10 Things you should know about Fairy Kei
So you like Fairy Kei fashion but don’t know where to start? Well keep reading and you’ll find the answers you were looking for. These are the top 10 things that you should know about this style of Harajuku Fashion.
1.What is Fairy Kei?
Fairy Kei is mainly based on a Kawaii pastel style, very much inspired by 80s pop fashion. This style is closely related to the popular brand SPANK!. A short origin, Fairy Kei loosely translates to “Fairy style”. The name refers to the Fairy aesthetic of the pastel color scheme and cutesy motives.
2.Basic Styles of Fairy Kei
Fairy Kei is based on creating a cute pastel and vintage look. But the rules for this style are very unique, there is no right or wrong way to put an outfit together. But there are a few aspects that remain constant throughout this style. The most popular Fairy Kei visuals include 80s toys, rainbows, cats, and unicorns to name a few.
3.Color Scheme of Fairy Kei
This style is mainly based around muted pastel colors and NO other dark colors are used. The Color Scheme for Fairy Kei is always light and pastels are always included. So basically only light colors may be used for your outfits. The colors that are used the most would be light pink, baby blue, light yellow, lavender purple, lime green, and mint, etc.
4. The Pop Culture in Fairy Kei
Fairy Kei features a lot of 80s revivalists cartoons such as Care Bears, My Little Pony, and 80s Barbies, etc. Some even draw inspiration for their outfits, from famous artists like Haruka Kurebayashi or Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. These two artists are very well known in The Harajuku Kawaii Fashion community.
5.Fairy Kei Clothing
There are no special rules on what type of clothing to wear for Fairy Kei. But, usually, the clothing would be loose and cute. Who doesn’t like an oversized hoodie or T-shirt? The most popular items would be tulle skirts, pastel tights, oversized sweaters or T-shirt’s, puffy bloomers, and pleated skirts.
Tight clothing or form-fitting are generally discouraged. Another important tip, to have many cute patterns, details, or colors on your clothing is a very popular part. Popular patterns like polka dots, unicorns, teddy bears and stars, etc.
6. Fairy Kei Shoes
Any pastel shoes would work for Fairy Kei outfits. Shoes that are worn the most would be sneakers and boots or even platform shoes. Platform shoes have become quite popular in all of the Harajuku Kawaii styles.
7. Fairy Kei Accessories
Kawaii accessories are essential to Fairy Kei style and many of the other styles too. But the number of accessories used in Fairy Kei is not the same as Decora style. Popular accessories include bows, hair clips, necklaces, and those Japanese bunched ankle socks(also known as Leg Warmers). Any Kawaii pastel piece of jewelry would work.
8.Fairy Kei Hair Style
Most people use their natural hair or a wig. Wigs are the most pooping choice because it is much easier than having to dye your hair. As for natural hair. I suggest cute hairstyles like space buns or pigtails with bangs. Don’t forget to add some Kawaii hair clips to your hairstyle.
9.Fairy Kei Makeup
Not much makeup is used in Fairy Kei. You know what they say, less is better. You don’t need to wear a lot of makeup to look cute, your outfit has that part covered. But the most common style is a large eye makeup style with pastel eyeshadow and a small amount of blush. And if you want, you could add some pink lipstick or lip gloss to tie the whole look together. But if you want a little extra with your makeup, you could put some stickers on your face or cute band-aids. Placing cute band-aids onto your noise is quite popular in Decora fashion but it can work for any style.
10. Where to buy Fairy Kei clothing?
A) Paloli World is an online Kawaii clothing and lingerie store. They have a wide range of Kawaii maid dresses, skirts, and Sanrio clothing. As well as kawaii accessories like cat ears headbands, hats, and jewelry to name a few.
B) SPANK! is a physical and online store from Japan. Their store is based in Harajuku, Japan. Their store fully caters to Fairy Kei style. This store sells vintage and handmade Kawaii clothing and accessories.
C) ACDC RAG is an alternative clothing store based in Tokyo, Japan. At this store, they sell clothes that cater to all styles of fashion. They are quite affordable for a popularly known clothing brand. They even sell platform sneakers!
D) Incontrol Clothing is an alternative clothing store from the US. They are an alternative subculture brand offering aesthetically pleasing. They cater to styles like Harajuku, pastel, gothic and visual kei styles, etc.
E) Nile Perch is a physical and online store from Tokyo, Japan. They mainly sell vintage kawaii and pastel clothing. This store is also quite affordable. This store is perfect for anyone who loves Fairy Kei.
F) YRU shoes is a physical and online store in the USA. This is the perfect store to buy kawaii platform sneakers. But if you are not ready to wear platforms, they do sell normal sneakers too. They are quite expensive but it is an investment that you must make.
To answer your question, all of these stores do ship internationally. But if you’re lucky, you could find some kawaii pastel clothing in your own country. You could look at thrift stores or stores that sell vintage clothing in your country to create a Kawaii pastel outfit. I hope that these top 10 tips about Fairy Kei were helpful and that you’ll enjoy the Kawaii journey. You have a lot more creative freedom in Fairy Kei compared to the other Harajuku Fashion styles.
Written by Jessica Norman
Instagram: rainb0w.sweety
Reference list :
https://littlemisswonderland.com/what-is-fairy-kei/
https://ninjacosmico.com/15-fashion-tips-on-how-to-dress-as-fairy-kei/