Hello Kitty Vogue Hommes
Most people, when they hear the concept of men fashion combined with Hello Kitty, have to try hard not to fall into a fit of hysterical laughter at the pure absurdity of it all. That doesn’t dissuade the evil feline and her cohorts at Sanrio from trying to convince the world that Hello Kitty and men belong together. Take this photo for example:
I took one look at the photo and thought that the fashion industry had freakin lost their minds, but apparently I’m wrong. According to the review:
Japanese men are arguably among the world’s most stylish, so the debut issue of Vogue Hommes Japan, hitting stores today, promised to be a bible of forward-thinking menswear—and it doesn’t disappoint…
My wife loves it. She took one look, looked straight at me and said, “see, men do wear Hello Kitty!” with that look confirming that my protest in the past that “men don’t wear Hello Kitty” will no longer work. Why do I get the ominous and gut churning feeling inside that if Hello Kitty does become fashionable for men, that my Hello Kitty Hell up to this point has only been a prelude to what is yet to come…
Sent in by Julie (via style) who really should be tortured in unspeakable ways for ever thinking that sending this to me could result in anything good and encouraging my wife to believe that Hello Kitty is OK for men…
Popularity: 11%
Posted: September 11th, 2008 under Hello Kitty Fashion, Hello Kitty Strange.
Comments: 75
Yeah, men wear Hello Kitty…. if they are paid a shedload of money to do so.
That’s a face mask, being worn as a “fascinator”, by someone who’s smoking. The message is surely that it’s ok to deliberately misuse HK stuff, so, say, you could use the HK guest towels to wash the car, and claim (with photographic evidence) that Vogue say that it’s stylish to do so!!
I can see that nothing has changed on this site and it still makes my blood pressure soar. The only one that has lost his mind and should be seen as absurd is you and we’ve all known that for long time ago.
You’re a man that doesn’t like Hello Kitty. That shows right away that you have no idea what true fashion is. For you to comment makes no sense at all. Hello Kitty is an icon and only those with true fashion sense realize that.
This shows that you are still insecure with your masculinity which shows even more that nothing has changed. Real men can show off Hello Kitty because they are secure with their manhood and confident. You ridicule it only because you don’t have the manliness or confidence to wear Hello Kitty. Time for you to look into the mirror and see that you’ll never be a real man.
Just goes to show that you can do anything, take a black and white photo of it, and excuse it by calling it “Art”.
I wear Hello Kitty as much as I can, it opens the doors of wisdom and makes people relax while seeing her. Hello Kitty is not for girls or for boys, she’s for everyone who has a certain sense of appreciation of art. Is music for boys or for girls ? No. Painting ? No. So why should Hello Kitty be gender-oriented ? Hello Kitty is unique and shouldn’t follow the sociologic rules of gender.
ps: I love Hello Kitty and I love your site too.
Woo Hoo… Darlene is back!
and please “Japanese mean are arguably among the most stylish” I’ve been to Japan on several occasions and never once have I seen a stylish Japanese man.
sorry (sp) I meant “men”
Darlene just said something sensible!!!
“HK is an icon”: Yes. but that doesn’t mean she’s a male fashion icon. She’s more of a toddler/kindergarten age girl fashion icon if anything.
I agree, Kitteh!! HK really isn’t a fashion icon.
“… confirming that my protest in the past that “men don’t wear Hello Kitty” will no longer work”
You can try to argue that fashion models are not “real” men and hence your theory remains true. All bets are off when lumberjacks start sporting the HK.
I agree HK is hardly what I would consider a fashion icon, and the Japanese are a far cry from being the most fashion sensible… When you think of fashion forward Japan is not one of the first places that comes to mind. From the fashion I’ve seen out of Japan it looks like a group of 6 year olds are running the show
Oh damn it! She’s back… @#$%# %^##^$^ @$%*#@$%!!!!!!!!!
Okay… I’m better…. I think….
WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Are they really trying to make a James Dean wannabe HK lover model?!?!?!? What the HELL?????
Sorry, this just totally blows my mind that they would take a real live ‘Icon’ like James Dean and copy it for something as non masculine as HK…
‘Hello Kitty is unique and shouldn’t follow the sociologic rules of gender.’…my ASS… I meet a guy that wears HK stuff and I’m immediately thinking he’s gayer than a 2 dollar bill! Which is fine all to be gay. But I’m sorry, pink and purple are feminine colors… Hello?… Science of Color anyone???
Okay and if HK is a fashion Icon… what is an icon for? One Dimensional 20″ mutant cats that walk upright and have no mouths???
