Becoming okay with kawaii loving me

What is it about cute, kawaii, korean, and japanese things that make me coward into the corner to hide all of it at my age?

Even with a humongous following on the internet for these topics, I still feel like that people have reserved it for anybody between the age of zero to eighteen - maybe even to twenty one. But after that - you're kind of on your own. You have to be cautious of who you tell. It's like a big anxious, cute bunny waiting inside of you waiting to find a person you could trust or person with your same interests to talk to. I'm not saying that everyone will reject you because of it, but just that after your turn 20 you're not allowed to watch cartoons anymore! Or anime or cute stuff! It's not really socially acceptable. Yet. Maybe it's just me, but I feel that the social standard is to be shy and awkward. For example, I was at Barnes and Noble yesterday ready to nerd out on some Web Design magazines when I spotted a magazine labeled "Neo". It had a cute anime character on the front and japanese writing too. I was sold. But sort of unconsciously, I slipped it under my web design magazine, I didn't want anyone to see me carrying it. I thought it would be too typical - a young Asian girl carrying a japanese anime magazine. Ever since I was young I wanted to fight the kawaii force! But alas, at 23 it seems to have come full circle after watching so many cartoons in Korea while I was young. Walking up to the cash register, I set my magazines down and pretended to fumble in my purse, slightly awkward and embarrassed. She asked for my phone number - which I know by heart - and I couldn't get past the first three numbers so I made the rest up! She said she couldn't find the number. I looked up my boyfriends instead. I finally made it home and skimmed through Neo. It was amazing! I didn't know half of what the animes were because I'm sadly not up to date with them. But just seeing all of them made me feel at home in Korea, and like I was in Japan again! I decided that it's worth it. And to memorize my phone number for next time.

So where does this leave me at? An awkward half asian girl not ready to admit to some of the stereotypes that I have. I'll still attend my anime and comic cons, still eye googling at all the wares that are displayed. I've found a friend who appreciates the culture of anime more than I do. And I think that maybe as an adult, you realize that you either learn that we're not all the same, or you join the drones of "little houses on the hillside". I'm sure that I'll forget my phone number again or cringe when another person sees me with something kawaii or anime - eqsue. But it's a part of my culture that I love, one I grew up with, and one I don't want to give up. Maybe I just need to start accepting myself first.

And perhaps that begins with purchasing my first wig. Pink and long and curly. :)

Cute Shirts!

Get ready for some more item spams! There are so many kawaii shirts and sweater out there, I could make a list that goes on forever! But for my sake, I'll keep this short and let you guys browse through all this cool stuff! ^3^

Hello Panda Longsleeves in Pink // $28.00 from tofebruary

Stripe Print T-Shirt // $13.50 from YesStyle

Open Knit button-down Cardigan // $28 from KoreanFashionista

Wave Line Blous // $45.10  from Koreanfashionstore

Kawaii Nails!

Nails are always an accessory for kawaii outfits and they can also be either soft or loud depending on how you decorate it! The best part also are the accessories that you can use with your nails. The kawaii tofu item of the day is the cute monkey nail drier! Other than in the nail salon, I've never seen nail driers  in other places. This item makes drying your nails so much more fun!

It's powered by 2 AAA batteries and tiny! Easy to use anywhere, perfect for sleep overs :3

Cute Monkey Nail Drier // $13.50 from lifeday

If you're trying to find some more kawaii nail styles, here's a cool tutorial from Creativenailart on youtube on how to decorate and make your own kawaii nail art:

Don't feel like painting and making your own nails?? Buy kawaii ones! Like these:

Kawaii nails, Japanese 3d nails, octopus, tentacles, blue french tips // $20.00 from Aya1gou

And now some cute kawaii nails for inspiration:

Cute Items!!

Late night posting = quick spamming some kawaii clothing and accessories that I LOVE!!! 
And I hope you guys like it too! ^3^


This hat is so cute! I wish it was colder where I am so I could wear it all the time.
Knitted Cat Eat Hat // $16.00  from Syndrome

This is a pink lolita dress - definitely adorable and would be fun for photo shoots or cosplay!! 
Moon Night Castle Dress (Pink) // from Japan-shops

Last one - I miss the random, cool flake stickers from Japan! They're so kawaii and fun to look through.

50 Kawaii Sticker Flakes // $2.65 from WhatsYourCrayon 

Kawaii websites :3

So what's a better way to understand japanese and all the kawaii writings that you may come across on the internet then cracking open a book all the time? Well if you know some basics, the best way would probably be to visit Japanese websites and look at real accounts that real people are using! And what better way than a website that's already kawaii? ;)

Pouepee Girl on Japan's social media site Ameba is a fun, cute website that wikipedia explains best:
Poupée Girl (プーペガール pūpegāru^?), stylized as poupéegirl, is a Japan-based avatar and fashion community where users can dress-up their avatar and earn the website's currency, ribbons, to buy more clothing and keep track of the latest fashion with the Fashion Dictionary

It is definitely adorable and a way to keep up with kawaii trends happening from Japan itself! While most of it seems to be in English, there are some items in Japanese and some other phrases too. 
If you join let me know your username so we can be friends! :)

http://pupe.ameba.jp/

Website #2  http://www.puricute.com/

This website is adorable and just for decorating your pictures like you would at a real photobooth in Japan! It's fun to decorate your own picture and look at other people's pictures too ! 

