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Self Decoration

Your body is your canvas, fashion and accessories are the paint.

Self Decoration

Fairy-Kei and More Japanese 80s Revival Fashion

04/22/2010

One of the reasons I love this style so much is because it looks exactly like my world as a little girl. I wish I could raid my closet and room from then so I could create my own little fairy-kei world again. I’ve realized this is exactly what I’m doing with Colette’s clothes and decor.. she’s getting all those adorable goodies I kept safe! Popples, Baby Brite, Avon character jewelry and more.

I guess I’m probably a big fan of decora too? Seems to be a bit of a difference in color hues with both styles of fashion. I’ve been a long-time lover of decora and that’s because it’s bright and tasty (think Barbie hot pink and an overload of rainbow accessories).

So let’s take a look at what makes fairy-kei special and what makes it different from decora…

fairykei

Fairy-kei is a candy-coated, marshmallow rainbow-covered delicious arrival in Japanese fashion. As Miseducated and SPANK! often do, it features the cute characters and motifs of the 80s: My Little Pony, Care Bears, Popples, Barbie, etc. The palettes favored seem to be all soft, light hues of the 80s marshmallow rainbow. Fairy-kei uses as many as 6 colors in an outfit, but don’t be too hasty with color — make sure that each of the colors balance each other out. Colors you use should be used at least one other time in the outfit, usually, to add icing on the cake and to tie it all together. Think bows, beads, accessories and pompoms!

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Photos are thanks to scans and the lovely places below.

All Dressed Up

Made In Girl Magazine
Tokyo Fashion
Niles Perch
SPANK!
Pop-Kei Community
La Carmina
Asia’s Vintage Clothing Explosion
Hello Reimei
Fairy-Kei Community
Drop Dead Kawaii aka Petsugar

Fairy-Kei Tips

If you’re an 80s kid, ransack through any old stuff you kept or stored and see what treasures you can find! It’s like new but has more meaning attached. If you can’t find any try ebay, flea markets and thrift stores for marshmallow rainbow 80s goods.
Tutus! They’re easy to find these days and very easy to make. You can make your tutu as simple or as decadent as you like; they’re all sweet when paired with a tee.
Pompons, bows, tulle — all in the marshmallow rainbow of fairy-kei — think of making yarn into large pompons for hair and keychains, smaller ones for other accessories.
Found some cute 80s fabric but the item is shot? Patch it onto a tee, add some glitter. Don’t wait for your favorite new t-shirt, make it!
A big pastel sweater with an alternating color of hair bow. Think big and ridiculously cute! Keep it simple if you like with a black tutu and flats, you can be Fairy-kei inspired without going over the top.

Self Decoration Wear the World

Wear the World: Miseducatees & Ichigo Pink

03/19/2010

Yay! Wear the World! What a great idea for new content, actually forcing me to use new goodies by artists and items I’ve been stashing in my closet for a fun day.

OOPS. One problem. I’m pregnant. My panda pants wont fit.

I guess it gave me an excuse to FINALLY create this elusive shirt we’ve been chatting about for so long? <3 The shirts are custom, one of a kind especially made for you. They come in the sweetest package and smell like a bakery. These are limited edition shirts. They're made to order and uniquely you.

miseducatee
Headband by Locketship

Want your own customized Miseducatee?

Fun on Friday Set

Self Decoration

Miseducated is Pretty and Pregnant

12/13/2009

Sometimes it’s hard to feel sexy when your formerly flat stomach is starting to sport the ever-decadent ‘pot belly.’ Your clothes, once so important, slowly become useless, way-too-tight and obstructive.

What’s a girl to do?

Pregnant princesses are taking the cuteness cake (and eating it too!) with their blossoming bellies and beauty. Gone are the days when maternity wear was scary — these days women have about as many options as they want.. and if one of a kind pieces are what you’re looking for you already know you can check etsy and ebay ala our maternity finds post. Maybe you’ll even get inspired to break out the sewing machine and create your own maternity wear?

happiest girl in the world my new bump

Maternity Patterns

Create or alter your own maternity clothes.
Alter What you Have
Hip Skirts
Burda Style (beautiful and easily alterable patterns)
Vintage Maternity Patterns

Pregnant Princesses

I didn’t take any of these photos — I just obsessively collected them in search for cute pregnancy styles.

Mew for Today Self Decoration

Mew for Today: Baby Changes Everything INSIDE

11/20/2009

.. and if you’ve worked hard and stayed positive chances are these changes are awesome and very welcome into your life! Success is a state of mind.. remember, you’ll never be exactly where you want to be because you’ll always be striving for bigger and better things.