Okay, tirade over… sorry had to get that out… (drinks 32 oz Chick-fil-a Sweet Tea)…ahhhh… sweet peace…
@Cathereine I agree about the men of Japan… have they ever heard the term ‘Highwaters’??? Michael Jackson would be proud
Whew… well it just goes to show that anything can pass as art or fashion. That whole eye/beholder thing. Personally I think it would be a great pic without the HK mask thingy. Very James Dean looking… I think it’s the grey tones and squinted eye that does it.
Darlene, you used to love this blog and all the stuff that Mr. HKH wrote. What changed?
Not like Japanese women are fashion or style icons either IME; they seem to have 4 default outfits (apart from cosplay):-
1) Schoolgirl uniform
2) Adult corporate uniform
3) Adult mid-calf skirt and crew-neck jumper 2 sizes too big laterally everywhere except neck and arm holes.
4) Teenage cleavagey crop top, microskirt and killer heels.
Catherine wrote:
I’ve been to Japan on several occasions and never once have I seen a stylish Japanese men.
I have to agree with her observation.
Mr. Hello Kitty Hell, I assume you are still in Japan you should know better.
Having been in Japan myself, I can say you cannot judge Japanese fashion sense though Western eyes. Kitteh is very close concerning the School Uniform (boys and Girls) and corporate wear, what you are missing is they are both displays of ridged conformity in Japanese society. It also the You Japanese tilt for loud fashions on their off time a la Harajuku Station on Sunday. Sunday is probably the only time they get to bust out of the conformity forced upon them daily and show some individuality. sS for use of hello kitty again I am not surprised know how much Kawii (Cuteness) has infused Japanese society.
The other issue can men have and like Hello Kitty, my answer is we (as Americans) are not free to act contrary to society norms? (and in my case still feel gender roles ie the differences between boy and girls is fine) My answer is yes and I do. I own three Hello Kitty plushies. Hello Kitty was designed for females but there is not law saying a guy cannot enjoy the kitty. In addition, if Sanrio want to make Hello Kitty Men’s product please let me know when they get into the US and I would like the Hello Kitty Gothic letter shirt in 5xlt please. Oh yes I am not gay, I just am so eccentric and independent to make a relationship work. I I was open to date scene she has to be a Furry or a Hello Kitty fan or very understanding.
Catherine, if make snide remark I will send you a picture of me a big guy hugging my favorite 22” hello Kitty Plush while covered with a Hello Kitty Comforter knowing I will torment you right into a padded cell next to Mr. Hell Kitty Hell. (Insert diabolical villain laughing)
Yes, Acton men are supposed to enjoy “the kitty” but not HK!!!!!!!!
@ Kitteh!!!
Exactly.
Ahahhaha that’s hot!!
.. kidding!
@Catherine LOL
Buy why not have both?
oh I realized I might have step in it. big time.
So sick of everyone trying to jump on the HK novelty boat. Shit’s been around since ’76, stop beating it to death.
Damn society and it’s lack of originality and fresh material.
Hmmm…HK vintage hat… looks soooo kewl…
talking about japanese men being fashionable… or stylish… I havent gone to japan, but after seeing a lot of movies, LA series and images… I think that utterly they take fashion more seriously than occidental men… even if its only for a Sunday.
@mhkitty,
AGREED! My god, the bitch is back. GOD DAMMIT! >.<
I guess I never got through to her with my comment about her stupidity.
I wonder how long HK fashion will be in Japan for.
Also Darlene, what changed about your opinion with this website?
And shouldn’t they make men’s HK if they want men to wear HK so bad?
So many questions….
Acton, I’ve not been to Japan. My comments were based on documentaries, films, and meeting actual Japanese people in what we’d call “relaxed and informal” social situations. Typical gaijin dress for these events being tee-shirt and jeans, or Goth for the Goths and Emos! Yet the Japanese women were still in outfit (3) or (4) depending on age.
@Acton, remind me not to piss you off then…
The wosrt part is, this isn’t even a damn hat!
It’s a hard plastic (halloween style) mask!
And is this guy even Japanese???
@Kitteh
Precisely, the girl you mentioned will act as you describe even when we call relaxed social situations she will not stand or act out of bounds of norms Japanese society.
@mhkitty06
no problem I can take it. I already get static being a Black, right of center republican furry.
“And normal? Who’d wanna be? It’s not for us! You can heckle us all you like from the Boring Bus! And if you need to put a weirdo down to feel bigger, then you’re a sad sort of person and you’re sicker than Doug Winger. ”
“One extra single doesn’t do a lot of damage; We furries have dealt with quite enough spammage. With all that said, the tide is turning. The wounds are healing and we’re quickly learning that:
Best paw forward is the way to go! Put your best paw forward and away you go! Put your best paw forward and away you go! That is if you’ve even got a paw. Um. I don’t know.”
