without being excessive.

CadetNewb said:

"You are fine with wearing this unisex uniform with reduced appeal and comfort!"

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I don't know, man. Gunsight's chibi line staring back at me looking so stylish, cute, and militaristic seems to shatter this statement. I'm not sure that dislike for the Type 35 is prevalent among Star Army soldiers.

raz said:

I don't know, man. Gunsight's chibi line staring back at me looking so stylish, cool, and militaristic seems to shatter this statement. I'm not sure that dislike for the Type 35 is prevalent among Star Army soldiers.

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Is it bad that I want to find a way to animate my chibis now so they all dance in a conga line?

No, not at all Gunsight. But, consider the fact that it's pretty difficult to mess up Chibis; they look stylish and cute no matter what.

Though, regarding the Type 35, the thing that bothers me the most is its resemblance to more generic sci-fi military uniforms. There's nothing particularly special or unique about it that screams, "STAR ARMY!", and I feel that it can easily slip into many other settings without making any splashes at all. The opposite is true about our older uniforms, which were very unique and original in comparison. In an age where originality is very difficult to find, it's mind blowing that we would discard it when it's both good looking, and emblematic of the site and setting itself.

Going back to the articles regarding unisex uniforms though, I think the Type 35 also a slap to the face to that as well. Perhaps a double. It's simultaneously far more unisex than previous uniforms, while looking like men's wear with a skirt when worn by a woman. Also, I cannot unsee the way the shoulders resemble a business suit on the Type 35. This is important for a reason.

Those types of shoulders are meant to emphasize masculinity. Not femininity. It evolved from men's fashion.

Wes said:

One thing that isn't addressed in the articles is non-binary genders...and more unisex uniforms seem to make sense in the context of having a variety of genders beyond regular male and female.

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As someone who is currently serving I can attest that this is the primary motivator behind the switch. They did the changes to make all uniforms gender neutral for Trans service members. Also the #savetheskirt movement came out of the academy and trust me when I say the people who were for it went the wrong way about it. Nearly being insubordinate. It got nasty.

In any case I agree with cadet about the shoulder boards. The simple way to fix that is the way the Navy did it by making them narrower and shorter for females then males.

That's true, but it's not just the shoulder boards, but the way the shoulders are sewn together as well. It gives a distinct, broad and strong shouldered profile. This is very masculine, and looking at military designs, they're made to look good on men. Same with business suits and their predecessors. I can't emphasize this enough; it looks less than ideal or even odd on Nekovalkryja, and the design changes necessary to give a woman presence and intimidation in them are not present.

I also prefer the Type 30 sweaters over the Type 35. They remind me of the Deep Space 9 or movie uniforms, and I always liked those.

As far as the 'men making uniforms for catgirls' thing goes, I did suggest to Wes that the stuff I'm doing with Uesu's Fleet might bring back things more like the Type 22 or even older uniforms. To lean more into that 'scifi/anime pinup' style might be interesting for that offshoot.

I'd like to add that while the SAOY is predominantly female many other factions militarys are not. The uniform needs to be dignified, of course, and also something that is universally taken seriously. If an officer is trying to negotiate a delicate situation a male may be either less inclined to listen or distracted by her short skirt. Maybe that isn't a major problem, seeing as Yamatai flies in some mean warships but it may also be a factor to consider, not every know faction, or even unknown faction, will be as women friendly as Yamatai. Look to the middle east and even India, women are abused there and are often treated worse than animals. A matriarchal military needs its uniforms to reflect the nation's power and complement her authority so that even in a vastly different culture no one would dare look down on her.

However, in an emergency a soldier needs to be able to quickly lose the uniform to operate PA, so what we need may just be impossible to get. We need clothing with a super professional appearance AND we need it to be easily removed... I don't think I've ever seen that done.