I need some inspiration from out of Melbourne, we just get too structured and dark with our style. I love that we’re classy and sleek, but the girl in me wants bright colors and cute hoodies. Here’s some cold weather looks from the hot gyaru girls in Shibuya, Tokyo’s fiercest fashion district.
This is what ima be channeling for the next three months. Ok then, ciaoOoOoOo （*´▽｀*）
Kowata kotu aru~~~
I love me some hot B-Gyaru styles, so excuse me while I indulge my fashion side with some examples of what’s rockin in Shibuya right now. If we had chicks runnin the streets of Melb with this kind of gear, I’d be all over it with the photographic journalism, but unfortunately even the Gyaru-type girls here are pretty tame. B-Gyaru rock the urban street look, inspired by hip hop and r&b, they often wear their hair in braids or with bright coloured streaks. Hot pants, neon colours and black are big winners, with baseball caps, lots of bling and of course, hoodies.
That might be enough for now. As you can see they love sneakers and boots. I love those cute baby doll dresses paired with the boots in the last one, reminds me of Rihanna in Shut Up And Drive, when she wears that short black dress with the white stars on it. Everything she wears in that clip is hot. I think I might have to start getting into hats, I have none but they look so cool on them. I can’t wait till I can finally go to Tokyo and absorb this style in its natural habitat! Until next time..
Oyasuminasai, yoi yume o~~~
I was told by a tarot reader that I could become a president one day. President of what I don’t know, but if that day ever comes I will equip myself for the role by dressing like royalty. Because nothing prepares you for running a government/organisation like wearing a tiara. Hime Gyaru is a Japanese trend designed almost exactly for this purpose (I assume). Hime meaning princess and Gyaru being their equivalent of ‘gal’. Behold the awesomeness:
As you can see, the Hime Gyaru are all about the bows, frills and giant hair. A lot of pink and white going on. Their tans are generally lighter than the ‘normal’ Gyaru and they are apparently quite self absorbed and arrogant, I don’t know anything about that though. They have very dramatic looks, but I’ll show you how it translates to the street from the runways and magazines:
Still fairly high maintenance (I’ve heard it takes some of them over 3hrs to get ready!) but more variety and inclusion of blues and greys, and some animal prints. One of them is wearing a denim jacket too, a questionable choice even in our world. Moving on, here are some of the cooler Lolitas who can be found strolling through the Harajuku district. On the interwebs we call them loli’s and they have many different sub categories (gothic, sweet, elegant etc).
That last one is my favourite. Can you see the subtle differences? I haven’t really included a Gothic Lolita in the true sense of the term, but a simple google search will bring up thousands of examples for you to peruse. Loli’s have more of a costumey, olden time and more child-like appearance. I always look at them and wonder what they would talk about.. Would they play a character or just chill, talking bout their weekends like the rest of us? Whatever the content, I’m positive they use those cutesy anime voices.
Desu~~~
(I don’t know any gyaru goodbyes.)
This is an amazing award winning documentary called ‘Children Full of Life’, first posted at TokyoMango, about a Japanese school teacher and his unorthodox methods of teaching compassion and encouraging happiness by getting the students to write personal journal entries and read them out to the class. The other children then empathise and share their own related stories. In the first few letters shared, the topic of death is brought up, with most of the kids tearing up throughout the session. Another situation sees the class disrupted by bullies, and it is left to their conscience to confess or not. I was moved to tears by each of the 5-part segments.
Part 2 * Part 3 * Part 4 * Part 5
What they learn are the most important lessons anyone can be taught: compassion for the pain of others, courage to speak up when they are afraid to and how to be happy despite disappointments and bad times. Everybody has pain, and sometimes it is easy to forget it, but we all suffer deep down inside. As the Dalai Lama says in ‘The Art of Happiness’ suffering is the one thing that unites us all. We are all human and we all have felt pain, and through this there is always a way to relate to one another.
I know I can sometimes sound like a hippie with all of this free love shit, but it is true. You take what you can out of life and the majority of us spend it in pain because we are too afraid to break ourselves free of the chains. You can be happy at any time if you choose to, you can stop being hurt if you let yourself. You can choose whether to hurt someone or make them feel better. I know with myself, sometimes I get into situations where nothing is going my way and I get really mad, I say sulky things to people I care about and I regret it. It’s hard to always stay positive and be good to others, but I’m trying.
