Yep, you read that right: Today’s post is inspired by the one and only Mulan. God, I loved that movie. It was the first good Disney movie after The Lion King, which I consider basically the end of classically-good Disney. And I put Disney-Pixar in a separate category than Disney-Disney. I just do.

But man, I loved Mulan. Did you guys know that Donny Osmond was the voice of the male protagonist, Chang? I DIDN’T. :-O WHAT.

Anyway, I figured I’d do Mulan after I realized just how many fandom secrets I had saved about this movie. Observe.

Personally, I don’t think that’s silly at all. That is a good song, and it is inspirational. I’m inspired by it, too. Yeah, it’s about “manning up” which is kind of misogynistic in the sense that you can only be tough and get shit done if you call on your masculine sensibilities, but it’s Disney. Misogyny is just kind of the deal.

Exhibit A, which my brother sent me one day:

I love my brother for sending me things like this all the time.

And I relate so much to Jasmine’s blurb, in that my social worth depends on my marriageability, and is reduced to that. It does. It sucks. The only way I can cope with that is to live in denial of it. At least, temporarily.

Anyway, yes, misogyny-bad. No one disputes that.

But the basic lesson of that song that we can all pull from it is that you’ve got to face your fears, bust your ass, and do your best. I mean, sure, the characters are fighting the Huns. The stakes are considerably higher for them. But the lesson is valuable and inspirational.

So, anon, you are not silly for posting that. And yes, Chang is frigging hot.

(That’s what the “unf” refers to. More information here.)

HAHAHAH.

Yes, this is in chronological order. I love that so many other people love this song. No, two people is not “so many,” but I’m referring to the fact that two people actually made and posted a secret about this song. Seriously. That’s love.

I think Jasmine is the most beautiful Disney princess, personally. The girl from The Princess & The Frog, which I haven’t seen, is tied with Mulan and Esmerelda for #2. But gosh, I just think Jasmine is so pretty. Full eyebrows, big almond eyes, and that long, long hair. Gorgeous Arab girl.

It’s a pretty good song.

The tension about how she’s pulled between what she wants to make of her life, her dismay with her own inexperience, and her intense fear of disappointing her parents hits way too close to home, though.

Ugh. No one does submission and guilt like we Asian kids do.

Let’s listen to music now!

LET’S GET DOWN TO BUSINESS…..TO DEFEAT…..THE HUNNNNNNNNS.

Bad-ass.

ERGH. I relate to this so much that it’s really embarrassing and really uncomfortable. Ugh. This is why I have ulcers.

YES ULCERS PLURAL.

They’re ganging up on me. Destroying my ability to metabolize milk and peanut butter.

Bastards.

AHAHAHA. Again, I relate to this so much. Thank goodness we don’t have matchmakers in my culture. If I had to go see one, I’m sure my klutzy ass would probably accidentally set her on fire and then she’d make me marry some man that lived under a bridge and ate goats and scared the local school children.

🙁

Aww. So cute. I love the friendship that develops between Mulan and her little rag-tag group of soldiers.

Anyway, on to her outfit. I know a lot of you are like, oh, Huma, how can you make an outfit based on Mulan? She is fictional and exists only in 2D and we are people and we exist in 3D, and you are insane, and we don’t believe you can do this. OH YE OF LITTLE FAITH.

The answer is simple: I used a kimono top. BAM.

Embellished Kimono ………. $29.90
Skinny Pants ………. $15
SM Heaven Leather Flat in Nude ………. $39.95
Woodland Fantasy Pendant Necklace ………. $7.20

Yes. I know that kimono’s, at least the traditional Uchikake ones, are very distinctly Japanese, and I realize that the Chinese and Japanese cultures are very different, and I sincerely apologize if anyone is offended. It was not my intention to offend anyone. In the film, Mulan occasionally wears a robe-like garment and that was where I drew my inspiration.

Okay. So I found this top at Alloy, and it’s a kimono, and it was one of the cuter ones out there. I always see adorable kimono tops everywhere and when I need them, they all decide to be ugly. It’s so rude. But this one is decent, but it’s a little sheer, so stick some sort of camisole under there.

I paired it with skinny black pants, since the kimono is so loose and whatnot. When you wear a billowy or wide shape, like a loose tunic top or wide leg pants, balance out the outfit by making sure the other piece isn’t similarly loose. You wouldn’t wear wide leg pants with a super loose top – you’d want the top to be somewhat fitted. Same thing here – loose top, so we go with skinny pants. Well, we could have gone with straight leg, too, anything but wide-leg, but I felt like going with skinny pants.

I went with these gold/beige leather flats that go with the shirt, and because I kind of just like golden flats.

And since I had a chunk of change left over, I went around looking for necklaces and found this super pretty pendant necklace at Etsy. I don’t really like the beaded chain or whatever, so I’d probably take the pendant off and put it on a very simple gold chain or something.

And there we have a pretty Mulan inspired outfit! And to think, you nerds thought I couldn’t do it. Hmph.