Naomi Watanabe is the comedian-turned-model and fashion designer largely responsible for Japan’s pocchari, or chubby, trend which is still going strong, and paving the way for large and lovely girls nationwide, from idol group la BIG 3 to the more recent Shangrila maid cafe.
Now, Watanabe is making waves across Japanese social media for her fashion-forward hair.
After audiences couldn’t get enough of her quirky celebrity impersonations, Watanabe quickly shot to Japanese comedy fame with not only her talent, but her weight, thrust into the media spotlight. Following a number of mostly unsuccessful diet routines, she became a body-positive spokeswoman and cover girl for bigger women’s fashion magazine, la Farfa, before establishing her own plus-size label, PUNYUS.
More than seven years later her”Japanese Beyonce” glam game is still going strong, appearing alongside RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant Shangela last month in Las Vegas.
But amazing as her performance with Shangela was, that’s not the reason why she’s been making headlines online. A growing number of Twitter users consider her to be one of Japan’s top fashion leaders, and are experiencing major hair envy over her on-point ‘dos.
▼ “Ah~ I want to have a lovable personality and personal fashion sense like Naomi Watanabe.”
あぁ〜ん渡辺直美サマのような、みんなから愛されるキャラクターと個性的なファッションセンスを身につけたいわ👸💎💄🎀👒 pic.twitter.com/er2Imdzd49
— ミ (@kapper0729) March 7, 2015
▼ “Naomi Watanabe has the cutest hair color and the cutest twin tail curls.”
https://twitter.com/rasp23q/status/664465140809490433▼ “Naomi Watanabe is so stylish. I’m jealous of her hair, too.”
https://twitter.com/tigers_kj/status/632830887466418176▼ “I really wanna try this type of hair color that Naomi Watanabe has.”
https://twitter.com/aiueoo_chan/status/662987858869747714▼ “Naomi Watanabe is just so cute. Her smile is the best. Her eyebrows look good, her make-up is great, and her above all else her hair is the most amazing thing ever.”
https://twitter.com/0310_kotomi/status/514698304999788544The list of tweets praising her fabulous style go on and on, and to date she has over 900,000 followers on Twitter.
Arguably there are any number of cute, Japanese girls starring in the current fashion scene, but few who appear to be having more fun and none who are inspiring more women of all shapes and sizes to come together and love the skin (and clothes) they’re in.
Source: Twitter/@kapper0729, Twitter/@rasp23q, Twitter/tigers_kj, Twitter/aiueoo_chan, Twitter/@0310_kotomi via Naver Matome, YouTube/Shangela L. Wadley
Top image: Twitter/@0310_kotomi
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