I’m keeping my own little secrets (haha, I guess I actually just blabbed) but I won’t be able to hide them for long.. so alas I’m on the look for delicious maternity wear for fashionable mothers to be or mothers that HAVE been. <3

TWIN SYNDROME: High-Rise Panties

Nothing’s sexier than what you Don’t Show!
Great for under high-rise jeans for a flash of extra coverage, for nursing mommies, for smoothing the look of that clingy dress, general layering on cold winter days, and just plain ol’ fun when stripping down!

Stretchy 95% cotton, 5% spandex blend is very comfortable and forgiving, french cut bottoms are sexy and flattering!

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Plum Pretty Sugar Loungerie

If you’re feeling a need to lounge around, why not look beautiful while you do it? Always take time with your appearance and you’ll be pleased feeling like a queen rather than a slug.

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Haramaki Love

Whether you choose to wear it under or over your shirt, the tiny white heart really adds adorable to your maternity ensemble!

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YY Studio

Go Rosemary’s Baby style (this is what I wore BEFORE I was expecting) with mod little tent dresses and sweet minis.

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Sub Rosa Fashion

Soft and fantastic knitted mini dresses that are loose and soft enough to feel as sweet as they look!

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Craft Junky

These indoor shoes and house slippers are bright and cheerful — if your feet are uncomfortable they can be soft in style.

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Self Decoration

Recycle and Upcycle Happy Meal Toys

11/10/2009

Eh, so sometimes when my husband and I are running late or feeling really nasty we’ll grab happy meals — mainly just when the toys are cute… but what the hell do you do with the little plastic toys after you eat your meal?

Make something out of them!

My plan was to attach gems and glitter all over my lovely ponies and headbands with sweet unicorn emblems. Every headband is on it’s way to a special home for fun and whimsy instead of being chewed up in Wanwan’s bed or thrown in the garbage. 😉 Perhaps soon we’ll do some more silly DIY with all the plastic junk we always come across! ha

(go ahead and keep the box too for silly gifts to friends — haha)

Show me the plastic flash

Unconditional Kisses

Eating the food is like eating the box

You want dis?

Photos by Benjamin Amick <3 Dress: Manoush; Headband: DIY; Shoes: Russe & Rilakuma

Miseducated Inspired Love


Ariel: The Forest
Artist & Designer Features Self Decoration

Gala Darling the De-luxe Blogger

11/03/2009

Gala is a delectable dame with an even more amazing (if that’s possible) message! She’s a fashion icon, blogger and international playgirl. We happen to live by the same sort of mantras and for the same purposes so it happened that we instantly clicked and that she would love to chill with Miseducated and let us in on her own creativity and inspirations in life. Come along for the ride!

gala3s

Where do you get your clothing inspiration?gala3s
It comes to me from all kinds of places. Haute couture, street fashion, movie stars & guttersnipes all provide their own unique perspectives & I love to put them all together in a big mish-mash. I have to say though, I don’t often imitate things I’ve seen — the majority of my looks, for better or for ill, are things that come from my imagination, or just from standing in front of my closet & pairing things up.

I think the best looks are unpredictable & a little bit “off” — I don’t relish being appropriate or fitting in. Actually, this morning my boyfriend & I went out for brunch & when he saw what I was wearing, he just laughed — a headband with a huge flower & some netting on top, a shredded black knit sweater, a leather miniskirt, engineer boots & a hooded black faux fur coat. All to go out & eat strawberry pancakes. But I think life is for living, & if you don’t dress up, you’re missing out!

Any cute and quick DIY tips for readers?
I’m not a big DIY’er, actually. I have never been very “crafty”, I don’t know how to knit & I don’t make doilies or tea-cozies or mittens for dogs. I’m just not very clever that way & a lot of people are, so I would prefer to pay them to do a good job! If I DIY anything, it’s really simple — like I’ll take a Hallmark bow (the kind you would put on a gift) & stick it to a headband, or wear pearls around my ankles or something. I like doing the kind of thing that takes three seconds & doesn’t require much more than a safety pin or some double-sided tape…

Where do you find inspirations from the world around? What really inspires you to work?
A. I have always been compelled to write, which I guess makes me lucky. I know a lot of people want to be writers but can’t seem to muster the enthusiasm to carry on — I really think you either HAVE TO write or you don’t, & if you don’t HAVE TO, you’ll never really improve. Even when I was a kid I wrote all the time, I would write short stories on my lunch-breaks when I worked at awful jobs (like selling advertising for newspapers or when I sold home loans & term deposits in a bank), I always have paper on me so I can make notes when I’m in Wholefoods or whatever. So the compulsion, the need, the madness, that’s what inspires me to work. Even if I shut down my website tomorrow, I’d still be writing. I do it for the love, not because I need to make a buck. I think that makes all the difference.

