japanese street fashion show take 2!

Dear Fairies,

In February I was part of another Japanese street fashion show at the local Asian Art Museum. They were having an after dark event, so some members of the Japanese fashion community got together to put on a fashion show of different styles.

There, I met two new fairies, Carol and Amanda, who were very lovely ladies. I hope to meet with the again soon ^_^ A very interesting coincidence was that we all ended up wearing Disney shirts as you can see!

The event was very impromptu so we didn't have a rehearsal period. So, when it came time for me to walk down the runway, I didn't realize that we were supposed to keep walking through the audience >.< Instead, I went off the other side of the stage area haha

It was a nice little night of fun to catch up on some of my great J-fashion friends and to make new ones! In the pic above, next to me is lolita, Angel Light, who was great to record most of this fashion show as she did in the last fashion show I was in. You can see my slightly embarrassing walk XD

 What I Wore

Pom Pom Bow Barrette: handmade (bought at convention)

Plastic Hair Clip: Target (full price)

Pink Rhinestone Glasses: Claire’s (on sale)

Belle Beauty and the Beast Shirt: 90s Vintage

White Suspenders: Hot Topic (full price)

Shorts: 90s Vintage (from my mom)

Socks: Target (full price)

Custom Shoes: Reebok (full price)

Disney Mickey Mouse Winter Button: thrift

~Sparkling Ga Eul

Faith, Trust and Fairy Kei Dust!

such nostalgia: the little mermaid musical

Dear Fairies,

I went to see The Little Mermaid musical sometime in March. I went with my stepfather and his granddaughter. When I realized it would be coming into town, I knew that this was a great time to wear my retro 80s Little Mermaid shirt ^_^

The production was great, but definitely not as extravagant as many other shows seen on Broadway. I found the large clear bubble "flats" that they used for the above water scenes an interesting choice. Also, I was glad that they didn't use Heelys like they did in the original Broadway production. I always found Heelys kind of weird... I got that they wanted a feeling of them being underwater, but I imagine it would've been more distracting to me. Flounder had a little skateboard in this production but I felt as if that was a character choice that worked quite well.

Instead of Heelys though, this production had the Mermaid tails cover the feet in front with the "fin" which was made of this flowy fringe material, and the actors walked normally. Actually, this was the first production to use the fly system to have the fish and mermaids actually look as if they were swimming mid-water. This was a wonderful choice as it was done superbly.

Photo Taken by Christian Waits (Theatre Jones)

Not only were fish and mermaids flown, but was used on Eric in the scene where he falls into the water after the shipwreck. When this happened, a scrim was brought down in front of the stage upon which a light made to look like water was projected. Behind the scrim we saw Eric in an almost heavenly light that you can usually see underwater when there's light coming down upon the water. Then, slowly, he was flown down as if he was falling through the water. It was absolutely beautiful. Ariel's silhouette could be seen coming in to save him and that was the end of the first act.

Photo Taken by Christian Waits (Eric Kunze Fansite)

All of the actors were wonderful and there was a delightful originality. The supporting characters all had lovely twists to them visually and in their character that I enjoyed. First, Sebastian was still Jamaican but he was definitely portrayed as more "proper" in this production as he was dressed in a completely red 19th Century style costume complete with knickers, tights, and a red powdered wig. The actor was possibly the greatest singer in the entire cast. Scuttle was a bit more... interesting... he became even a bit off-putting to me haha but he had an interesting costume with pumpkin pants, striped socks, and a vest. The twist they put on Flounder made him seem more realistic in a sense. He had spiky hair, wearing a slight skater boy style costume. A new layer for this character was his crush on Ariel that was actually very cute and gives way to his song in the show. The actor was adorable and had a wonderful voice. As for Ursula, she was definitely fabulous without a doubt. The tentacle dress was nothing short of dazzling, and the tentacles would be moved by the actors playing Flotsam and Jetsam to create the illusion she was moving them around the eels during Poor Unfortunate Souls. A little side note is the performance of Les Poissons. This is possibly the most overlooked song in the show, but the performance was hilarious as the actor put a different emphasis on the already clever lyrics by Howard Ashman.

