Happy New Year of the Mouse to you, my dear readers.

Mice are actually really cute animals. A few weeks ago I saw a tiny mouse at the Piaget boutique in Moscow’s GUM shopping center (on the Red Square). No, the boutique wasn’t infested, it was a designer solution. They installed a little terrarium with a real creature living inside on a bed of wood shavings to celebrate the Year of the Mouse in a creative way .

The mouse was white with itsy-bitsy red beady eyes, tiny precious pink toes and a little pink nose.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any photos, so instead please enjoy pictures of his distant relatives, hamsters (from the amazing Cute Overload).

Unlike another distant relative, Remy from Ratatouille, the little Piaget fellow can’t cook. His main occupation is eating. He grabs grains with both hands and stuffs the food into his microscopic mouth. Not in the same way as the little guys below, but with equal enthusiasm.

He (or she?) is a very busy mouse, concerned with decorating the interior of his tiny house, made of a ball woven of twigs, and with decluttering his surroundings.

While we examined the jewelry, the creature nonchalantly grabbed little chunks of dried poo from his bed with his teeth and pushed these “meadow muffins” through the twigs into a distant corner of the terraruim. Unfortunately, after a clumsy movement one of the dried “goodies” ended up in his drinking “bowl”, a small plastic cap of a soft drink bottle, where this weird “teabag” swelled and partly dissolved. But contents of the “tea” didn’t embarrass our hero and he took a few happy slurps of the mixture, sticking out his adorable pink tongue.

His actions cracked the room up. The mouse improved the already excellent service at the Piaget boutique. He held our attention long enough for us to stay and make a purchase. Without knowing it, the little creature became a superb spokesmodel for Piaget, much better than any human.

It’s funny how animals always go about their everyday business (which we think is pretty pointless) with a serious attitude and a lot of determination. They don’t even realize that we make fun of them. I’ve always wondered what they think about that. Do they care?

Have a terrific 2008!

Photos courtsey of Cute Overload

Thanks to John Singh of Lucasfilm, Fashionably Cute has got a hold of the fabulous teaser poster for the upcoming “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”. This will surely be the hottest film of 2008! Enjoy!

Click here to download bigger version.

This post was written by Fashionably Cute’s contributing editor Wendy Brandes, an awesome jewelry designer (of Gigi Caron and Wendy Brandes Jewelry), journalist, blogger and fashion warrior on a never ending quest for scary fish shaped shoes.

Can you handle the cute? The whole cute and nothing but the cute?

These adorably chubby animals are available from SweetestPea on Etsy.

The fat penguin is so huggable.

The fat chick is so kissable.

The fat rice ball is so edible!

See the whole collection here. Thanks to “KT” for the link!

Also, this fat bag by Fendi is so cute! I must have it. Please buy it for me immediately.

Last week I wrote how kawaii companies went Louis Vuitton by releasing a bunch of merchandise that heavily reminds shoppers of the iconic LV canvas bags and accessories. This week it’s Louis Vuitton going kawaii (yet again).

I just love Louis Vuitton’s new line. The Purse Blog reports that it’s a fresh collaboration between Marc Jacobs and contemporary Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, who was behind the ultra successful Multicolore, and the lovely Cerises, Panda and Cherry Blossoms lines.

Chibi Kinoko is the adorable little mushroom manga character that appears on the new line’s handbags and agendas. By the way, mushrooms with human attributes are Murakami’s signature characters.

According to the Purse Blog, the limited edition bags and accessories collection is available for sale at Takashi’s exhibition at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Arts.

Via the Purse Blog. Photos courtesy of the Purse Blog, Gothamist

I know, the idea of a baby bib shaped like drool sounds pretty gross, but just one look at the photo of the adorable bib above will make you drool over the cuteness.

The bib has been designed by Wry Baby, who are best known for making products that take the mickey out of poor defenseless babies (their motto is: “Raising Funny People”). Well, at least the cartoonish Drool Bib it’s better than their “I eat dirt” and “Someday I’ll have a hairy chest” baby outfits.

The Drooly Bib is, of course, waterproof!

Via Wry Baby

Strange enough, but it seems that the Louis Vuitton craze has hit leading Japanese kawaii companies like Sanrio and San-X too. They have both released character merchandise that looks like a parody of the world’s most copied fashion brand. See for yourself:

San-X has designed a new Rilakkuma line of accessories reminiscent of Louis Vuitton Monogram Multicolore (created by fellow Japanese artist Takashi Murakami).

Rilakkuma Long Wallet

Louis Vuitton
Monogram Multicolore French Purse

Rilakkuma Card Case

Louis Vuitton
Monogram Multicolore Porte-Monnaie Billets

Sanrio reminded everyone of Louis Vuitton Damier line releasing chequered Badtz-Maru handbags and diaries. The only difference is that the pattern on the items is black and not brown like that of LV.

Badtz-Maru Messenger Bag

Louis Vuitton Damier Canvas Naviglio

Badt-Maru Organizer

Louis Vuitton Small Ring Agenda

Now, this is pretty weird, but I like their sense or humour. And what do you think?

Photos courtesy of Sanrio, San-X and Eluxury

American handbag designer Rebecca Minkoff has teamed up with Sanrio and their more mature division Momoberry to create a line of Hello Kitty handbags for “grown up girls”.

The line includes a clutch, a satchel and a tote. The clutch is made of leather and blue fabric with Hello Kitty pattern, the satchel and the tote are made of Italian leather lined inside with the same blue fabric with the Kitty pattern that the clutch is decorated with. The hardware on all the bags features engraved Hello Kitty face.

I think the bags look rather retro and I still haven’t made up my mind whether I’d like to own one or not. In any case, it’s better to see them in real life before buying. However, the bags are available online via Sanrio Shop.

Photos courtesy of Sanrio.com

San-X takes a refreshing break from making kawaii characters by presenting it’s new line of merchandise with a kawaii street! The Japanese company’s brand new addition is called Palette’s Sweet Street.

The line features stationery and accessories decorated with cute colorful houses, tiny shops and shop interiors, outdoor cafes and trees: a dream place to live, reminds me of Paris (the capital of France that is, not the “Chi-wa-wa” owner).

Source: San-X

Russian Livejournal user dkphoto has visited Jeju Teddy Bear Museum in South Korea and took a bunch of photos of the museum’s treasures. Here are the links to his photo stories: 1, 2, 3, you don’t have to know Russian to be able to admire the beauty of the pictures.

The best part of the exhibition is the “Role of Teddy Bears in World Art”, pretty impressive versions of famous masterpieces, or rather a chance to see how they would have looked if teddy bears ruled the world. So kawaii! Here are several most recognizable paintings and sculptures.

Source dkphoto

Pink Rock Candy has discovered a great resource for any fashionista. If you’re wondering what next season’s color trends are then head straight over to Pantone website where the world famous authority on color provides regular detailed PDF reports on the latest “it” colors, picking ten hues that are to be in vogue for the upcoming season.

The colors are shown in swatches together with sketches of complete outfits as examples of how they can be worn.

Next spring’s most fashionable colors are very cheerful, combining delicate shades of neutrals with bright hues like blue, rococo red and cantaloupe.

Sources Pink Rock Candy and Pantone