Do you carry your work into your home (can we see???)? Do you find it creeping into other endeavors you take on?
Absolutely. This probably sounds super-pretentious but I think people’s lives are their art. You know, even if you’re a rad sculptress or an incredible mechanic, the WAY you live your life is still the most defining thing about you. I like to bring beauty into everything I do, because that’s how I am, I am obsessed with love & beauty & deliciousness, so yes, it more than creeps in!

gala3s

When moving somewhere new, what’s the first place you have to set up?
Funny you should say that because I just moved in with my boyfriend! The first things I set up anywhere are always my work space & my wardrobe. They are kind of one & the same a lot of the time. My new office also has my huge closet in it, & all my accessories, etc., merchandised like mad & displayed all over the place. I have my favourite pair of shoes (Alexander McQueen) on the windowsill, a purple glitter skull wearing sequinned Mickey Mouse ears on my desk & two bulletin boards propped against the wall waiting for pictures, clippings, photobooth strips.

Your favorite 3 stops:
New York City is my #1 lover. No other city even comes close. But I love Paris, Los Angeles, Austin, Las Vegas, Berlin & Amsterdam a whole lot too. Sorry, I can’t boil it down to 3 & I refuse to cut the others out!

What scent of incense would you prefer in your home? (feel free to create-your-own)
I used to burn Nag Champa obsessively when I lived in New Zealand & I still like the smell of it, but these days I am more into scented candles & essential oils. I really love jasmine, vanilla, rose & ylang ylang.

What hobby are you into lately?
Getting cozy with my lover, RSVP’ing to ridiculous events & taking my partner-in-crime/photographer with me, & thinking about interior design constantly.

What is your lifestyle mantra?
More magic all the time.

3 things you can’t live without right now:
1. My boyfriend, known colloquially as The Dish. He is such great company, he’s totally authentic & he is so effing cute, I want to jump his bones all the time!
2. My new-to-me vintage faux fur coat. It is big & fluffy & the perfect length. I wear it almost every day & cannot get enough of it.
3. My Moleskine daily planner. I am a total organization geek. It is incurable but I love it.

What are your next plans and goals? Give us an indirect sneak peek, if you’d like!
Oh but that would be telling! Sorry, I can’t. Suffice to say, you will not be disappointed!

What’s so great about today? .. and what do you do to prepare for tomorrow? How do you make sure each day counts?
Strawberry pancakes with my boyfriend; rad conversations; The Dish singing songs he makes up about me; cuddling with the dog; organizing my office even more; planning my social calendar for the next week (photoshoots & fashion shows & working out at the haunted mansion), etc. etc. etc.

Tomorrow I’m going to sit at my brand new desk & listen to some good tunes & write, write, write. I will probably make a coffee run in the morning & then hole up & be as productive as possible!

I make sure each day counts by always focusing on the positive. It’s really easy to get bogged down when you’re thinking about a bill that needs to be paid, or the argument you had with your friend, or the jeans that don’t fit, or whatever — life is full of challenges but you get what you focus on. So keep your eyes to the skies, be grateful for what you have, express love in as many ways as you can, & work to create a life that makes you truly happy.

Do you find your work taking time away from other hobbies and interests? Or is it your all-consuming passion?
I used to talk about how I worked 24/7, & I still do, but it is much more intense now. I used to have time to go shopping all the time, or kick back & read a book, or whatever — that kind of thing is pretty rare these days. I’ve taken on more obligations & while I love them, it certainly does suck up my free time. It has always been this way though, just to a lesser degree. Thankfully it IS my all-consuming passion & there aren’t many things I would rather be doing!

How do you prefer your environment to look?
Colourful, exciting, invigorating. Actually “colourful” might be a misnomer. I like a simple, clean palette (like black & white) with bright pops of colour — does that count as colourful? I don’t know. Aaaaanyway, my room has white walls (which I love) & I bought an indigo desk to go in the middle. I want to paint one wall with blackboard paint — maybe in vertical stripes? — & there are going to be sparkly or high-gloss accoutrements everywhere. I love a simple or plain canvas with ornate madness placed among it. That is so my style.

Favorite music? and Why?
If I had to break it down, I’d say I listen to 60% hip-hop, 40% “other” — the other being a mix of electronic, singer-songwriter, indie rock, & uh, the unclassifiable! I love to mix it up, it’s not unusual for me to jump from Mobb Deep to Bauhaus to Tom Waits to The Legendary Pink Dots to Big L, & my iTunes is almost always on random. Hip-hop is really one of my one true loves, though — I find it hard to articulate how much I adore it.

