The word ‘Kawaii’ has gained immense popularity all over the world, especially over the last few years. Search the term on Google and you will find your screen bombarded with pictures of seemingly childish and cute women with big eyes wrapped in brightly colored dresses.
Within the Japanese culture, the word ‘Kawaii’ resonates with traits such as cuteness, innocence, and vulnerability. However, within the global context, the word ‘Kawaii’ denotes a specific kind of cuteness that draws inspiration from animes, manga books, children’s clothing, etc.
Within the fashion industry, it denotes fashion aesthetics inspired by Lolita and Harajuku fashion. Both of these are characterized by fluffy dresses adorned with laces and ruffles in pastel shades, knee-high socks, marked features like big eyes and a small mouth, and Kawaii accessories in abundance.
While people’s interpretation of Kawaii may vary slightly from person to person, the larger persona promoted by this Japanese trend is that of child-like innocence, cuteness, and purity.
It is this persona that the world loves about Kawaii. Most people look to social media to provide them with knowledge about Japanese Kawaii fashion and how to imitate this cute style. However, social media platforms do not always provide an accurate representation of the Kawaii style and culture. Kawaiiwow therefore dedicate this article to answering a very important question: How to be Kawaii?
Embrace Beauty and Throw Away Prejudice
If you truly want to be Kawaii, the first thing you must do is embrace the beauty and throw away any kind of prejudice you may have. Kawaii is as much a state of mind as it is a fashion trend. If you are prejudiced towards any race, culture, religion, sexual orientation, skin color, body shape, etc., your face won’t reflect the innocence and purity that the Kawaii style and culture celebrate.
Choose the Right Clothes
The Japanese Kawaii fashion is about embracing your girliness. So, if you want to be Kawaii, replace your jeans with dresses and skirts that emulate the Lolita fashion. In simple words, buy youthful and cute skirts and dresses adorned with bows, ruffles, laces, and frills.
Choose to buy these skirts and dresses in bright colors and shades. Kawaii girls prefer to wear hoodies and sweatshirts that are more classic in their design. Similarly, shirts in pastels, such as baby pink, light blue, and other pastel shades, are also a rage. The idea is simple: while shopping, remember your favorite childhood doll and the way she dressed and use the doll as your inspiration.
Find the Right Accessories
Wearing the right clothes is only half the battle won. If you want to look truly emulate this cute style, you must pay attention to the details and this involves finding the right accessories.
Japanese Kawaii women wear a lot of hair clips. So, get your hands on all the cute hair clips you can find in the market. Bunnies and the kawaii culture also go hand in hand. So, if you can get your hands on bunny bands, clips, or hoodies, even better! Similarly, kittens are also quite popular in Kawaii culture. Invest some money in cute Kawaii phone cases and AirPods earphone shells as they will complete your entire Kawaii look as well as cute girly purses and backpacks that feature famous Kawaii characters, such as Hello Kitty and Pikachu.
Pay Attention to Your Nails
Kawaii women pay a lot of attention to their nails. They often get manicures with cute animals — bunnies and kitties are a favorite of Kawaii women. Similarly, Kawaii women also like wearing shiny and glittery nails involving rhinestone and sparkly jewels. A perfect manicure will further accentuate the beauty of your Kawaii-style dressing. Therefore, if you want to master the Japanese Kawaii fashion, spend time and energy in finding and creating the right manicure for your dress and look.
Wear the Right Shoes
The footwear design that works best with Kawaii aesthetic is platforms. Thick platforms are the perfect footwear choice for women who are slightly short as these shoes add height. However, if thick platforms are too uncomfortable for you, invest your money in Mary Janes, which is another widely popular style worn by Kawaii women as they give them a cute schoolgirl vibe. When it comes to colour, Kawaii women generally prefer to buy their shoes in bright and pastel shades.
Learn to Do Kawaii Makeup
Like all things Kawaii, Kawaii makeup is also about celebrating cuteness, innocence and purity.
Thus, if you want to look truly Kawaii, forget about wearing dark lips and smokey eyes. Instead, go for a clean look with a natural glow. Use bright pink blusher to highlight your cheeks, winged eyeliner and light blush under the eyes to highlight the eyes, and a glittery, highlighter, natural sparkly lip gloss to complete the whole look. If you want to experiment more, search for gyaru make-up on the internet and take your inspiration from there.
Do Not Be Afraid to Experiment with Your Hair
If you want to imitate the cute Japanese Kawaii culture, do not be afraid to experiment with your hair. Japanese Kawaii women are popular for wearing different types of child-like hairstyles, such as pigtails, ringlets, and braids. They also often draw inspiration from anime and manga characters and wear colorful wigs.
Create a Cute Kawaii World Around You
The Kawaii culture is connected with peace and positivity. Thus, you can benefit immensely from creating a Kawaii culture around you. Surround yourself with cute Kawaii things, such as animal coffee cups and Kawaii animal bookmarks and lamps. Follow K-pop and J-pop Kawaii role models for inspiration on how you can get more creative with your Kawaii looks.
Conclusion
In a world full of negativity, the now widely-popular Kawaii culture celebrates peace, positivity, innocence and cuteness. It is, therefore, no wonder that the Japanese Kawaii trend has ardent admirers around the world. Channeling your inner Kawaii is easier than most people think. These simple tricks and tips will certainly help you look like the beautiful Kawaii women you have always adored and admired.