Photo Taken by Christian Waits (Theatre Jones)

My real nitpick with the musical in general is that I'm not a huge Glen Slater fan. He wrote the lyrics for the new songs in the musical besides the first song called Mysterious Fathoms Below.  Mysterious Fathoms Below was a song that was cut from the film, with lyrics written by Howard Ashman, the original lyricist. Unfortunately, Ashman is no longer with us, so Disney hired Glen Slater. I don't find Glen Slater nearly as good of a lyricist as Ashman though :b

Photo Taken by Christian Waits (Kory's Review)

Overall, I was pleased with the production regardless of some of the stranger changes that were made for the musical. I would recommend going to see it for the nostalgia and spectacle for sure ^_^

 What I Wore

Fabric Rose Fascinator: Forever 21 (full price)

Purple Rhinestone Studded Glasses: Claire’s (on sale)

Ariel The Little Mermaid Shirt: 80s Vintage

Cardigan: Old Navy (on sale)

Skirt: Gap (gift)

Leggings: Forever 21 (on sale)

Socks: Target (full price)

Purple Suede Pumps (not pictured): Franco Sarto

Pink Sparkly Ribbon Bow Pin: made by me

Bangle: Forever 21 (on sale)

Scrunchie: Claire's (on sale)

~Sparkling Ga Eul

Faith, Trust and Fairy Kei Dust!

fairy at lolita birthday waffles meetup

Dear Fairies,

I am back from a terribly long and unpredictable hiatus. Things have been crazy as I near the end of my college career. I have a lot to catch up on as I have done a few things I would like to post here to share with you ^_^

I am part of the lolita community in my area, so I have joined maybe three meetups so far as I build up my frilly wardrobe. One of the girls, Xochitl, was having a birthday party at a lovely waffle and pastry cafe called Cafe Brown Sugar.

This was my first real lolita meetup since I went to my first one ever in a sax Bodyline dress that I'm currently reconstructing. I couldn't figure out what to wear to the meetup considering I was a fairy, with very few frilly pieces, going to a lolita gathering. I wanted to look just as cute and a bit more formal to match the lolita style. Therefore, I came up with the idea of creating a sort of fairy kei/ cult party kei hybrid to wear to the meetup. Personally, I think it was a great choice as I had a few compliments from the girls at the meet ^_^ I was even surprised to know that one of them knew what cult party kei was!

I had earlier made Xochitl some fairy kei accessories in return for her generous donation towards the original play I was working on to produce, Tchaikovsky. I still hadn't had the chance to give them to her, so I put them in a little gift bag along with some candy (a Ring Pop and Fun Dip) and I headed out to the cafe.

A lot of the other girls had awesome waffles and coffee. Xochitl got a green tea ice cream waffle which looked amazing. I wasn't feeling the huge waffles, so I just settled for some small yummy fish-shaped waffle pastries filled with sweet red bean.

Photo Taken by Allred Photography

The cafe itself was very nice and had two stories with a brick interior. I liked the quotes and paintings on the walls with quotes from famous people. The wall we took pictures in front of had a quote from J.M. Barrie, the author of Peter Pan. I love Barrie and Peter Pan ^_^

Photo Taken by Stephanie Rose

Photo Taken by Stephanie Rose

Photo Taken by Allred Photography

The other girls were so lovely and we had a good time looking around at some Korean shops in the area where they had groceries, books, cosmetics, and tons of cute things. There is a wonderful Korean cosmetics store called The Faceshop which has some amazing stuff. The only thing I bought while at this meetup was a peach-colored lip gloss from The Faceshop, and I signed up for their rewards program. I highly recommend the Chia Seed line since I have the moisturizer, which can change my dry skin to smooth in one application.

I had to leave early from the party, but this was a fun meetup and I definitely won't be afraid to wear fairy kei to a lolita event again ^_^ In fact, I would highly recommend it to some of you lonely fairies looking for J-fashion friends whom you can even educate on fairy kei.

 What I Wore

Bow Barrette: made by me

Blue Sparkly Glasses: Claire’s (on sale)

Shirt: Papaya (on sale)

Blue Nightgown (skirt): thrift

Cream Pengoir: thrift

Pink Tights: Nordstrom (gift)

White Tights (underneath): Target (full price)

Hello Kitty Angel Socks: H & M (full price)

Pumps: Charlotte Russe (full price)

Necklace: made by me

Little Twin Stars Wristband: Sanrio

Fluffy Heart Pin: made by me

Sparkly Pink Ribbon Pin: made by me

Hello Kitty Purse: Sanrio (on sale)

~Sparkling Ga Eul

Faith, Trust and Fairy Kei Dust!

confession #8: i don’t own wigs!

TokyoFashion.com-Yuria

Dear fairies,

So, today I will talk about wigs. My confession is that I don’t own any fashion wigs and it’s possible I might not ever. 

I really do like wigs, especially if they’re the right color and are  gorgeously styled.Though I notice many other western fairies favor wigs. Why is this? The only things I can think of would be that some sweet lolis carry their wigs over to fairy kei or that some fairies are not up for committing to dyeing their hair, which is understandable.

Personally, I think wearing a wig never quite has the same effect as when you dye your own hair. It's almost like the color becomes a part of you as opposed to something like makeup where you can take it off easily.

I kind of like it when you can see the natural hair color coming through in brightly colored dyed hair.

TokyoFashion.com- Kumamiki

I do think in Japan they are more compelled to alter their appearances in fashion because of their strict society and can get out of their boundaries a little. Therefore, I do think dying one’s hair is one of the “safest” sorts of self-expression since I’ve tinted it different colors several times myself.

