An Idea, Perfectly Illustrated
[ 18 June 2008 ]
I love this image. Here’s the direction my brain took it in…
Dress to thrill your inner child! 
Wear pretty dresses & big bows Neon hair & bright pink lipstick Super-high heels in candylicious colours Striped stockings & lacquered accessories Hair sprinkled with sweetly-scented talcum powder (which leaves a trail of dust in your wake) Confectionery colours worn together: pink & brown, shades of green, red & white Top yourself with a delicious head-piece — make a hat out of melted birthday candles or thread jelly babies into your hair Dress with the intention of delighting a stranger Cover yourself in glitter Turn gum-balls into accessories Tie a huge ribbon around your waist & consider yourself a gift to the universe Wear frilly ankle socks with stilettos Go boldly where no glamazon has gone before! Never shy away from having fun with fashion More petticoats! More, more! Think about layers — wear a fabulous bra, a suspender belt, adorable knickers, write a message on your stomach, then cover it all up with lace Encourage people to lick you! Offer candy to strangers Encourage people to stare! Think of life as a party Only wear skirts which billow out magnificently when you twirl around When you don’t feel like socialising, cover your head in whipped cream Salute the 90s in knee-socks Contemplate turning baking implements into awe-inspiring accoutrements Dress in a way which proves how much you love the world Nonpareils forever!
What does it conjure up in your mind?
P.S. Thanks to Kris Atomic, who always finds the very best things!
Love letters & feather headdresses,
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Fanstastic. The image grouped with your comments made me smile so wide. I’ve been thinking about this alot. I love cupcakes so much and basically collect them now (images, necklaces, candles etc…not actual cupcakes). I finally got the mary janes I’ve had in my mind for months and can wear them with stripey frilly socks to my hearts content.
A cupcake should always be daring, never plain and always adorned with something beautiful.
xxoo
Oh, that’s beautiful. I’m having a birthday party soon. That theme is inspiring.
But… where is cupcake? D:
Oh, by the way. Sweetly scented talcum powder? Candy Fluff from Lush allll the way.
i may print this out and tape it by my mirror :)
M-P — Sounds like you have quite the collection! I think Betsey Johnson does the best, most cupcake-esque dresses, what do you think? Maybe that should be your next purchase ;D
Lindsay — On holiday… like me! & TOTALLY agree on Candy Fluff. Best ever!
emily — Please do! xx
Amen, Gala, I’m with you! I see lots of pretty dresses, delectable jewellery, masses of glitter, sparkles, sequins and bows, and a wonderful girl who is kind, charming, alluring and confident! Life should ALWAYS be thought of a party! Lovely post, Gala, thank-you. xoxo
Thanks Gala, I had never heard of Betsey Johnson, and while I don’t usually wear dresses, especially strapless ones, I actually gasped out loud when I looked at her website and saw these two:
Gingham Café de Paris Dress
www.betseyjohnson.com/Evening_…
Evening Gum Drop Dress
www.betseyjohnson.com/Evening_…
Now to find an excuse to buy the most expense item of clothing I have ever contemplated owning.
Woops what happened there. Can’t let anyone miss out on seeing it:
Gingham Café de Paris Dress
www.betseyjohnson.com/Gingham_…
LOVE IT!
ooooo i love it.
it makes me think of wearing girly clothes, acting girly, being supersweet to everyone no matter who they are, having lots of smiles and sunny days in different seasons, having partys that ARENT alcholic and dancing all the time to upbeat music
thankyou Gala its brilliant
i agree with emily totally printing it out and taping it to my wall somewhere
xxxxxxxxx
wear pretty sparkly things in your hair and gigantic sparkly eyelashes..vanilla perfume..be sweet enough to give everyone tooth-ache…swirl, twirl& float instead of walk..if youre a vegan cupcake dont wear leather or animal products and be delightful, surprising , brightly coloured and joyous....
:)
I think of poofy petticoats worn under beautiful lacy dresses, soft pink lipstick and delicate kitten heels worn with pretty hosiery, and nails the colour of sweet icing. Oh, and beads the size of jellybeans all around the neck and wrists!
oooooh so pretty!! I actually aim to dress in a similar way.. i like to evoke the feeling of opening a brand new box of crayola.. without the waxy smell.. if i dressed like a cupcake i’d eat 5 x as much candy as i eat already hahaha (tooth falls out) :)
This is fantabulous! I can’t think of anything other than what you’ve already written. You are the inspiration queen! pixie kisses xxx
Right after reading this, I put on my black Betsey Johnson cocktail dress (with lace, it’s quite gothic and I call it my funeral dress), teal TNA hoodie www.tna.com/ (they make the most comfortable hoodies ever) and purple heels.
I feel like a cupcake.
I also have cupcake perfume (the things you find at hot topic some days..)
Which reminds of my msn conversation with my friend Riley, Levi being my boyfriend of the time:
Liz says (10:26 PM):
I have my cupcake perfume on
Riley says (10:26 PM):
do you smell like icing?