Are you Miseducated? What makes you Miseducated? <3
Yes, absolutely! I’m miseducated because I don’t do what other people tell me to do, & I don’t follow conventional paths. I do what I feel on my own timeframe, & I am so much happier because of it!

Yes, absolutely! I’m miseducated because I don’t do what other people tell me to do, & I don’t follow conventional paths.

gala3s

.. and just in case you’re wondering, yes, her blog (iCiNG) is just as delectable as she is.

Self Decoration

Dye Your Hair Lovely-Locks

10/27/2009

Today you can dye your hair almost any color of the rainbow, permanently, semi-permanent or just clip/braid it in for the day. (Lady Lovelylocks style) If you dig color, be creative. If you don’t, search the mushroom patches and cotton candy trees for some pixie tails to color your hair in a swirl of delicious 80s palettes~ To get a true POP of color be sure to bleach your hair white (this is tough so get professional advice or study it before attempting) first.

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Video

See an adorable video done by ‘bipolarbears’ on youtube — she shows the steps from dying your hair black to pink.

Self Decoration

Graphic Makeup

10/18/2009

Does makeup matter? It matters as much or as little as you want it to. It can be as lovely, nude and natural as you like.. or it can be as out loud exciting as an lighting bolt. I like love it when people take things to the next level when using graphics and design to decorate their faces and bodies. YES PLEASE. YESYESYES.

Be sure to check out the step-by-step makeup tutorials in the Japanese magazine scans as well as some artist photos and tutorials below~

Makeup is a magic mask of color just waiting for you to get creative and change the rules. Wear it to a rave or, if you like to march to the beat of your own drum like most of us do, wear it to get groceries whenever you feel the need!

Decadent Makeup Here & There

From all around the world, cartoon, model or artist.. we like our makeup loud and clear.

Merci to the wonderful Audrey Kitching for her own love of the Miseducated lifestyle. She makes us so proud we could burst.

80s-inspired Magic Makeup

Courtesy of the amazing Bethany.

Colorful & Creative Makeup

This last colorful and creative makeup tutorial is by the wonderful Rebecca. Living a Miseducated life to her means, “Be yourself, never stop learning & never hold back on your creativity.”

Perfect!

Self Decoration

Let’s go to the Nail Salon!

10/17/2009

Imagine your fingernails sparkling when they are typing on the keyboard or flipping the pages of a book! Pretty fingernails really make one feel very happy! Think Sanrio, “Small gift, big smile.” In times like these it’s the sweet, inspired things that really go a long way.

So let’s go on a trip to the nail salon I frequent in Hong Kong! I’m planning to get some gel nails with 3D acrylic nail art and Swarovski crystals.

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Amazingly the nail painter accomplished my rough sketches to wonderful gel nails!

I found the patterns in some Japanese nail art magazines which the nail salons provided.

But if those magazines can not satisfy your crazy thought about nail art, it is surely more fun to design your own cute nail tips! Miseducated girls are all about inspired lives and diy — I’m sure you have many ideas to use.

You can change your nails in honor of a holiday or occasion; how about a Christmas version with snowman and Christmas tree?

Just draw whatever you would like on your nails and simply write some descriptions about the colours and what kind of stone you prefer.

Use the ideas in magazines as an inspiration, but most importantly, have fun and create whatever you like!

Self Decoration

Blythe Gets Dressed in Dessert 1.4

09/22/2009
candystripe

No matter how busy you are you should always make time to get dressed-up! Today she’s a candy striper and she’s loving our friends that are new to the dessert party, little odd forest and Mod Cloth.

Introduction

Now what kind of character model can wear clothes similar to human-style? What model inspired millions and millions of people to create, do, go, wear, buy, sew, photograph… ?

If you thought BLYTHE, then that’s right! I decided my own little milky Amelia would be perfect with some miseducated touches.. So here she is, Miss. Educated on her debut and dressed for dessert. Not only does this bubblegum princess make the rainclouds pour star sprinkles but she has the best taste — she just whispers what she would like to wear for today’s theme and I dress her! With the help of many amazing designers and *soon* diy goddesses.

Would you like to see her dressed in your creations next? Or perhaps you’d love to decorate her apartment with your interior goodies? Want to suggest the next theme? Answer all these questions and more in the little white comment box. It’s just waiting for you to feed it puffy pink marshmellow rope letters dusted with pink lemonaid LETTERS.

Past Outfits