From Moschino’s Spring 2018 My Little Pony capsule collection to Lime Crime’s new Polly Pocket inspired eyeshadow palette, it seems that nostalgia fueled fashion and beauty is everywhere. However, not everyone is happy with this childhood inspired trend. Jennifer Wright of Racked.com dismisses the style and begs women: “Please don’t latch on to the fantasy world of mermaids and unicorns and whatever other bits of girlish nostalgia is being marketed to you. None of those things are real. Now, more than ever, we need to be present in the real world that’s unfolding. The world needs adult women, desperately.”
Source by: Limecrime.com Source by: Glamour.com
Why is there such a strong disdain for the clothing choices of some women? It’s not as if these women cannot discern what clothing is appropriate for what occasion. There are not hordes of women in the workplace sporting Lisa Frank leggings or Disney bows in their hair. Just because a woman chooses to dress in a way that is viewed by others as childish doesn’t mean she actually thinks of herself as a child. There’s also a huge double standard when it comes to this style. Men have been wearing t-shirts emblazoned with childhood figures like Spider-Man and Batman for years and it has never drawn criticism. If men are not suddenly little boys when they wear shirts like this, then why should women have to jump through hoops to be taken seriously?
Cutesy fashion is not just a fashion statement; for others it is a rebellion. In Japan, there is an aesthetic called kawaii which roughly translates to English as “cute”. If you’re familiar with Hello Kitty, then you’re familiar with kawaii. This now global style originated in the 1970s when teenage girls rejected traditional Japanese calligraphy and instead used bubbly, adorable, and near illegible handwriting that was actually banned in schools after 55% of the girls in the nation started using it. Banning the handwriting didn’t stop kawaii, the craze seeped into fashion and to this day there are still young people in the famous Harajuku district in Japan wearing the colorful substyles of kawaii fashion.
Source by: tokyofashion.com ; Fashion models Haruka Kurebayashi (Left) and RinRin Doll (Right)
Fashion should be about what you want to wear. The freedom to dress however you choose is one of the perks of being an adult, but clothing does not completely define a person. You can’t make snap judgements of a person’s personality or competence based on what they are wearing. So go ahead, put on your Steven Universe t-shirt or your Studio Ghibli dress. I think you look good.