Liz says (10:27 PM):
yeah
Riley says (10:27 PM):
mmm
and you have blue hair
Riley says (10:28 PM):
i bet levi bites your head
Thanks for always knowing what to say to make my day!! xoxox
Amazing! What a wonderful idea!
LOL @ Elizabeth Ilia- you must let us know- Did levi bite your head? ;)
I love super high heels in candylicious colours… But Gala (and anyone else with tips), how do I walk in them and feel comfortable?? Is it just getting your feet used to them?? Or is there some secret I have missed out on in all my 25 years of loving high heels…well make that more like 23 years of love!
I am short so would love to wear heels ALL the time… but they hurt my tootsies..plus I live in Wellington, NZ where I do a lot of walking AND I am a high school teacher so lots of standing.
Any tips??
xx
P.S Gala I haven’t commented for ages, your brilliance has left me rather speechless I must say! I am so inspired by you and your adventures!!
____! i’m about to print this out at work, pasted text and picture into photoshop and prettified it up (even moreso!) and i am going to drop it into random post boxes on the way home i think. heheheh wonderful stuff gala
Great ideas Gala! This makes me want to wear edible accessories, like candy strung up into necklaces or bracelets, ring pops and sugar-beads embroidered on flow-y dresses! Glitter and cotton candy perfume would be necessary too.
About high heels: I wear them almost every day, and Dr. Shoals for her make it much better. It’s also important to walk around the store in shoes before you buy them to make sure they don’t pinch anywhere, aren’t uncomfortably high, don’t fall off, etc.
I can’t agree more with what Emma said in her “P.S.”!!! You inspire me so much on a daily basis!
BEAUTIFUL!
I fully intend to use these tips =P
Please post photos of you dressed like a cupcake should feel!
Made my day =)
xx
Ohhh, I love twirling around in skirts :) Those tips are so FUN!
Cookie- No he did not. He was always more of a muffin person.
‘What does it conjure up in your mind?’
You! :) ^^
love Emma
Gala, you have the most amazing knack for saying the most amazing things in the best of ways.
I must start dressing like that. I also put forth the notions that cupcakes always smile and use sprinkles as makeup.
:]
I have cupcakes on the brain. Hey have you seen the spread in this months Shop til you drop about shopping in NY? I can send it to you if someone hasn’t already.
oh this is the most amazing idea.
i think i may make a headband made from melted birthday cake candles it sounds well worth the effort.
I made a polyvore set inspired by this :) www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=19…
i try to dress like this as much as i can, it really makes one appreciate all the little cupcakey things!
“He was always more of a muffin person.” I had to lol at that one (at work no less!!!). I say Viva la Vida Cotton Candy anything. I’m actually thinking of sweet pink nailpolish after years of the exact opposite!
i’ll print this post of yours too! nonpareils power!
love your tips gala, you are such a joy! kisses
This is so inspiring :)
Its so fun, and girly x
This may well be my favourite article of yours =) I was smiling the whole time reading it. My cupcake style is subtle — wearing Hello Kitty candy bracelets (nibbling on them during the day) and using Lush’s Snow Fairy shower gel (which smells like Strawberries and Cream lollies, and douses the user in glitter!) — perhaps I shall incorporate some of these ideas. I lovelovelove the idea of being a gift to the universe. Though that’s what we all are, big bow around the waist or not =)
M-P — Oh no! Beware Betsey fever! It can afflict even the most hardened fashionista… ! ;D My friend Jess & I went to her boutique last weekend & she bought a beautiful dress. Lookie! flickr.com/photos/galadarling/...
cookie — Big eyelashes! How could I forget?!
Elizabeth Ilia — Hahaha, I love it! Did Levi bite your head?!
emma — Well, walking in them & feeling comfortable are two entirely different things! I’ve written articles on both galadarling.com/article/how & galadarling.com/article/how but the thing is, some heels are comfortable & some just aren’t. Some shoes are really only appropriate for being seen in. Then you have to take them off. It is an industry rife with impracticality, & the thing is, we all have different feet, so what may be comfortable to you might be hell to me. Having said that, putting foot petals or those “party feet” insoles into your heels can be LIFE CHANGING! So give that a try… see how you go, report back!! xxx
eva — Yes, do it!!!
miss morgan — Oh, I love ring pops! I like the way the jewels glow as you suck on them…
Maddison — I actually planned to do that today! Sit tight!
Miss Dot — No, I haven’t! I’d love to see it :>
Katrina — If you do, you MUST send pictures! I would totally do it if I was more artsy!
Lisa May — Oh, I love it! Too fabulous!
emma — I love Lush’s Fairy Jasmine bath bombs for the exact same reason. It’s like glittermania!
