SuperRetroKitsch

kitsch: [kich] something of tawdry design, appearance, or content created to appeal to popular or undiscriminating taste.

I've always been a big ol' fan of all things a little bit silly and a little bit kitsch; one of my life ambitions to have a portrait of a very Western-looking Jesus Christ in the Sacred Heart style with a frame of seashells and bad latin phrases. It is no surprise, then, that retro brites and leopard print make several appearances in my wardrobe.


Like these guys. I apologize again for the pure shiteness that is my camera, but in the top pic is a bracelet whose beads have little pictures of street signs, kittens and so on. Next to that are two earrings; one in 60s monochrome/geometric design and the other a little plastic hotdog. on the far right is a brooch i inherited from my gran. They are all lying on a scarf covered in Mickey and Friends (TM! R!! ETC!!!) print. In the second pic is a pair of polka-dot slingback shoes, with little hearts on the insoles. In the last is a hair-ribbon with a SuperMario mushroom charm on it, which I bought last week from the Brighton Tattoo Convention (which was awesome, thanks for asking). Sadly I can source none of these things - they all come from weird and wonderful places so all I can suggest is to go through your granny's old stuff, don't disregard crap from when you were a kid, and if you see a pair of awesome shoes in Italy, buy them.

So what else have I got for you?
Well I have a rather spiffy collection of stuff thanks to polyvore which I think fits our theme:

Clockwise from top left: Skull-print hoodie, Asiajam.com; super-spiffy trainers, luisaviaroma.com; sparkly puppy and diamante ring, asos.com; pastel cardigan, forever21; bright pink Uggs, zappos.com; pacman boxers, webundies.com; striped toe-socks, shinyshack.com; supermario mushroom belt buckle, gkworld.com; cupcake bandages, kitsch.fi; flamingo umbrella, flamingo.no; girly purse, femina.ch.

Check out some more retro inspiration:

How AWESOME is this weird hoodie thing? And matching your eyeshadow to your clothes? Oh hells yeah.

Found via weheartit.com, photographer not known :(

How cute is this? I think it should be quite feasible to do at home as well, with some acrylic paint and a fairly sturdy pair of opaques. I'll get back to you on that...

dressaday.com

Check it out! Tetris dress! I love it very much. Sadly, the dress is not for sale BUT you can email this lady and she will GIVE you (as in, for free) the fabric print and then you can have it printed for yourself via spoonflower. Then make it into a dress, curtains, whatever.

(c) lost_Christy via weheartit.com

This is SUPERBRITE. Let's rave like it's 1992 people. Failing that, let's create a similar outfit:

Made via polyvore.com

Top and shorts are H&M, the blush is Bobbi Brown and the eyeshadow is Revlon. Earrings are kohls.com. Yellow socks are twincityknitting.com, tights and legwarmers are welovecolors.com, shoes are amiclubwear.com.

If you want to go kitsch, you mustn't forget that blue eyeshadow all the way up to your eyebrows! With maybe some pink blush, a beauty spot, and red lipstick?

That's what I'm talkin' about!

That is not.

'But Bob!' I hear you cry, for that is my name, 'How shall we do our hair to match all this fantastic-ness?' Fear not friends, for I have found the most spectacular hair in the world!

Found via weheartit.com

Imagine maintaining that - I can barely be bothered with one colour, let alone three. She looks AWESOME though, and if you look closely you'll see her nails are painted to match the flowers. So cute!