27th Dawn - Culottes and A Brief History

After my mini escapade at nowhere in particular, I decided to finally settle down for the day and halt my trip around the city.

For a while now, however, some people I happen to pass by would look my way. It's as if they're poring over my features with how sharp their gazes are. This reminds me of my first time in Ellicht. Perturbed since I'm not sure what's their deal this time, I decided to just hide my hair under my cap as I tread the path to the monument.

I went back to the inn earlier and took my sketchpad. Since there's still an hour before I meet up with Lewis, I think of drawing as way to pass time. I'm also a bit inspired by Cesar's circus earlier. The ballet flats and that bicycle part remained vivid in my head as a fountain of ideas just kept on gushing through my mind.

"First is this bicycle thingy. Skirts aren't really suitable for this while pants are certainly indecorous to most people. Should I just combine them, then?"

As I scribble away, I recall my conversation with Lewis about people's perceptions on fashion in this city, particularly that of women. Aside from his explanation about how women here are conservative or just overly strict with the dress code, I learned that there's a deeper reason behind this, which turned out to be glaringly obvious in history.

Before modernism took place, men's roles were considered active while women's were passive. This unbalance was visualized in their apparels, wherein ladies were more prescribed to fashionable clothing that disabled them to do what men could. For instance, crinoline dresses were heavy garments whereas men had the ability to be active with their sober and simple clothing.

Although changes happened and women were finally able to match men's levels in terms of abilities, that primitive ideology - wherein there are fixed gender identities and differences among men and women when it came to physical, psychological and intellectual - still lingers in how they present themselves up to this day. Lewis told me that the temple has something to do with this stagnancy at this point, but unfortunately, I wasn't able to hear this part since he's too excited to talk about the headband that time.

After a few minutes of sketching, I finally come up with a design.

"And voila!" I enthused as I raised my sketchpad and peered at it.

"Oh, you're done?"

With a high-pitched squeal, I jump in surprise when someone suddenly whisphered in my ear. Swiveling around, I find Lewis staring at me with an amused grin. With that, I already know that this jerk did that on purpose.

"When did you get here?!" I asked, still feeling the loud pounding in my chest after being caught off guard.

"Since you started?" he answered, tilting his head innocently.

"That's an hour ago...! I think? Wait, is it time already?"

"I just got here early, but then it turned out you're earlier."

I only blink incredulously before heaving a sigh. Still smiling, Lewis then paces towards me and tries to take a peek at my drawing. I immediately hide it from him as I feel my cheeks heat up.

"D-Don't look at it! It's embarassing!" I exclaimed.

"If you won't let me see it, I won't be able to give my opinion," he retorted while crossing his arms.

"It's alright! This one's nothing!"

"Come on, Lily. That only makes me more curious."

At that, we suddenly start a game of tag as he tries to reach for my sketchpad while I make a run for it. He really seems eager to see it, but then again, he probably managed to get a glimpse of it earlier, which is why he's now this intrigued. As we continue on this skit for a while, I find myself reminiscing a past memory where I used to play in the meadow. Our carefree dash and wild panting remind me of my childhood for some reason.

"Gotcha!"

A moment later, Lewis finally caught me.

I should commend him for this since I was renowned as an all-time champion in this game back then and he just managed to defeat me. Even then, however, I think that this is quite an awkward way of doing it. He did beat me, but he also invaded some of my personal space while he's at it.

Lewis currently has his arms around my waist, his chest on my back. My breath hitches at our closeness, but he doesn't seem to mind since he only snatches my sketchpad while his arms are still encircling me. Flustered and stupefied, I just let him be and wait for him to back away.

"What's this, Lily?" he inquired, still not stepping away.

This is definitely misleading.

"A divided skirt, I guess is what I'd call it. I just thought of it while wondering how women ride on a bicycle," I managed to reply without stuttering.

Since my heart could no longer take it and I'm starting to come up with ideas, I just take the initiative and pull away. Swerving around, I find him still peering at my work. He seems so focused that he probably has no idea what he just did. Thinking his mind isn't in this world right now, which usually happens when he sees something that interests him, I just consider his action as impetous.

"You mean, it's still a skirt but it's divided and seamed in the manner of trousers?" he asked with disbelief, much to my surprise.

"Well, yes."

At that moment, I find myself remembering clothes of this style that are also pertained as women's culottes or split skirts. These were already developed for horseback-riding so that women could sit astride a horse rather than riding sidesaddle. Later, split skirts were developed to provide women more freedom to do other activities as well, such as gardening, cleaning, and bike riding, and still look like one is wearing a skirt.

"That's weird. Why do I know all these again...?" I silently thought, utterly puzzled.