How To Dress Like a Studio Ghibli Character: Whisper of the Heart and Only Yesterday Edition

If last week we corrupted Studio Ghibli films into potential Indie Sleaze looks, this week is more in the Twee camp of Tumblr 2010-style looks. However, in classic Ghibli fashion, the fits are simple and practical enough (with engaging color play and special finishing touches) that you won’t get Z**ey D*schanel flashbacks while trying these stylings from the films Whisper of the Heart and Only Yesterday. Next post we’ll be back to non-Ghibli content, but I hope you enjoyed this week’s foray.

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Whisper of the Heart

Whisper of the Heart (1995) is my favorite Studio Ghibli movie for reasons of nostalgia and hapless romanticism, but the hero, Shizuku Tsukishima, dresses pretty boringly. Her main uniform consists of a white collared shirt layered under a coral tee, a pleated yellow skirt, chunky socks with brown penny loafers, and a flat-topped straw hat. This tween caries a briefcase. We love her, but I wanted to play a little bit with the elements of her fit to make them more interesting.

The barbershop-quartet-core hat could instead be an off-kilter or sculptural cap, still in straw, but less dorky. The first image above shows her collared shirt as orange, a mis-coloring, but I liked the idea of orange layered under red or pink – a short-sleeved sweatshirt to give the top half of the fit more structural integrity and make it more fall-friendly. Add a pair of light-wash, straight-leg jeans under the knee-length skirt (or replace the skirt entirely if you don’t like wearing them) and a boy as cute as Seiji Amasawa’s oversized tan leather jacket on top, and this outfit could be worn through November.

Only Yesterday

Only Yesterday (1991), a criminally underrated Ghibli film, features the character Taeko Okajima as a weltschmerz-laden 27-year-old with very little drip, nostalgic for her childhood, when she did. A red-and-white varsity-style jacket or cardigan + a more tomato-red pleated skirt are the base for some childlike but sophisticated color play with her accessories: lilac socks layered over black tights and under shiny red Mary Janes, an unexpectedly dull-toned greenish-brown plaid scarf, pink gloves, a red “Randoseru” backpack, and one finishing touch that you’ll have to stay tuned to discover…

The secret finishing touch is an adorable flower hair pin that I imagine as enamel, but could be any cheerily-colored material.

This post was a fun one for me, hope it was for you, too! Let me know on HR’s Instagram, where if you liked this post you can show support by by sharing (tag me if on IG so I can see and thank you!), liking, saving, and commenting. If you really liked it, PROVE IT by subbing to the HR Patreon for as little as two bucks a month (extra posts, personal styling, and more available on there!) or tipping me on Ko-fi.

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❤ HR