Gyaru info blog!

Hello there! It’s Kai again this time to explain gyaru, its origins, and its sub styles! A recent commenter asked about it so I thought I’d make this blog post! （＾ω＾） I’ll be splitting this blog into sections, first what is gyaru, its origins, then the inspiration behind it, what makes someone a gyaru, its main sub styles, and lastly the misconceptions and a brief description of it!

What is gyaru?

Gyaru (also known as gal) is a western inspired style that was created in Japan to fight its beauty standards, often seen with tans and over the top feminine attire. Gyaru is all about not caring what others think even with extreme makeup and its bright fashion as it’s all about rebelling against society’s norms. It isn’t only 

The origins of gyaru!

Gyaru first started being prominent around the 90s but don’t be fooled! Gyaru was born in roughly the 70s (if I remember correctly) in the Shibuya district within Tokyo Japan. It is said that the first gyaru shop was Shibuya 109 as that is the store that gained most prominence among gals especially in the 90s.  

The inspirations behind gyaru

Black and POC people played a crucial role in inspiring gyaru as POC dont fit the beauty standards of Japan and Japanese girls wanting to rebel got tans and adopted a more westernized attitude. It is said that all-girl biker gangs in Tokyo were also part of the inspiration, being prominent in the 80s with a rebellious attitude inspiring the attitude of gals.

What makes someone a gyaru?

Gyaru IS all about makeup, but it’s also about the attitude and the fashion (which is highly overlooked), it’s especially not caring what others think, especially when it comes to looks. Being a gal is all about rebelling against social standards, being outspoken, outgoing. If one doesn’t want to look or dress like a gal, they’re not a gal, simple as that. Gyaru is a fashion based subculture and while there is softer sub styles of gyaru (ex: himekaji and Roma gyaru) if you hate the more extreme sub styles (ex: manba and ganguro) you are not a gyaru; the same goes viceversa, if you think himekaji and Roma gals aren’t real gals while you’re manba or anything similar, you’re not a true gal. Being a gyaru is all about accepting others (especially their counterparts). If you believe Chinese gals or any other gals that aren’t from Japan aren’t real gals you are not gyaru as every country has their way of doing things. learning the history of gyaru is also vital to being a gal.

Sub styles of gyaru! (These are just the most popular and the ones that come to mind :333)

• Ganguro - Ganguros are often seen with deep tans and blonde hair, with bright clothing 

• Manba- Manba is deeply inspired by Hawaii’ and it has motifs within its fashion, such as flower leis, hibiscus motifs, etc. It once again has a deep tan
• Yamanba- Yamanba is inspired by ganguro and has the same motifs as manba and people argue if they’re the same of different.

• Agejo- agejo is more of a mature and sophisticated style with a sassy attitude and is generally more toned down than other style

• Himekaji- himekaji takes inspiration from lolita fashion and is way more toned down than other styles generally has frills, ribbons, bows, dresses, etc. 

• Rokku- Rokku takes elements of metal, goth, rock, and v-kei fashion and music. It doesn’t have a tan and usually has leather and black clothing

• Roma- Roma stands for romantic and it is very similar to Himekaji but it is its own style, the colors being more subtle and more floral patterns 

• Gyaruo- the male counterpart of gyaru, has multiple styles as well 

• Tsuyome- described as a toned down version of banba, has a flashy style and its main focus is to be bold, sexy, and mature in a sense. It’s often seen with neutral colors and animal print

• Banba- inspired by manba it is more toned down and is flashy, less neon colors but seen kind of as a Barbie 

Misconceptions about gyaru

1. You don’t have to be Japanese or Asian to be a gyaru
2. You don’t necessarily need to be tan to be a gyaru
3. Gyaru isn’t Asian fishing
4. You can’t go 3 shades darker than your skin tone in gyaru
5. Kogal isn’t a style in gyaru, it simply means a gyaru that’s in high school
6. You need to know some of the history of gyaru and do proper research to be gyaru

Well that’s all for todays blog! If you have any questions pls let me know in the comments and I’ll do my best to reply to all of them! 

-signing off, Kai XOXO