Oh, Kitty-chan, you look… different! Sent to us by Madrid-based reader April, these photos of a cheeky t-shirt riff on everyone’s favourite Japanese cat are sure to raise a few eyebrows both at home and abroad.
“My Australian friend Michel came to visit me here in Madrid and brought me the shirt as a present,” says April. “She and I became friends while we were both living in Japan, so the shirt is kind of representative of our time together there. I’m also rather busty, so I think it’s a fantastic gift!”
Purchased by April’s pal at a sex shop on the seedier side of King’s Cross, Sydney, the shirt replaces the lovable Kitty-chan’s face with a pair of sizeable breasts, complete with nipples for eyes, creating the kind of creature that you could easily imagine stepping out of Jeff Goldblum’s teleportation machine in 80s sci-fi horror flick The Fly following an unfortunate pet/underwear mishap.
We’re not entirely sure that Hello Kitty’s creator or the people at Sanrio would be thrilled to see their most famous mascot transformed into a pair of lady pillows, but then as we’ve already seen, that little white cat isn’t exactly what you could call timid these days, either!
“I haven’t worn it out in public yet;” says the t-shirt’s lucky owner, “I’m not sure what kind of reaction it’ll get here in Madrid!” Well, April, we’d hazard a guess that you’d receive far fewer stares wearing it in Spain than you would here in Tokyo, where it would very likely both delight college students and cause dozens of small children to turn their distressed faces up to their parents’ own and ask with a trembling bottom lip, “What’s wrong with Kitty-chan’s eyes!?”
If you have any hilarious fashion accessories depicting beloved Japanese icons a little out of context, be sure to drop us a line. If your photos make us laugh you might even make it onto our hallowed pages!