School Uniform

Japan introduced School Uniforms in the late 19th century. Today, school uniforms are almost universal in the Japanese public and private school systems. They are also used in some women's colleges. The Japanese word for this type of uniform is Seifuku (制服).

The Japanese Junior-high-school and Senior-high-school uniform traditionally consists of a military style uniform for boys and a sailor outfit (seasonal variations for summer and winter) for girls. These uniforms are based on Meiji era formal military dress, themselves modeled on European-style naval uniforms.

All schools have a summer version of their uniform (usually consisting of just a white dress shirt and the uniform slacks for boys and a reduced-weight traditional uniform or blouse and tartan skirt with tie for girls) and a sports-activity uniform (a polyester track suit for year-round use and a t-shirt and short pants for summer activities).

Mahora Academy's School Uniform
Mahora Academy's current uniform is more modern and preppier than the traditional and iconic sailor fuku and is more similar in style to western uniforms. It consists of a predominantly red/maroon/burgandy color scheme. A white,short sleeve (sometimes long sleeve), buttoned,collared blouse is worn under a burgandy waistcoat vest with two golden buttons side by side. Around the neck and under the collar is either a red necktie or a thin, red ribbon tied into a bow. The skirt is red, plaid, and about 33cm (13inches) long. Over everything is a maroon blazer embellished with the Mahora Academy crest. Most of the girls in Mahora wear the normal knee high, black/charcoal (sometimes white) socks. However, some girls (such as Yue Ayase ) wear black or white, thigh high socks or hose or no socks at all, such as Zazie Rainyday. The shoes usually seen worn by the student of Mahora are brown, girl's penny loafers, and when indors, white uwabaki. The two chineses students of class 2-A (Ku Fei and Chao Lingshen ) are seen wearing red or black chinese flats with no socks.

Mahora Academy's Summer School Uniform
The Mahora Academy Summer School Uniform is very different from the usual one worn the majority of the year. This uniform can be seen in the first anime (Negima! ). The shirt worn is a white, short sleeve, buttoned collared blouse with a red stipe bordering the end of each sleeve and the upper portion of the collar with the Mahora Academy crest. The skirt is blue, around the same length of the usual one, with a white stripe lining the bottom. The only differnce in socks is the color (they are a lighter gray) and the same shoes still apply.