I’d rather be furry (and a hello kitty fan) and use my imagination And die a happy death instead of bitter stagnation. I’d rather express than repress and then get depressed And then get stressed about my situation. ”
The furry song with some modification
Well, keep in mind that HK is way more of a pop culture icon in japan than here, like Mickey Mouse in the U.S. Not that I’m defending HK, I’m just saying that ya gotta look at it from more than one angle.
@Liz
Agreed, “pop” icon.. Both HK and Mickey, but I would never consider them to be fashion icons
@Sara Dane
Have you SEEN all the mickey merch? It’s nuts!
I think Liz and Sara Dane have swerved into something: if Disney for men can work why not Hello Kitty. As I think about it, I find it interesting how essentially the roles between Mickey and Minnie Mouse vs., Hello Kitty and Dear Daniel are reversed. In the Disney universe Mickey it the Lead and Minnie is the supporting character and in the Hello Kitty universe Hello Kitty is the lead. I still believe Mickey is still popular in Asia.
Holy crap Acton. Nobody cares about you being a damn furry ffs, so you can stop constantly bringing up your sick little fetishes in HK conversations for no reason.
Theres plenty of ways to have fun dude. Just because people don’t have screwed up sexual fetishes, or they don’t devote their pathetic little lives to something as dumb as Hello Kitty, it doesn’t mean they are boring.
Some people have rich fulfilling jobs that they love, and thats the center of their life. Some people have a loving family to whom they devote all their time, and thats the main point of their life. These people might lead uneventful lives, but they are rich and full of personal rewards. So if these people say something bad about you being a furry they’re boring? No, they are pretty justified IMO.
I’m into something pretty out of the ordinary too, but I don’t shout it from the mountaintops and then spend all my energy defending it like you. I know its weird, and people should flame me because it is weird.
Besides, that stupid furry song just makes fun of how other people live just because people make fun of the way you live. Ya, thats totally going to get you places. You should keep doing that because it makes so much sense.
On the topic of HK, how exactly does Disney work for men? I cannot think of any guy I have ever known that has had real liking for anything Disney. The only times I’ve ever seen them buy anything Disney what-so-ever, it was for their female siblings or girlfriends. All that crap, including HK is for younger girls.
@ Liz
A fashion icon has significance with the way people dress like high waisted pencil skirts, big sunglasses, and T length fitted over coats just to name a few of the most common.. I don’t see anyone, Japanese or American running around dressing like HK or Mickey… Well maybe some people, I don’t want to leave out Acton and his friends lol 
Yes I totally agree with you that they are super huge pop culture icons who have their face on everything from stickers to toilet paper.. But that does not by any means constitute them as fashion icons.. Those would be actual people i.e. Jackie O or Katherine Hepburn
Pop Icon Major, Fashion Icon not so much…
Ok I was a bit long winded Some times I find it not worth the time to defend what I believe, it like trying to talk sense to a deranged anti-bush liberal.
Looks like the song got to you well good because it speak right at you. The “beautiful people” who get their rock off jumping on any person that’s not normal in their eyes be it furries or hello kitty fans. So the short
1. America if a free country.
2. You do lie what I do as long as I not brake any laws the see 1.
3. If you sill do not like it you are free to move tot eh desert, or forest, no inter net no people and you never have to worry about running another person again. Problem solved.
My only crime is I hate being normal (see 1. )
I have learning disorder I am quite inteligent but unable to put words in coreect order.
Ok I was a bit long winded Some times I find it not worth the time to defend what I believe, it like trying to talk sense to a deranged anti-bush liberal.
Looks like the song got to you well good because it speak right at you. The “beautiful people” who get their rock off jumping on any person that’s not normal in their eyes be it furries or hello kitty fans. So the short
1. America if a free country.
2. You do lie what I do as long as I not break any laws the see 1.
3. If you sill do not like it you are free to move to the desert, or forest, no Internet no people and you never have to worry about running another person again. Problem solved.
My only crime is I hate being normal (see 1. )
@Acton
I think you’ve missed my point. I’m not agreeing with the opinion that men should be okay with wearing HK stuff. I’m saying that as far as I know no one here is from Japan(and those who are are free to correct me on that) and as such, we shouldn’t judge every HK item from our country’s viewpoint, culturally.
@Sara Dane
You’re totally right. I don’t think that it constitutes them as fashion icons. But some people do, and make them that way. That’s what you’re saying, right? Or did I totally mess up what you were saying?
@Jason
Get a grip! So the guy wants to be himself, just let it go!
@Liz
So him being “himself” is constantly bringing he’s furry when it has absolutely no beating what-so-ever on the conversation at hand? Lets all bring up thing about our personal lives for no reason here. Ya, that makes sense.