Rainbow eyeshadow! Barrettes in fun colors! Crazy curls! I’m thinking Japanese street fashion— FRUITS, anyone?
eee! eee! i love this post, i want to nibble it.
for me: the neon pink and orange barry m lipsticks i bought last week; jelly babies!; big clompy shoes with ridiculous heels that are hard to walk in but fabulous anyway; dancing around your bedroom in your underwear; wearing clothes all wrong; strawberry milkshake and matching nail polish; the bright pink hair straighteners i got last week (they are fabulous, i want to marry them).
a gift to the universe indeed! that’s what you are, gala xxx
i had officially decided that i wanted everything i wear to be inspired by something from the desert world. i have an amazing top that makes me feel like a gigantic sprinkled doughnut. it’s fabulous. i wear candy fluff in my hair and that makes me want to become a fairy.
it’s fantastic.
What a great post!
Been a tough week
The Universe
sends this
to remind
me to
SHINE
there should be lots of glitter! And little jewels in the corners of my eyes, and bright pink eyelashes! And ribbons and bits of lace and shiny fabric tied around the neck and wrists and ankles!
...but perhaps I am thinking too litterally- a cupcake feels…decedent- so maybe dressing like a cupcake feels means wearing your most decadent outfit- even if there is no reason to do so! and putting on your favorite tunes, and eating pink icing from the jar, and dancing around with a bubble wand!
Ha! whatever it may be- this post was totally inspiring! Tilt and cupcake dressing all in one day!- it’s almost too good to be true!
this is one of my favourite articles ever! My 20th bday is next week and now, thanks to you, I have fantastic and crazy ideas for my outfit and party! :)
my bf told my to bake cupcakes (I replied “bergh, i’m not gonna work on my bday! plus you want me to bake them so yoouuu can eat them!) but now it looks like a good idea…my poor bf, how bad I was to him!
Ha! I’ve just finished sticking this all in my beautifull journal!
Does it take you long to come up with those ideas or does the talent, mischief and bubbliness just flow naturally?
Just wondering. :D
Plus my mum thought they were all genius too! Double result! =]
Also we had a “Hat day” To raise money for charity in our school. It was near christmas and my mum took a normal cap, sewed on a layer of brown felt, then a splodge of white felt then 2 spiky green pieces all topped off with 2 little red dots. Perfect christmas pudding hat! (I will try and find some pictures!)And that’s the closest I’ve come to dressing as food, let alone a cupcake!
I’m using those ideas as a ticklist and literally running down the list until I can offically announce that “I have dressed like a cake to the full extend of my cake-dressing-as abilities!” I can’t wait!
Cuddles and cookies,
Vixxie.
Some skaters probably got inspired by you! When I was walking in the town today, there were three or four boys and they were eating little Milka chocolates from the box and offered me one when I was walking by :-)
that picture reminds me of vadis turner’s art work. she makes cupcakes and stuff out of yarn and fabric and thingamajigs! she made a wedding cake out of tampons! check her website out. it’s adorable.
i think of blue icing hair twirled into a huge stylish up do decorated with ribbons and glitter. a lemon yellow strapless dress which puffs out at the waist. cute little leather white gloves. rosy cheeks and a nose sprinkled with freckles~ ^^
How sweet! I just finished making a skirt i17.photobucket.com/albums/b86… which is so dolled up with ribbons and pearls and sparkly things (the bow has little crystals and pearls handsewn on, ala i17.photobucket.com/albums/b86… ).
I used to be against wearing food as clothes, but sweet things are just too cute to resist. I’m waiting for a pair of rings like i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn… and i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn… to arrive in the mail. I can’t wait! Though people might try to start eating my fingers…
When I posted that image I thought of you! Hah! x
I love you, Gala. Your site is perfection! Slightly skewed perfection, to be precise, which makes it all the more wonderful… just started a site myself for all my favourite things, you’re inspiring. I, too, adore cupcakes. xx
Ness, that skirt is adorable.
Very cupcake-tastic.
Which should so be a word.
I would like to say a cupcake dresses deliciously. Obviously you would make a sprinkle head band, with real sprinkles, super glued to a small leather head band, wound peacock feathers through a braid and then wear all the colours of the rainbow, pink, fushia, baby pink :) haha my life just consists of pink ! and then for shoes you will bake cakes around your feet. and then ice them. and then wait for the people to come rolling in :) haha!
hey i made a polyvore set inspired by this too!
www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=20…
I’m much to tired to actually go and find the entry right now, but this picture reminded me of the first time you made cupcakes, and someone made a comment on them, about how no matter what exterior, they would always taste like heaven…
So really, I kinda put those two entries of yours together, and I think dressing how a cupcake feels is all about the bigger picture. Like knowing that whatever you do on the outside, it’s what’s inside that really “makes the cake”. And that when you feel like dressing up, have as much fun as you possible can, because we all know that the sprinkles on top may not make the cupcake and more of a cupcake, but it sure puts a smile on our faces .
i’m pretty sure it means that you should feel lovely, sweet, yummy and delicious so you should dress that way not literally dressing like a cupcake which isn’t all that original anyways
I read this article, then turned my beret inside out and stuck dress pin through it. Turned it the right way up, then skewered jelly babies / gummy bears on it. I had people eating my head all day.
=)