The Hello Kitty Time Warp

Martin Pavion

When Hello Kitty hit the US market in 1983 she had been created  due to British culture being popular with Japanese girls. Hello Kitty never really came into her own until  the late 1990’s when popular celebrities such as Mariah Carey started sporting Hello Kitty fashions. In the 1990’s Ms. Carey was still in her 20’s and wearing Hello Kitty apparel may not have been out of the question. Now in her late 30’s this author does not see Ms. Carey still proudly displaying Hello Kitty tee’s and jewelry. In this author’s opinion Ms Carey has escaped the Hello Kitty Time Warp.

There seems to be something about the loveable Hello Kitty character that lures women into the Hello Kitty time warp. The Hello Kitty time warp seems to be a fashion black hole where women far past the age of Hello Kitty apparel are drawn to purchase and proudly wear the Hello Kitty fashions as if they are still in their childhood or young adulthood. It’s a place where time stands still and age never changes or matters. It’s a place where Hello Kitty can keep the wearer of the Hello Kitty apparel forever ageless.

The Hello Kitty time warp captures many women each year putting them in the path of criticism from their peers who have escaped the fashion black hole. In this authors opinion the Hello Kitty phenomena is an adorable whimsical fantasy for children. Once past the age of, at the latest 20, women should really reconsider the wearing of Hello Kitty apparel. Ladies, in this author’s opinion, dressing and acting one’s age is not a bad thing.

In actuality, the Hello Kitty time warp is a place where a false sense of timelessness exists.  After all, Hello Kitty herself is in her 30’s. While there is a multitude of Hello Kitty apparel and accessories to choose from, if one is still not a child must she continue to be sucked into the Hello Kitty fashion black hole? Hello Kitty is described as “cute”. When a woman is coming into her own and moving through this life as a grown woman, does she really want to be described as cute?
 
Hello Kitty is a cartoon character that represents a fantasy land for little girls. The merchandise for Hello Kitty was originally intended for the pre-adolescent female market. The market has stretched, however, to almost every type of product you can  imagine. There are available, to those of you who have not managed to escape the Hello Kitty time warp, Hello Kitty wedding dresses. This author has a hard time imagining a more contridictory statement. “I am a grown woman who is beining my adult life, but I am going to be married in a Hello Kitty wedding gown.” A Hello Kitty wedding dress seems not to be the ultimate statement of being available to an adult life. And following the Hello Kitty wedding dress with the Hello Kitty lingerie  could really make a statement that could haunt one for quite a long time.

Ladies, when considering your ‘look’ seriously try to avoid the Hello Kitty time warp. The Hello Kitty time warp is a fashion black hole that is difficult to escape. Once there, a woman has a difficult time accepting the reality of no longer being a pre-adolescent female. There is no shame in dressing and acting our age. It actually makes us more desireable. After all ladies, if your groom came down the isle in a Ninja Turtle tux…..what would you think?