@Acton
Nobody is “normal.” Everyone has their weird quirks, different views, and different ways of doing things. You think that you’re one of the few “not normal” people in this world simply because 99% of people think what you do is seriously f**ked up, and that is so incredibly ignorant…
@LIz- I stand corrected and agree with you. Hello Kitty for men may working Japan but most likely not work in the US (except for me) less we have another all things Japan craze like in the 80′s (not likely). In addition fashion sense will be different, dictated by culture. ps I been station in Yokosuka Japan 1984-88 and bit of a world traveler. Europe and Asia.
@Jason
We can agree to disagree.
If you want to believe all the misconception lies the media been putting out, I can not stop you but you are wrong. What started this was Catherine very witty jab and some who think I going go off or am offended when they take a swipe. The song is reflects my aptitude, its no big thing brother (a Don Ho lingo) I seen it before in my Politics and religion. I am a 47 your old guy who is a furry and so far 16 plushies including 3 Hello Kitty Plushies, probably end up like the Hello kitty Jacket dude. But it is not my problem if you can’t handle it.
I am done with you and the conversation. (for the sake of the rest of the readers)
I still will comment if it applicable IE. the post Hello Kitty for men I say yes (for my self) and I do. Bring on the men stuff.
@Acton
What I cannot handle is people like you. I don’t dislike you because you’re a furry or you like HK (it doesn’t help), I dislike you because you’re just plain stupid and too full of yourself to realize that you’re just as self righteous as the people who make fun of you… its so very hypocritical.
You’re pretty much just a sheep (no furry pun intended), you just post stuff just like everyone else without fully thinking about it, including that stupid song that someone else made.
But since you said that the previous post was your last, I guess that makes this my closing argument. Its been fun. ^_^
@Jason
Okay, you’re right, I went a little off there. So the guy acted in a way you didn’t agree with. I guess I shouldn’t have gone after you because you tell it to people the way you think it, without trying to be polite or anything.
@Acton
There was an all-Japan craze in the 80′s? I guess I’m not old enough to have known about it, how did that happen?
I have to take it back Abbot,it seems it comes and goes in American history. From Madam Butterfly to Pokemon today.
Sorry but HK isn’t for the average man. In fact, unless you are an effeminate gay, or have some sicko sex fetish about HK, there is NO, AND I MEAN NO REASON in the world for a man to like HK. Unless of course, you are some poor shumck who’s in need of desparate attention from others and flaunts your “love of HK” to get said attention. If you are a man who collects and enjoys HK, it doesn’t make you “special” or different, it just makes you seem weird and creepy to others.
I think the execution of the photo was set up as some secret experiment to see if the regular male population would embrace the idea of HK and therefore set forth a another evergrowing market of Sanrio merchandise targeted towards men. Most likely this is just some stupid stunt to get publicity for thier new fashion magazine, which by the way, most men don’t purchase to begin with. It’s their hope that women will buy it to encourage the men in their lives to dress better.
@Liz
Hehe. I don’t use that kind of attitude towards all people. Just people being overly ignorant, hypocritical, or just plain dumb.
And if you think I’m just like that over the internet because of the anonymity, you’re mistaken. I’ve went off on complete strangers before… only a few though lol.
I mean, I’ll be extremely polite and courteous to people I meet, but the moment they say or do something so stupid that leaves me completely dumbfounded, I have to let them know how dumb it was.
Hell, thats why back in my High School days when I worked at KFC, I was the cook and not the person at the register. If a customer would start yelling at me for no reason about something stupid, I just know I would start yelling back. The customer is always right? Not when he/she pisses me off lol.
Wow, I really have to stop typing out these 4am posts while I’m half asleep lol…
Oh, I used to LOVE pokemon!
@Jason
Thanks for clearing that up! I don’t just let rude people go after me, either.
I cant see the pic!!
@Sanriobaby:
Great Post! I second your thoughts!
I don’t judge people by their beliefs or preferences, I do however get pretty upset when they start spouting said beliefs at me or tell me mine are wrong… and yes I too believe that this was a ‘Stunt’ to get attention.
I also agree with the entire first paragraph! I would be friends a man who like HK, but would never be able to think of him as a manly- man, or datable for that matter.
Acton, let me start by saying that you’ve surprised me, not by being a furry or right-wing, but by being a furry and black! I know very few blacks who’re furrys, or even cosplayers (even as a relative term for the subcultures of subcultures); h*ll I don’t know many who admit to being into any branch of Fandom!!
That said you’re right; you have the right to do what you want as long as it doesn’t harm or injure people who’re not willing participants!