Fashion

6 Stylish Ways to Celebrate Disneyland's 58th Birthday

It was intended as a place of both entertainment and education, and soon enough, the park was overflowing with happy children and harassed parents. Today, Disneyland rakes in about $3 billion every year. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, indeed! In honor of everyone's childhood fantasy, here are 6 fashionable ways you can channel the happiest place on earth.

by Tori Telfer

58 years ago today, Disneyland opened its magical doors

It was intended as a place of both entertainment and education, and soon enough, the park was overflowing with happy children and harassed parents. Today, Disneyland rakes in about $3 billion every year. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, indeed! In honor of everyone's childhood fantasy, here are 6 fashionable ways you can channel the happiest place on earth.

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Steal Minnie Mouse's feminine chic

In the 1920s, mischievous young Mickey Mouse was introduced to the world along with his better half, the fabulous Minerva. The gal stole every scene with her swinging red dress, polkadot hairbow, and fabulous yellow flats. Trousers be damned! Since you're all grown up now, pick just two of her elements and go with them: a coy polkadot A-line dress, a retro-Disney bow, or buttery cut-out flats designed to win Mickey's heart yet again.

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Do subtle princess makeup

Once you lose the waist-length hair and overbearing stepmothers, Disney princess makeup is simpler than you think. Tone the look down and strut into the office — no one will know you're secretly pretending to be Belle. Here are some of the best makeup tutorials on YouTube: Aurora, Jasmine, Mulan, and Snow White.

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Take palette inspiration

It's hard to separate Disney characters from their preferred color palettes: Ariel's seafoam green, Cinderella's icy blue, Piglet's pink stripes (so hot right now). Popular tumblrs like disneybound and disneyprincessfashion pull together modern, wearable Disney-inspired outfits via color combinations and subtle details (a skull ring for the Queen of Hearts, anyone?). Yellow shorts, blue shirt, red headband, hair as black as ebony? Bam, you're Snow White circa 2013.

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Honor the details

Jasmine's bejeweled gold accessories. Cinderella's black ribbon choker. The flower in Mulan's hair. Pocahontas' turquoise statement necklace. Look closer at your favorite Disney princess; beyond the impossibly slim waist, ethereal singing voice, and frantic flight from the Huns, she's wearing accessories that take her outfit from "poor village girl" to "rules the land with grace and mercy."

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All the evil ladies

Of all the important life lessons Disney taught us, there's one we just can't shake: Apparently bad girls don't have more fun at all. But the iconic Disney villanesses (Ursula, Cruella de Vil, Snow White's stepmother, and Malificent, to name a few) sure look good being bad. Use dry shampoo to get Cruella's infamous skunk streak, and pair with emerald earrings. Learn the power of a bold purple eye from Malificent, along with the ability to rock a sudden shape change. And Ursula herself said it best: "Don't underestimate the importance of body language!"

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Wear a ballgown

Nobody dresses up anymore, chivalry is dead, the economy is crashing. There are a million reasons to pull on sweatpants and sink onto the couch, but Disneyland's anniversary is not one of them. Remember that every Disney princess has one thing in common (besides ridiculously aspirational hair): an indomitable feminine spirit. So put on a ballgown, either physically or metaphorically. As Cindarella says, (in direct response, we can only assume, to the crushing weight of the Establishment): "Well, there's one thing. They can't order me to stop dreaming."

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