Website #3 : http://www.daisojapan.com/c-399-cute-kawaii.aspx

The last website is a great place to get cool stuff straight from Japan - from Daiso. This place a special page just for kawaii stuff, so definitely go check out all the cool stuff they have! 

Fairy Kei?

Kawaii can be so much more than big eyes, frilly dresses, and pink everything! I'm still learning some of the separate genres, but one of the most kawaii-est style of Japanese street fashion that I like is fairy kei. So what's fairy kei? I've heard it described as kawaii style meets 80's pop. So you'll see tutus, scrunchies, famous 80s characters (care bears, mlp), converses and leg warmers - all awesome and just a small part of what you can find in these outfits. From what I seen, they usually come in pastel, or bright pinks, blues, whites, and polka dots.

Paving the way for this fashion is a street popular designer, Moco. She's the most adorable girl (pictured above), that attends a design college in Japan. With her partner Tomo they create fairy kei and kawaii fashions that they sell in their pop-up shop in Harajuku. Definitely a must see if you're ever in that area!
She's also been featured in a couple of magazines!

Visit her blog here: http://ameblo.jp/oo-moco-oo/   (their store is currently under renovation, I think).

Now onto more fairy kei stuff:

Here are some REALLY cute orbital tights that have an ombre color from pink to purple. Adorable! 

Bishoujo // $25.00 from Lunar Discoveries

Here's a pink tutu skirt that would finish off any fairy kei outfit:

Pink Tutu // 1,380 Yen at ManiaQ

Last, a really kawaii, chibi drawing of a fairy kei girl! Pretty accurate ^3^

Fairy-kei by stefne

More styles!

Bows Bows Bows!

Nothing makes an outfit more girly than - you guessed it - bows! Another staple to kawaii life is having cute ones, and tons of them. I love that bows are able to come in so many different colors, patterns, and sizes and still look adorable. I think they look great with almost anything - in your hair, on your shirt, on leggings, and on your purse - it all looks good! The Kawaii Tofu item for today is the Bow Back Pullover. 

This pullover is super, super kawaii because it's modest in the front, but a surprise of bows in the back! It also has small slits between the bows which gives it a certain "point". Not only that, but it also comes in light yellow (along with salmon). 

To be honest, I'm also reviewing this pullover too - I got it the other day in the mail!! Wheeeee. It's super cute and looks just like it did in the picture. I tried it on (no picture yet - sorry!) and it wasn't too tight or awkward fitting, just right. :)

Bow Back Pullover // $14.80 at Forever21

More bow stuff:

This is another bow accessory I also own! I love it because it's different from your regular earring, but still has that kawaii pink bow that are on your ears! ^^  It's also adjustable, so no worries about it not fitting around a certain part of your ear. 

Peace Bow Ear Cuff Pair // $11.15 from OfLovelyThings

Of course, adding bows in art makes it x10 kawaii too. The artist from Crowded Teeth used lots of bows in one of many of her adorable illustrations! I suppose all the bunnies in this picture helped too! 

Bunnies and Bows Lady Bun Bun at Crowded Teeth

And lastly, for those of you that just have to have a bow NOW - pick up some scrap fabric and get to it!! 

A Bow Tutorial by Lauralyn

Neko-San!

Why are cats so darn cute? Is it their tiny paws? Their nimbleness? The way they like to fit into boxes and anything smaller than they should fit into?

Truthfully, being a dog owner, I’m not sure. But! being a kawaii lover, I know one thing - cats and kittens are one of the main idols at the center of kawaii things. That’s why one of my kawaii tofu items for today is this Vestido Gato Cat Dress. 

Now to be fair, these kind of designs have been done before on shirts and such - but there’s something about a kawaii Japanese(?) girl wearing a light pastel pink dress that makes this so much more desriable

than it already was! In the product image she pairs the dress with heart stockings AND frilly socks -which is adorable! I think it would also look nice without the stockings, or with light jeans. Black boots would make it look a little more punk.  This would be great to wear while you’re out with your friends or shopping! I’ll definitely do a review of it if I get to order it ! 

You can find it at Kawaii Clothing on Storenvy for $18.95. (The only negative thing is that there’s only one size! Wah! That’s the only bad thing about asian clothing T^T .)

Some other kawaii cat stuff:

Tony Moly Cats Wink Clear Pact #1 - Clear Skin // $16.89  on Amazon

This Pact has had a lot of good and happy reviews on the internet. I'm definitely going to get my own this weekend and I'll write my own review after testing it out! ^3^

Next, drawings of a cat (grumpy cat?!) being turned more and more into a kawaii character. The drawing is amazing and done by Thousand Skies - a drawer for gaia online.

You can find her tumblr and the rest of her “How far can I push it” series here. (Her series also includ a corgi and shiba inu! so cute! )

Last, for those of you that don't have a cat (like me!) enjoy your very own neko at webneko.net.

That's right, play with your very own pixelated cat in your web browser! This is actually a pretty cool coding trick that makes the cat follow your cursor and stop when he gets to you. You can choose from several different colors and types of cats - so go try it out now!!