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hiiii! this post is an expanded version of a comment I left on another blog post about being gyaru in a strict environment. I didn't want to hijack their post, so I thought I'd expand on my experiences as a gal who had to deal with a similar situation as a teen.
in my original comment, i mentioned i was probably kogal before i even knew what gal was — but in reality, i didn't have a particular style i was into. i actually copied what i saw my peers wear and essentially wore whatever was trending at the time. i moved a lot, so i got to meet people with different styles, adjusting accordingly.
backstory
anywho, it started in middle school — 6th grade — when my mom had finally allowed me to dress myself. up until that point, my mom had dictated everything i wore, often dressing me in a way that made me look like a mini grandma or auntie at just 14 years old. it was embarrassing! i was sooo happy, but little did i know, this "freedom" would be limited.
i leaned towards cute dresses, cropped tops, and shorts — things that mostly went against my school's dress code (and also really pissed my mom off for some reason). i was still allowed to pick what i liked, but my mom would begin to heavily moderate my outfits. she'd make me wear leggings with my shorts and skirts, cycling shorts under my dresses, and tanks with my cropped tops. i hated it!
towards my high school years is where things would start to change. i grew tired of the ugly fits, so i began searching for ways to work around the rules.
i'd start to be "performatively compliant" — that is, if i knew where a strict teacher or supervisor would be, i'd fix my fit so that i wouldn't get coded until i passed them, or avoided them altogether! i had almost all their routes memorized, so i knew when and where i'd see them throughout the day.
another method i tried was traveling with a crowd, sticking to the farthest edge of the group away from the adults, or embedding myself in the center of the group to make myself less noticeable. i didn't always get away with it, but it definitely helped!
i also discovered that if i befriended some of the school staff, i had a better chance of getting away with wearing outfits that would otherwise get me coded. adults like to be liked as much as teens do, meaning they are pretty receptive to the idea of acquaintanceship. it's kind of their job to be nice to you anyway, but you become more likeable to teachers and supervisors when you're on friendly terms with them. there were a lot of teachers i was friendly with who'd even let me hang out in their classroom if i was skipping periods so long as i wasn't disruptive to their class. i'd do their classwork with them, answer questions, and even helped out with passing out papers!
this probably made me look like a teacher's pet, but there's an ulterior motive at play here!
remember where i said they were cool with it as long as i wasn't disruptive? well, i'd outright ask them if i could do my makeup in their classroom. asking for permission shows you are being considerate, but whether they agree or not, be sure to respect their decision!
back on the topic of clothes, i'd usually carry the items i wanted to wear in my bookbag and changed when i got to school. if the weather was cold that day, i wore my outfit underneath a basic sweatsuit and took it off at school. before the last period of the day, i'd change to a regular fit moments before catching the bus home so my mom wouldn't see what i actually wore to school that day. however, once she got a new job and started working late, i didn't need to do this as much! ✧ദ്ദി(˶^ᗜ^˶)
advice for different circumstances
"but johnnie, what about—"
i hear you, not everyone goes to a school that doesn't enforce uniforms. not everyone is brave enough to befriend their teachers and hallway supervisors. not everyone can wear makeup. heck, not everyone has cute clothes they want to wear!
if you haven't already, i highly recommend you read antama's post, as it goes over uniforms and such better than i could.
from my experience as far as makeup, i was allowed to buy it and simply put it on at school. if you aren't allowed to, or your finances are monitored, i suggest leaning on a friend for help. have them buy the items you want in exchange for favors, if nothing else. you could buy them lunch in equal value to the item you asked them to get for you, or — if you don't mind lying a little — send them money to buy the thing you want and tell your parent(s) or guardian(s) you're paying them back for food, an uber, etc.!
don't feel comfortable being sneaky? that's okay too! if your friend lives in a less strict household, ask if they can do your makeup and hair too, or ask if you can borrow their makeup to do your own. (though remember this: you shouldn't share eye makeup!)
don't have friends? well, you may need to come out of your comfort zone for this, or reconsider if you really want to be gyaru. being gal is not just an aesthetic or "mindset," it's a lifestyle, and you have to be willing to do things that are a little unorthodox! this kinda applies to all alternative styles when you think about it. if the least you can get away with is mascara and a side ponytail with cute clips, it's better than trying nothing at all!
i wasn't always a gyaru, but i was absolutely a rebellious teen. this is all to say, "if you really want to, you'll find a way!" i wasn't disruptive in the sense that i got into fights and my teachers hated me for being a dick — i was just a sneaky teen who skipped class and danced around the school's dress code, and I still graduated in the top 30%! break the system by working with it, and i guarantee you'll find a new way to express yourself.
later babes, johnnie! ☆⌒(ゝ。∂)
Comments
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Kitty <3
your journey into gyaru is so interesting, thank you for sharing! honestly i wish i had been as rebellious and brave as you as a teen. I used to be very afraid of authority. I kinda still am but not as bad as back then.
"performatively compliant" - that's so real.
