Sailor uniform (serafuku)

The serafuku is the sailor-styled school uniform for Japanese girls, introduced in the Taishō era of the 1920s. Modeled on Western sailor suits, it became the standard girls' uniform for much of the twentieth century.

Overview

A serafuku pairs a middy blouse with a broad sailor collar and a knotted neckerchief with a pleated skirt. Adapted from European children’s sailor fashion, it replaced the earlier hakama-based schoolgirl dress with a Western-style outfit.

How it is worn

The blouse’s sailor collar and a tied kerchief or ribbon sit over a pleated skirt, and the collar stripes and kerchief color often mark a particular school. Boys’ schools more often adopted the stand-collar gakuran, which made the serafuku emblematic of girls’ schooling.

History

Japanese girls’ schools began adopting Western uniforms in the 1920s — Fukuoka Jo Gakuin and others are credited with early sailor styles around 1921 — replacing kimono-and-hakama dress. The serafuku spread nationwide and remains a familiar school uniform, though now often restyled.