How to be Kawaii

There are a lot of personalities out there. The cool. The smart. The jock. The joker. And many, many more. But the personality I am going to talk about today is KAWAII. (As the title suggest. LOL.)

I am not the expert on “how to be kawaii”. I do have experience of trying to be kawaii. But my other side of wanting to be cool gets in the way so I tend to get mix feedbacks. Literally someone told me before that I was cool and cute. (Very flattering by the way. LOL.) So I want to try making an article of “how to be kawaii”.

Also, it is important to note that being kawaii doesn’t necessarily only apply to girls. Guys can also be kawaii but can still be straight. Okay? Okay? It may just be a little more difficult for them especially in real life. I mean, let’s be honest, how many real guys you know in person that you consider as “kawaii”, huh? I can only think of a few. But majority of them are kids. And one questionable adult. BUT! It is not impossible. However, I will not be tackling that in this article. (Sorry boys who wondered here. LOL.)

I only have 3 general rules of how to be kawaii. That’s right. THREE. The things I’m going to say in this article are mixture of research and personal experience. So if there is anything in the content of this article that is similar to other articles out there, I am sorry but we just have the same belief! Okay?

Here we go! How To Be Kawaii:

RULE NUMBER ONE: APPERANCE

Alright, we all know the saying: “don’t judge the book by its cover” right?” I am sorry to tell you readers, but not everyone does that. They do judge you. I think it’s a reflex. Of course, there are those who try not to but it can’t really be help. You see someone, even from afar, and instantly, you get an impression of them by how they dress and expressions. That’s just how people are and that’s just how life is. Sucks right?

But don’t despair! Because we can turn that fact around. Let’s use it as our own playing cards. You wanna judge me from how I look? Fine. Go ahead. I can always mix it up for you to get the impression I want you to. And that’s rule number 1!

Be cautious of how you dress. From what you put in your hair to what shoes you wear. There are A LOT to cover in this section so let’s do from top to bottom, okay?

How to be kawaii HAIR

For your hair, have an image of an elementary school girl. I know, it’s weird. But you can’t deny that it was during the time you were a kid, people can describe you as cute. (If you were the pretty type. LOL.) So, use that image as an inspiration when you’re thinking of what to do with your hair.

If you have long hairs to just below the shoulders, you can try pigtails, side pony tails, and of course, braids. Now hair accessories can be used for any hair lengths. Headbands is an option. But what really makes you look kawaii, are bows. But be careful with the color and patterns you choose. THINK KAWAII!

Let’s take these characters for example, Aihara Enju from Black Bullet. She has long hair and choose pig tails hairstyle. And don’t you just agree that she’s adorable?

For side pony tails, there is this anime called Brothers Conflict. There’s only one girl character (LOL. Reverse harem. By the way, she is the only girl character in reverse harem who I do not hate but instead pity. XD). And I just love her hair style. After I watched this anime, I wore that hair style for weeks. Oh, her name is Hinata Ema by the way.

For braids, this character isn’t actually from an anime. Its fan art of the movie Zootopia and this is Judy Hops. I love their human versions. Hehe. So this is one of the fan art where her hair is braided and she’s just super adorable. Right?

Oh, just a little side note. My favourite hair accessory (if it is considered as accessory) are HATS. I just simply love them.

Exhibit A. From the anime adaption of The iDOLM@STER. The group called Ryuuguu Komachi. Every one with hair accessories and they are just so kawaii!

CLOTHES

Now here is the fun part. Outfits. There are a lot of ways to dress kawaii. Dresses. Tops. Bottoms. You can mix and match any clothes you have or might want to buy. That’s what I do.

The general idea when picking what to wear for how to be kawaii are these: Lolita dresses, bloomer shorts, suspenders, floral outfits, and bright, frilly clothes. BUT! Don’t be limited with those. You can always experiment and you don’t need to buy the expensive outfits (especially Lolita dresses) to look kawaii.

Oh, AN IMPORTANT NOTE: PLEASE, PLEASE, wear clothes appropriate in your country and the season. Your goal is to look kawaii and not to make a scene.

Anyway, simple shorts, statement shirts, sneakers, and side pony tails are already cute. If you know what you are doing. Old blouses and skirts will also do. I seriously believe you can make any clothes look kawaii with the right match. Heck I can make business clothes look cute. (LOL.)

So just to show you a few examples.