In high school only one teacher had a problem with me wearing leg warmers/ slouchy socks. I went to a school with a rly strict uniform, like to the extent where your socks had to be black. But only like 2 teachers cared about socks. One teacher in particular, who didn't teach me and always told girls off for skirt length loved to go after me. My skirt was short but I only wore pleated skirts (most girls wore pencil skirts), so idk maybe that's why he never said anything? But he HATED my legwarmers.
I've never been a misbehaving kid, and all my teachers liked me cause I was well behaved and pretty enthusiastic when talking about whatever subject, but this guy would call me out in the hallway or if he saw me when he was walking pass my class, one time in assembly, I was so embarrassed.
I think I got lucky that I just barely saw him after all this..? but I'd also wear black legwarmers (if i wore black tights) that were relatively discreet and didn't stick out.
so like i won in the end :P
Once I got my first taste of true freedom, it got easier to be comfortable with pushing boundaries Xd
Legwarmers are so cute tho! And practical! It’s a shame he bugged you about them :/ I’ve also dealt with a teacher like that — a sub for our gym teacher who got arrested for dui XD he claimed I couldn’t wear dolphin shorts, but never said anything about the other girls in my class wearing 3inch Nike pro shorts, so I eventually ignored him and wore my shorts anyway. Told him he could fail me and I wouldn’t care (he didn’t btw). I think he didn’t like me because I wasn’t all over him like the other girls were. There were a lot of freaky teachers at this particular school >.<
by >_johnnie⭑!!; ; Report
arrested for a DUI?! omg
ugh i hate freaky teachers
by Kitty <3; ; Report
dress code only applies to people teachers dont like
by Kitty <3; ; Report
Literally! I should’ve reported him, but I was a non-confrontational student
by >_johnnie⭑!!; ; Report
no i get that <3
by Kitty <3; ; Report
Asp3n Fangs
Im sorry to hear your mom was so strict with what you wanted to wear, that's really a shame :(
But hearing about your experiences pushing your limits of what you wore to fight against the rules that were trying to be placed on your clothing is really incredible! I hate how strict and honestly unequal dresscodes are in schools, its one of my least favorite things about it due to certain implications it holds or unnecessary restrictions it places (particularly on girls)
I've always found rebellion and activism through fashion and makeup to be a fascinating and incredible subject, weither its studded braclets and chokers or cute dresses and vibrant makeup it has a chance to say something about the systems we live under (weither those systems are parents, schools, or the government itself)
I truly hope that anyone who was restricted with what kind of clothes they can wear will get to escape and wear what they want when they want
I had to get reeeeal creative because of her. If I told you everything I had to do behind her back? Whew… (￣▽￣*)ゞ
I’m pretty tall, so it’s easy for me to stick out. That and clothes simply fit differently on me, so what looked “appropriate” on someone 5in shorter than me looked too “promiscuous” on me — so unfair! I especially hated summers because of this.
Yeah exactly! Fashion as a rebellion is something that should be appreciated more, but unfortunately with consumerism and socmed, I feel like people are more caught up with fitting into an “aesthetic” rather than the freedom of expression. Now that I’m older, I get to make and wear all the clothes I wasn’t allowed to wear before, and I’m totes gonna have a lot of fun doing it! ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧
by >_johnnie⭑!!; ; Report
Aw mann thats another thing i hate about dresscodes, something thats okay for one person to wear is not okay for another person purely because of their body (yaknow.. the one thing a person can't change
) like girls with bigger breasts or a bigger bodytype. 
its crazy
And yeah i know what you mean, i mean i don't think its bad if someone has a specfic aesthetic or style they particularly like even if it is popular, but it does seem like an annoyingly common thing where people will ask "what are we wearing this summer" or "whats trending this summer" or how something will be big and popular for like a month but then afterwards everyone abandons it, and if you're still seen wearing it people will fr ask why you're still wearing it or how "old" it is
by Asp3n Fangs; ; Report
DEADASS!! It was like that in the last school I attended and it was lowkey annoying? Everybody was out there wearing the SAME FIT and if you deviated from it, you were ridiculed. This was back when everyone wore Nike tech, addidas tracksuits, those uncomfortable ass Jordans and hot yoga pants (with no underwear). I was a sheep back then and looking back I wish I dressed how I actually, really wanted to before I learned what shame is :/
And yeah!! It’s discrimination no matter how you look at it. I can’t help that I have long legs and big thighs the same way someone else can’t help that they have G cups. We shouldn’t be shamed out of wearing certain clothes just because of that!! Now idgaf.. I wear my 3” shorts, then they roll up into track briefs and I leave them that way XD
by >_johnnie⭑!!; ; Report
Dear god that sounds awful... Middle school me would not have survived i wore a my hero academia uniform to school once (and i killed it
)
And yeah i agree its awful, it causes girls to believe that parts of their body are inheritly inappropriate or sexual
by Asp3n Fangs; ; Report
ooo my schools are SO lucky my mama was a closet watcher XD
by >_johnnie⭑!!; ; Report