Zentai: full-body masked spandex subculture from Japan

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I am wearing mine now. Not really :blush:

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From December here on BoingBoing:

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I once heard a Muslim woman say the same thing about the burqa, that it was liberating.

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I’ve always wanted to wear… well, not a spandex suit, that’s a little too… clingy… but a mask, long sleeves and gloves (think Daft Punk). I think there is something very appealing about being anonymous and unseen.

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This seems pretty obvious to me, so I’m kind of scratching my head over why it’s standing out so much for others.

Wearing a mask makes you somewhat anonymous. When you’re anonymous, you have fewer inhibitions. People realize this and purposefully employ masks for this reason, as plainly evidenced by things like Carnival, Masquerades, and Halloween.

Heck, all of us posting here are doing so semi-anonymously with our own sorts of “masks”. Sure, anyone who is interested enough can trace the identities of most of us down, but that’s not the point (and it shouldn’t be necessary except in noteable cases of abuse and whatnot).

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If only they were more comfortable. Eyelash crash can be solved by wearing glasses underneath.

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Here in BC there are a couple fellows who have parlayed their green skinsuits into semi-official mascot status with the local sports teams - getting the crowd going etc.

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Last autumn, I was visiting the National Zoo in DC, and by the flamingo exhibit, there was a one legged man in a neon pink zentai suit, imitating the birds… I like to give conceptual artists a wide birth.

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Charming story about a school mascot.

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This looks really neat, actually.

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This may be the ultimate solution to The Surveilled Society we are evolving in to; why should we disclose our identities to anyone in a situation where identity is irrelevant? Wear a suit or mask around town, wear it on the way to work or out for the night, then just remove the mask when you get where you’re going to interact with others. I’m picturing midtown right now with thousands of pedestrians in colored suits…

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It could become normalized - like a privacy screen. It does remove a lot of the social norm stuff though, I can see some yahooism if everyone is masked.

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You usually get at least a few skinsuits running alongside cyclists in the Tour de France on the mountain stages along with all the other roadside randoms.

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I’m pretty sure that this what I saw.
Josh Sundquist at the National Zoo.

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I have a themed one I wore to a rave (I meant to wear it to a bigger music festival but that fell through) and my biggest problem was that I couldn’t see out of it due to not being able to wear my glasses. So next time I’ll look into getting contacts (if I have the cash) and maybe a small flashlight for walking.

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Your last sentence seems to imply that this wasn’t awesome. Frankly, I’m baffled.

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Why not? Can you not see through the weave with glasses on, or does the fabric press them uncomfortably against your face? I wonder if wearing safety goggles (under the mask, over the glasses) would help.

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