TokyoFashion.com- Tavuchi

In conclusion, while I really do like wigs, I would rather dye my hair an unnatural color than wear wigs. I love my own hair and it’s inexpensive compared to buying many wigs in all colors considering I don’t dye it very often (and I can change colors easily!).

~Sparkling Ga Eul

Faith, Trust and Fairy Kei Dust!

definitely never too old to express yourself, even more so in fairy kei!

Dear Fairies,

I wanted to share with you all something that the owner of fairy indie brand, Candy Geisha, said to me after I wrote my 7th confession. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to buy one of her kawaii creations before she closed down :-/

She's rockin' the kawaii-ness at her age and is proud of it

Photo Belongs to CandyGeisha

CandyGeishaSAYS:

Hello (*^_^*)
I came across a repost of your confession titled “confession #7: you’re not too old for fairy kei!”

After I finished reading it, I just felt like shouting on top of my lungs “Alleluia!!!!!!!”. You’re a star!!!!

Some cynical and over analytic souls might say that I may be trying to recapture the essence of my childhood, so might even go as far as saying that I may have issues :D And others with less intellectual steam power might simply say that I am plain restarted. Well to all of them I will say: “How long have you been in this mental prison of yours???”.

And why do I say this? Because I am an 80s child. Yes Sir! I was 10 years old in 1983 so I shall leave you to your calculations. Popples, Rainbow Brite, MLP, Care Bears, Punky Brewster, Strawberry Shortcake, Atari video games, Flashy bright colours, high top kicks, cassettes played on my bulky Walkman, Game & Watch portable electronic games, The Never Ending Story, SANRIO’s universe, Hello Kitty, My Melody, Little Twin Stars, animes, Japanese cute culture and so many more iconic elements that never left me!!! 

I went through the 90’s and the millennium  evolving at my pace, experimenting with fashion and visuals, being generaly alternative, playing with mainstream fashion, being my own boss and not caring about others’ judgements. But now that I am closely looking at my fast approaching 40th year on this planet, I feel the need to tell them: “Live!”. I am a fully grown adult with a fully grown up everyday life. Ok, the fact that I always have been in a creative environment may help me to think outside the box when it comes to visuals but still, why putting so many conventions around your appearance when it could be such a fun outlet in this already very stressful world. I love the imagery of the 80s and even if it sends me back closer to my childhood, I am not a child anymore. 

Fairy Kei emulates a lot of what has been part of my early life on this planet, but what the hell!!! It emulates it so well and yet with its own twist that it would be mad not to fall in love with it all over again! Besides, it leaves room for extra creativeness. I do not wish to look or act like 10 years old me. I am just having fun with so many elements that I was and still am fond of. I mix and match and add my woman touch to it. My life experience, abilities to function and maturity have nothing to do with it. So if you are in your 20s and already feeling too old for Fairy Kei, well don’t be! Be your own canvas, your own artist, create, have fun! The way you see the world and grow as an adult should not be affected by the way you look. Who decided that you look silly? You or them? Who decided what is age appropriate or not? Are you really what you wear? Don’t let anybody dictate your fashion sense. As long as you are a functioning adult with good common sense and compassion.

Be you!

And when I die, I want my friends to pimp up my coffin as creepy cute and Kawaii as they can!

Life goes on… 

confession #7: you’re not too old for fairy kei!

Japanese Streets- Tavuchi & Choco

Dear fairies,

Today I’d like to discuss how I’ve come across a few things, concerning fairy kei, in which girls talk about how they feel fairy kei is too “juvenile,” think they’re too old for fairy kei, or think it’s only for teenagers in which you grow out of the fashion into, say, something like cult party kei.

While I think peoples’, and my own, styles are always evolving in which one could go from fairy kei to another fashion like cult party kei, I think that there shouldn’t be a line drawn as far as what age you say you stop wearing a certain fashion! (though, there are exceptions to people who just don’t have good fashion sense to begin with)

I think people in the Japanese fashion community should be the least concerned with “age-appropriateness” considering how many of the best styles in Japan are many times misconstrued as “childish” or “costume-y” to some critical westerners with narrow views of what fashion really is.

Why even be part of Japanese fashion if you are going to restrict yourself??

With that said, I think people tend to think fairy kei is “childish” due to the dominant color scheme and use of 80s childrens’ characters like Popples and Care Bears. If fairy kei was meant to be for children, then wouldn’t it be a style only worn by girls under ten years old, considering the characters and bright colors?

Of course, on the contrary, fairy kei is usually worn by girls 17 and over! Not to mention, our representative girls at  6% Tokidoki and Spank! are over the age of 20!! Miss Tavuchi was about 23 years old when she began Spank! and will be over 30 years old soon!

