~ Gyaru Fashion ~
I- History
The 90's are a turning point in Japanese musical universe, which will naturally mark fashion. This is the birth of J-pop!
It all started with the producer Tetsuya Komuro, principal composer and leading figure in the Okinawa Actors School. In 1992, the "school" gave birth to a band : Namie Amuro & the super monkeys.
Namie, then being 18, recorded her first solo single, thanks to Komuro who, convinced by her potential, had her take vocal classes and changed the image of the young idol ... At that time, Namie had a dark complexion, discolored blond hair, mini skirt and plat-form shoes !
Her theatrical performance, especially her voice and her image, seduce the young Japanese teenage girls running low on originality who literally throw themselves on this fabulous marketing product ...
They are called by Namie Amuro herself, the Ko-gals, Ko come from Komuro and gyaru is the japanese pronounciation of the english word girl, so Ko-gals means the girls of Komuro.
Most of Kogals are above 16, but at the beginning, they were sometimes younger like 12 or 13. Unlike Lolita, Kogals were not well-accepted by the Japanese system for several reasons:
The first is that it was the first teenager's "revolution" in Japan. These girls nonconformist as it's possible to be, leaving the conventional japanese beauty, were classified as "rebels" or "disruptive elements", especially in schools ...
Secondly, it is in adolescence that girls gain some freedom, as their parents are losing their authority and the system is allowing them to have some purchasing power. In addition to their pocket money, which becomes important, there are many odd jobs that can make teenage girls and some don't hesitate to skip school in order to earn money and it is not necessarily in the most legal way
The whole life of a Kogal revolves around her appearance and her ability to stay cute. Nothing is more important than the look of the others. They want to shock common people and be admired by their peers. The goal is to be as popular as possible, to be known and recognized in the street including by being taken in picture for magazines and to be elected look of the month.
What comes closest to Kogal fashion in Europe is Lolita in its European sense, these young girls who think they are sexy at 15 years-old, who try to be more attractive by looking older with makeup, vulgar clothes, and seek to attract more and more boys always older.
II – The different styles
1) Kogyaru
The first style and the oldest is Kogyaru fashion. The best thing to look cute in Japan, it is of course the school uniform! It is essential to any Kogyaru! They even keep it outside of class hours, although it is strictly forbidden by all schools to walk in town in uniform. Indeed, they must be cute but also sexy, so it is not unusual to see high school students wearing skirts abnormally short or with a shirt knotted on the chest .
The loose-socks are the indispensable accessory , these socks are very long and wide, they are wore loosely by making pleats on the ankles and calves, falling on shoes. The length depends on the number of pleats desired, between 30cm and 150cm. Planned originally in the simple purpose of keeping warm during winter, even among other students, it is a fashion accessory absolutely essential and is part of their school uniform
If there is something absolutely essential in Kogyaru fashion, it is the hairstyle!
They can spend hours taking care of their hairstyle! The main feature of Kogal hair is the color! From brown to blond, it is necessary to go through bleaching ! The goal is always to be different from common girls, typical Japanese. Secondly, to accentuate further the difference in style, it is necessary to give their hair some body, using all means like: brushing, hair extensions or curling iron, everything is good! The volume of hair having the advantage of changing the face, it becomes easy to no longer look like a Japanese!
2) Ganguro
The second style is Ganguro .In ganguro fashion, a deep tan is combined with hair dyed in shades of orange to blonde, or a silver gray known as "high bleached". Black ink is used as eyeliner and white concealer is used as lipstick and eyeshadow. False eyelashes, plastic facial gems, and pearl powder are often added to this. Platform shoes and brightly-colored outfits complete the ganguro look.
Fashion magazines like Egg and Cawaii magazine have had a direct influence on the ganguro. The ganguro culture has evolved its own synchronized dances, called Para Para. Participants do predetermined moves at the same time, usually as accompaniment to J-pop music. Para Para events are held by ganguro circles, and involve either going to clubs to perform Para Para or gathering to learn new dances.
3) Yamanba
Eventually, girls wanted to take the Ganguro style to the extreme, and began the trend known as Yamanba. Yamanba is a term that refers to a mountain hag in Japanese folklore, called Yama-uba and it is said that Yamamba wanted to look like that witch. They had extremely dark tans, wore very wide, white panda circles around their makeup, and at time even drew designs or whiskers on their cheeks. They stuck small stickers all over their cheeks around their eyes, and even used white paint pens to get the extreme white they desired. Their hair could be any color of the rainbow, and was teased to stand anywhere from 10 to 15 cm off their heads. Extensions almost always were worn, sometimes in different colors. Their clothes were bright and outlandish.
4) O-Gyaru
Now, let's talk about O-Gyaru fashion. O-Gyaru are all simply dirty Gyaru ! It is a fashion in which the principle is to not wash ... Makeup, hair colors, self-tanning cream are very expensive, and the young gyaru are poor, so they had to find a way to allow themselves to not spend too much money while having a very strong visual identity.
A Ogyaru often remains in pajamas, even outside and she doesn't use any make-up remover because it's expensive and keeping the makeup of the day before save a lot of time in the morning.
5) Himegyaru
The last style is the most recent : the Himegyaru .These gyaru are the definition of high class. Himegyaru, meaning Princess Gals, wear the most expensive clothing, feature the most luxurious accessories and hairstyles, and are at all times immaculate. Hair is teased up on top and curled tightly in spirals on the bottom. Hair color is always caramel, black, or dark brown. Super-girly high heels, and completely feminine clothing are the uniform. Pearl and cameo inlays and beadwork on nails is also a big trend.
III- Boys : Gyaru-Otoko
Girls aren't the only ones following Gyaru Fashion, indeed there is Gyaru-Otoko Fashion, nicknamed Gyaru-O Fashion. So it's in fact the male version of ganguros. Like them, they shock, they attract stares, they move together as a group, they hang about Shibuya and they follow fashion magazines like Men's EGG. But unlike Ganguros who do it to distinguish, make friends or who simply go under the crisis of adolescence, they have a specific purpose: to appeal gyarus. Because it is inconceivable for a gyaru to date a common Japanese, these are the rules of their fashion. Gyaru-Otoko therefore not hesitate to spend astronomical sums of money to buy clothes ot to skip school in order to go out with them.
They also practice a Japanese method of trying and pick girls up, called Nanpa, widely used by Japanese youth, and particularly by gyaru-o. Here is the concept, a gyaru-o stays in a very public place of their city and waits. As soon as he sees a ganguro that he likes, he will talk with her, and when they are at ease, he takes her in a café or in a karaoke. Then followed a few hours of fun. . . and then, they go to a love hotel without any second rendezvous.
Conclusion
Nowadays, Ganguro and Yamamba are only a minority and it's unusual to see them. Indeed, gyaru fashion has changed and there is now a new kind of gyaru, this is the gyaru next generation.
This newer style consists of a mid tan, natural makeup, long white to brown hair, with curls or straightened and backcombed. Current clothing trends include mini shorts, knee socks, and tanktops. They are now supposed to be more mature, sexy and are noticed by their refinement and their class.