The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler has been a great help and I recommend it to anyone. If you feel like you are suffering, then read it. Nobody ever really teaches us how to be happy anymore, they teach us how to be rich or successful, how to judge and to consume. What we really need is a lesson in empathy and the joy of life. That Japanese classroom is a beacon of hope.
This blog has wayyy too little gyaru. I think there might be about three posts all up? Not enough, considering they are my favourite fashion inspiration and all. I’ve been toying with the idea of maybe being paparazzi to our own Melbournian species of gyaru and posting the pics up here, but they mainly reside in the city streets and I’m going back to uni next week so I won’t get as much exposure. We’ll see how I go. Right now it’s time for some of my favourite sub categories, B-Gyaru & Kogals, who rock the streets of Shibuya.
B-Gyaru are the more urban, hip-hop, street kinda chicas.
The trouble with loving gyaru style is that it doesn’t translate well on anyone who isn’t Japanese (or Asian) in appearance. I’ve tried, trust me, but if the teased hair isn’t making me look like Effie, then the clothes aren’t loud enough, or the accessories are making me look like I’m revisiting my youth. What is kawaii on them always seems to look mismatched on me, but at least I look unique in comparison to the rest of the Melb socialites my age.
Let’s check out some Kogals, I’m a huge fan of this school girl look. Tartan skirts with tiny hemlines paired with cardigans are innocent-cute but still very hot.
Next up, I’ll be posting some of my other favs, the Hime Gyaru (princess gyaru) and some of the Harajuku Lolitas that inspired Gwen Stefani. The loli’s are a little too costumey & gothic for my tastes, but I appreciate their look nonetheless.
CiaoOoOo *^_^*
..Or at least I think I do? All I know is that I’m obsessed with looking at pictures of them. They’re just so bizarre, I’ve never seen anything like it. To go out and public and look insane is nothing new, the punk movement illustrated that.. But it would take hours for these girls to get ready to go outside every day.
Gyaru, for the unenlightened, are Japanese hyper fashion girls. Gyaru is based on their pronounciation of the word ‘gal’. Basically these girls smashed the old traditional Japanese idea of beauty as being pale skinned and demure, and replaced it with extreme solarium tans, loud fashion and tonnes of accessories. In a crazy way, it looks cool.
There are a lot of different types of Gyaru. One of the most stand-out and weird looking class is Ganguro, which literally means ‘black face’. They have the darkest skin, with bright white facial highlights, wear fluro weaves in their hair and dress in every color of the rainbow as long as they stand out. This style is mostly outdated now, and has been replaced by Mamba/Yamanba.
Another type is the Kogyaru. These ‘gals’ dress like seductive lolita school girls despite sometimes being years older and not attending high school anymore. They try to appeal to the Japanese men who go after the young innocent look, without any of the innocence.
One of my favourite types is the Hime Gyaru. They dress like princesses, with cute pink frocks, curled hair and tiaras. The hair alone would take at least an hour to do with all the primping and teasing. The Hime Gyaru are often a lighter shade of tan, sometimes keeping their original pale skin color.
And then there are the more modern Gyaru who look for the most part normal, with natural tan colors and only slightly teased hair who follow the current fashion trends to the dot. These girls are loud, mischievous and often obnoxious. They wear the latest styles almost to the point of making fun of them. They are everything Japanese society wishes they were not- they don’t study, spend all their money on clothes and going out, they’re brash and abrasive. They carry the stereotype of being unclean, as they sit on the ground putting on their make-up. They use slang and perform their ‘para para’ dances on the street for all to see.
I have to admire their courage in standing up to the dominant culture and doing their own thing in such a wild way. I realise that they are copying what they perceive as the cool fashion trend, but with the tag that comes along with the way they present themselves it would take some guts to dress like that, not to mention time and money. I can’t wait to go to Shibuya and see them for myself one day.
“Sell me candy,
Sell me love,
Sell me heaven,
Sell me doves..
Whats the charge?
Whats the cost?
‘On the bed..’
You the boss!”
Other Gyaru posts at Streets On Fire:
Streets On Fire 