Pinafore dresses

There are some aspects to being a 'Little Girl' you cannot leave behind in my experience.I can't get enough of pinafore style dresses and this one is favourite of mine. I used to wear a lot of them when I was younger and found them to really practical being able to easily mix and match to various tops I had - long or short sleeves - dependent on the time of year.
Also and crucially I find it helps in bringing my mind image of that pinafored little girl in all her boundless optimism   into a physical breathing reality even if the design as with this one is obviously more 'adult' lacking say the charcoal grey and box pleats of the standard little girl pinafore.

This is a bit more like it, mid teen look with deep pleats but with suitable black  tights on very much me but I'd have brogues or loafers rather than those shoes.
Strangely enough I was 'put into tight's' around that age by Mommy (she had so many contridictions!) so if I was being a mid teen in role play I might well opt for tights.

Jennings Follows a Clue

The second story in this series came out in 1951 where Jennings feels inspired to take up the career as a detective with Darbishire as his assistant, trouble needless to say is just around the corner.

The twosome first of all detect the lights being on in the sanitarium when nobody is supposed to be in there which is the catalyst for them investigating it and the laundry room before noticing the school sports cups, to which competitions are due have disappeared!
They see a main of that they believe to be a piano tuner leave the building with them and follow him, breaking school rules into the village going into a silvermith and jewellers oblivious to this being his occupation and that he was to engrave them for the school by permission!
Meanwhile all this detective stuff is becoming something of a distraction  not just to Jennings and Darbishire but within their form leading to a number of mishaps not least being caught having defaced a textbook and not paying proper attention in class which results as did for many of our generation in a lecture and a caning from the Head.
While exploring the sanitarium they get caught by a mysterious person who locks them in a room and after escaping, investigate laundry as they lose a clue to only end up being driven  away as the school sports is taking place. In the end they found out who really stole the cups in time for presenting them.
It's a hilarious account of schoolboy life that could only exist pre internet and cellphone.
The edition I own is the 1967 Collins hardback which keeps this dust jacket.

Tag and Kiss Chase

This was a game I sure remember playing as a kid and no doubt if were socially possible to today I would gladly. The game involves one or more of you chasing other players with the aim of touching them generally with your hands.
Two or more players decide who is going to be 'it' using a counting out game such as Enny Meany, miny, moe and the one designated 'it' then chases the others attempting to get close enough to tag them - a touch of their hand - that makes that person 'it' and so it continues usually to the end of recess at schools.
In some forms it's deemed if you are on or touching a safe are then you can't be tagged cos it's off limits.

There was a form of it I well remember well from primary school 'cos we played it all the time called Kiss Chase.
The main difference is the tag is done by kissing rather than a touch of the hand and typically all of us of one gender are 'it' at the same time and chase the others of the opposite gender until everyone is caught at which point the team that was caught becomes it.
I really loved playing kiss chase between 8 and 11 years of age.

Cosplay

Today I'm feeling liking talking about Cosplay Pronounced, kosupure is short for "costume play", a type of performance art whose participants outfit themselves, with often-elaborate costumes and accessories, as a specific character. The characters are usually sourced in various Japanese and East Asian media forms, including tokusatsu, manga, anime comic books, graphic novels, videogames, and fantasy films. Other sources include performers from Visual Kei, J-Pop,J-Rock, fantasy music stories, novels, and objects from the real world or cyber-space that are often are unique and dramatic.

Cosplay participants ("cosplayers") create a subculture centred around wearing their costumes and re-enacting scenes or inventing likely social behaviour inspired by sources they have chosen. In some circles, the term cosplay has been broadened to include simply wearing a costume, without special consideration given to enacting characters in a performance context.

In Japan a whole district may be seem to be inhabited by the cosplayers and many business support it, supplying the needs.In the west this has been picked up on by the interests in gaming and anime.

This has had an influence on role play with males taking on the roles of females in play - think Second Life. There are a number of suppliers of Cosplay made to measure outfits. The image at the top of this post is of one. Cute, eh?

A great site abut the scene: Cosplay.com -

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About Us : Lawrara Cosplay Shop - Japanese Uniform, Costume, Japan School Bag, Candy Sugar, Fancy Pocket, Socks, Gothic Lolita, uniforms, costumes