What started with cosplay and a hatred of boring men’s fashion became an experiment in softer silhouettes, Japanese and Korean influences, affordable styling, and fashion illustration.
Crafting a Soft Feminine Aesthetic inspired by Asia has been pretty fun. What started out as cosplay and a disdain for boring men’s looks developed into a style experiment that I get to live on a daily basis. If you were to ask me how I got here, it would be lots of observation, experimentation, and obliviousness to social convention. A lot of you might not know it, but I did try to take a fashion design course in college. This drawing started out as a simple question: How can I use my current skills and time to combine croquis, chibi, anime, and east asian fashion to develop a soft look for my frame?
Finding My Look
I’ve always been told I was soft growing up, and I used to fight it, but now I’m accepting and embracing that aspect of myself. I recently went to a Salt Mixer Event where I was told if you are a multi-disciplinary creative, you have to find ways to combine your passions so blogging+art+fashion. A lesson I also took to heart there was placing more strict time limits and restrictions on myself so I tried to finish the drawing in an hour.
Look Inspiration
I had been wanting to dress a little softer, so I googled “androgynous clothing”. The image with the blue sweater was one of the first results. While it was closer to how I wanted to dress, I realized a look like that wouldn’t complement my frame. Like my laundry, or a cake, I let that idea sit in my head and bake for a while as I lived life like normal.
I did a soft trial run and developed a look that was softer, but still pretty socially normal.
Crafting a Look I Can’t Afford
During one of my shifts in downtown Seattle, I walked by the Mario’s store. There was an outfit that would match what I was going for, but as you readers know, I can barely afford to splurge $25 on dinner, so how could I afford a Brunello Cucinelli sweater for $25,000. . . $25K for a sweater . . . people are crazy. I don’t even know who Brunello Cucinelli is, probably some arrogant rich dude now. I get it, though; gotta get the bag.
Instead of paying a Master’s Level amount of college debt for a sweater or robbing a bank, I realized I could emulate the refined elegance at a fraction of the cost.
Unique Clothing: Finding Affordable Alternatives
After living in the greater Tokyo Metropolitan Area for 2 years, the Uniqlo branding is burned into my retinas. They have a store at seemingly every semi-large station in the Kanto Plain. We have Japan at Home. Working by Westlake Station means that I get that experience every workday. When I saw a similar culotte in Uniqlo, I used that as a base to develop my new look.
I hope the employees who dress the mannequins in stores are treated well, because I love their work. While I couldn’t quite match the subtle luxury of the metallic fabric of the Brunello top, I ordered the remaining two pieces off of Amazon… yeah, I know, but sometimes convenience is king. The problem with shopping online is that I wanted the sweater to be a little more oversized. It’s important to have measurements when shopping online; getting them professionally done is on my to-do list.
Colors and Kicks
I stuck with a warm neutral and almost pastel palette to embody refinement: soft, approachable, friendly, and warm. The collection of browns and beige colors complemented my skin tone well. My hair and nails being a nice light lavendar/purple gave me the splash of color I needed to add some Harajuku/Korean inspired fasion forward edge. Because the colors were so understated, I tried to make the silhouette, drape, or combination of material visually interesting.
To match the soft aesthetic, I paired black or white platform sandals with tan or beige accents. The platforms I have include either a rope or cork texture. I find the natural materials ground and balance the edgy hair. Even better is if the sandals have a gold or silver accent highlighting quiet luxury comfort. Some days I chose to wear either black or white lace socks with ruffles to break the silhouette up. Since the dogs are out I can show off the pristine work they do at XO Nail.
An added bonus is that with these platforms, I’m probably over six feet tall. “Hi ladies” raises eyebrows*
If you’re gonna have your feet out, take care of them bad boys; no one wants to see corn and crust on anything but cornbread or Japanese pizza. . . that is a thing corn mayo pizza
Accessories
I’d pair this look with silver jewelry to keep the aesthetic from going into the bougie territory. A simple necklace or choker, a simple wristwatch, earrings, and simple bracelets would help to elevate the look without making it gaudy.
If you have a smartwatch, I’d recommend replacing the silicone wristband with a simple metallic one so that the look stays cohesive. Bonus for getting French tips, as they read silent refinement.
The Final Illustration
The final illustration is cuter than the IRL inspiration because I targeted using round shapes in every area I could. You’ll notice that the round shapes do a lot to soften a masculine frame that you’ll see below. The pant flare helps to give a softer silhouette and elongate the legs by ending mid-calf. This is emphasized by the nude skin seen through sandals.
The character is 8-8.5 heads tall, leaning towards a croquis. Thin limbs and simplified features help to keep the clothes as the main focus of the image. I used a natural pencil brush in Photoshop to keep the piece from feeling too cel-shaded and digital; adding a canvas texture to the background helped to give it that amateur charm. The coloring is also made simple in order to finish the work in time.
The pose is meant to evoke a friendly, aloof, welcoming, innocent, and awkward feeling. It is a bit stiff and lacks dimension towards the top of the pose; that is done to keep the clothes draped in a particular fashion.
Concepts and Progress
I tested the outfit on myself at first.
Once I knew that the concept was solid, I drew an image in my sketchbook first. It felt good to open it after all this time. I’d like to be able to sketch directly into Photoshop, but there’s something about the tactile feel of pencil and paper that puts me back to a simpler time in life.
The frame itself is quite masculine. The boxy shape of the shoulders and the narrow hips shows you just how important clothing silhouettes and layering can be. I went with my tried and true process.
Process
- Sketch
- Clean Sketch
- Linework
- Flat Colors
- Shading
- Flatten Image for Adjustments
Moving Forward
I’ve been getting a lot of compliments at events, at work, during outings, and even online. As someone who hadn’t put much thought into their appearance outside of cosplay, it’s nice to be complimented on the effort. There’s research that shows that people value compliments directed towards things that they can control as opposed to something they were born with. As an example, it’s better to compliment someone’s hair, nails, clothes, or tattoos than to say “you are so beautiful”. As a self-identified ugly, I’ve never had to worry about my natural looks drawing eyes, but I’m glad that it’s my efforts that have caught the attention.
This gives me the courage to keep exploring and developing the aesthetic and come up with my own combinations as I learn more about fashion and presentation.
I’d also like to learn to sew so I can learn to make/modify clothes. The ability to make something of your own makes the idea of going to thrift shops much more fun. Turns out even if you have to drop your fashion design class, it doesn’t stop you from designing your own look.
Because even with my increase in raw revenue and take-home income, I’m a baller on a budget baby.
Much Love,
LaidbackMarco