First up is Hinamori Amu from Shugo Chara. I want to say that I love this character because of her fashion sense. She can be cool and cute at the same time. Hehe. As you can see in the photo below, she’s wearing a hoodie. Another outfit that can be cool or cute, depending on how you use it. If you look closer, you will see that she’s only wearing a plain white shirt and green shorts and yet put it all together and you get kawaii. You can also see the other outfits she wears that are also so kawaii. She just mix and match.

Another girl who just never stops having the right fashion sense to being kawaii. I’m pretty sure you know her. Kinomoto Sakura from the series Cardcaptor Sakura. (LOL.) She isn’t my favourite character but I really love her outfits. Especially in the latest series, Cardcaptro Sakura Clear Cards. I’m not really talking about her costumes when she’s in action but her regular outside getups. To show a few are the picture below. Just let you have an idea of how to be kawaii.

SHOES

The rules for outfits applies to shoes. Wear any shoes you like from sneakers to combat boots. It’ll work as long as you match it with you clothes and hairstyle. All three must go together for you to look kawaii.

A little note, skirts looks so cute when you match them with boots. Or sneakers. But I’ve always been bias with boots. They’re in my top favourite things to wear. If I could, I would wear them every day. And when I’m rich, I’m going to buy so many boots to the point that I’m going to need to have a whole closet dedicated for boots. (LOL. Okay that’s sharing too much personal information.)

So I’m not going to use anime for this part. I just went searching for kawaii shoes I can find. From sneakers to girlie girl shoes. (LOL.)

RULE NUMBER TWO: ATTITUDE

It never enough to just fix your outside appearance. Your insides should also match the way you physically look. Which means you also have to mind your personality for your how to be kawaii process.

Please remember that being flirty and acting cutesy is very different. Don’t let people say otherwise. Just because you’re being cute and kind to people, does not mean you are flirting with them. Especially with guys! If they find you cute and other girls think you’re a flirt, just let them be. They might just be jealous and the mean girls type. Like those classic school setting animes. (LOL. There always have to be one of those kinds of characters.)

Back to how to be kawaii. When you are a kawaii girl, you need to be sweet, kind, empathetic, never pick fights (which I don’t possess. LOL.), pleasant to be around, friendly, use good language (kawaii girls never curse. If you do, you can be labelled as the bad girl type. LOL.), and people have to consider you as an adorable person. You don’t need to refer to yourself as the third person or use high pitch voices to be considered kawaii. Just be a lovely person.

You can’t act all high and mighty and snobbish and distant and expect people to say your kawaii. A crappy personality receives crappy reviews. So match your outside with your inside. Or better yet, vice versa. Fix your inside and then fix your outside. People always say that who you are inside is always better than you are outside. Or was it, it’s better to be beautiful inside and not so beautiful outside than to be beautiful outside and ugly inside? But the lesson is the same.

RULE NUMBER THREE: JUST HAVE FUN

Did you expect this rule? (LOL.) I seriously believe this is the most important rule. When you’re having fun, you’re just being yourself. Being natural. It’s not enough to fake it. You need to relax and just honestly express yourself. When you are having fun, it’s real. And emotions, expressions, body language, and all of that just come out natural. Which is an adorable quality.

And of course, when you’re having fun, you smile. And smiling really adds to being kawaii. A gloomy person and someone who doesn’t always smile can’t expect to be called kawaii by others. Right? Smiling is always one of your best arsenal. If you have a great smile and pleasing personality, then you’re already half way there to being a kawaii girl. Especially if your smiles show your PERFECT teeth. I don’t have perfect teeth so I can’t really smile all out.

Oh, oh! And the kind of smile the will make your eyes disappear or that kind of smile that makes your eyes look like they are smiling as well. WOW! Now that’s really kawaii. And those smiles can only show when you’re having fun.

Being kawaii is fun as it is really. So just relax, be you, and smile. That’s really the best tip I can give you to how to be kawaii. It’s not the fancy accessories or the flashy outfits or even the crazy hairstyles you can come up with. Your most natural self is your cutest self.

That’s all. I hope you enjoyed this article. And I hope you now know how to be kawaii. (If this was of any use to you. Hehe.) If you have any comments or criticisms about this article, don’t be afraid to voice it out. Or maybe you have your own tips about how to be kawaii. Let’s talk again in my next article! Stay Kawaii guys~!