Japanese Streets-Yuka

Tavuchi, in an interview, said that her customers range from 12 years old to 40 years old! To her, Spank! is more about the 80s culture than anything else, it seems.

It makes sense that young women (not young girls) would be into fairy kei. After all, those of us who were children in the 80s and 90s, who enjoyed fairy kei inspirations, are now over the age of 18! Fairy kei is nostalgic and speaks to our childhood in many ways, which makes it all the more appealing.

Really and truly, this fashion is for the young at heart.

"Style is style, fashion is fashion." If you have style, then you don’t need fashion, nor do you need to adhere to any "rules" like age limits. Tavuchi created her own style, likely not caring what the "rules" were. 

BOTTOM LINE: If you want to dress fairy kei, then you are not too old for fairy kei! Dress how you want and do it with style and you will be alright.

Do YOU think you are or will ever be too old for fairy kei?

24-year-old Kumamiki is a designer who created her own fairy kei style indie brand, Party Baby! She and her creations are adorable ^_^

Japanese Streets- Kumamiki

~Sparkling Ga Eul

Faith, Trust and Fairy Kei Dust!

confession #6: i think fairy kei is more than just pastels!

Dear fairies,

For my sixth confession, I am going to say that pastels are not always necessary in order to have a successful fairy kei outfit!

When I first began to research and start my fairy kei wardrobe, I was overwhelmed with this constant idea that fairy kei MUST be pastel in order to complete the look! I was scrambling to find any pastel accessories and clothing in my own wardrobe and found very little to pass the pastel “rule.”

After much deliberation in creating pastel accessories, I continued my research to find, with much joy, that pastels were not really a must have in every fairy kei outfit!

With that said, I do get and keep pastel items in my wardrobe to give off that 80s innocent feel that seems to define fairy kei. Yet, I do not think that the colors alone define fairy kei!

Just wearing certain colors of certain fashions doesn’t necessarily make it the fashion For example, wearing a sepia color scheme does not make an outfit Steampunk or wearing all black doesn’t make it goth.

So, wearing all pastels does not make an outfit fairy kei.

To give you a very obvious visual: this woman would hopefully not be considered fairy kei. 

But she’s wearing pastels and is cute. Yet we know that fairy kei is defined by something more than the pastel colors and cuteness. If that were the case, then the past summer trend of pastels would make the all the women who wore pastels fairy kei, which we know is not true.

There are different ways to approach the fairy kei color palette. You can wear any other bold brights, neons, or even black! It just depends on what you feel like and what looks right.

So, don’t let the all-pastel “rule” get you down! It doesn’t exist! Don’t be afraid to go into the brighter or bolder colors and patterns.

6%DokiDoki opts for vibrancy in colors and theme, Spank goes for second-hand pop and rock inspired 80s kitsch, and Nile Perch is a proponent of softer, kinder colors such as pinks and pastels.

~TokyoFashion.com

~Sparkling Ga Eul

Faith, Trust and Fairy Kei Dust!

popples birthday gifts~

Dear Fairies,

I’ve finally been able to take these pics to share with you all of the Popples gifts my lovely boyfriend gave to me for my birthday!

A set of Popples buttons with every Popple on them (perfect for fairy kei), a Popples bento box and a Prize Popple plush (which is the same one that Tavuchi from Spank! and Lisa, from Electric Alice, own ^_^)!

 

I’m so excited to have these things! I will definitely be wearing the buttons very often with my outfits; the bento box will be perfect for when I can just make my lunch the night before to take with me to class; and Prize Popple has taken a place on my bed amongst my other plushes…

~Sparkling Ga Eul

Faith, Trust and Fairy Kei Dust!

confession #4: i love fairy kei for its 80s/90s aspect!

Dear fairies,

I <3 the 80s part of fairy kei, and if there wasn’t any 80s inspiration, I’d probably never do fairy kei XD Honestly, what is fairy kei without the 80s aspect??

Ever feel like you were born in the wrong decade? Well I should’ve been born in the 70s so I could live in the 80s! I love the fashion, music, movies, TV shows, cute toy franchises, and pretty much everything 80s pop culture. When it was pick a decade day at school, of course the teachers were telling me I looked like Tony Basil or Cyndi Lauper!

For the longest time throughout my life I’ve been wanting to wear 80s clothing! Finally I found fairy kei which gives me the “excuse” to wear 80s style all I want despite many people having a distaste for 80s fashion >3<

Tights, buttons, legwarmers, large bows, side ponytails, scarves, cute socks, cardigans, suspenders, high tops, fake glasses, cute skirts. 

These are all the things I love to wear which makes fairy kei the perfect style for me!

It wasn’t the girly colors or even the cuteness of fairy kei, but the 80s style which now has me hook line and sinker!

~Sparkling Ga Eul

Faith, Trust and Fairy Kei Dust!