Old posts
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09.23.08Japanese fashion: Gals! (Gyaru/Ganguro)
This post is a continuation of my writings on Japanese fashion and beauty trends, something which has always interested me. This post will cover the Japanese fashion style ‘Gyaru’ and its most common and more recognisable term ‘Ganguro’ The images in this posts are scanned from ‘Egg’ and ‘Ageha’ magazine, click on them for a much bigger view.
For a quick introduction to style and fashion in Japan check the start of the first style post.Please comment if you enjoyed this post!The Gyaru trend
I saw a fair few Gyaru while I was in Japan their fashion styled ranged from the very mild to the incredibly extreme. I’d love to hear from you if you’ve been to Japan, tell me what your experience of Gyaru was while you were there?
Most of these sightings were in the Shibuya district and the place to go if you want to see Gyaru style is most defiantly Shibya 109, a large mall in Shibuya that is filled with clothes and accessories which is any stylish Ganguro girls port of call when pay day rolls around.If you’re reading this post then I assume you already know a little bit about the weird and wonderful world of Japanese fashion trends, if not then you’re probably asking yourself what on earth is gyaru?
Gyaru (and the mens sub genre Gyaruo) is a literal translation of the english word ‘Gal’, this name originated in the 1970’s and it is rarely used today,
Ganguro is a subcategory of this trend though it is a commonly used term to describe the various looks seen within the trend. The Gyaru trend is a header for many smaller trends and subtrends some of these include things like Manba (girls with a deep tan and contrasting white makeup), Onegyaru (a girl that is no longer in high school and has adopted a more sophisticated style), and Himegyaru (girls who dress up in a princess style - this genre is strongly linked to sweet lolita examples of these youth styles that can be seen in the images within the post.I will be using the term Ganguro in reference to the styles within this post though you should be aware that most of these styles fall under different subcategories within the Gyaru trend, Ganguro is just one of these categories but it is mostly used to describe girls with a tanned complexion and bleached hair.
‘What is Ganguro all about?’
The Ganguro trend in Japan could easily be seen as ‘trendy’ girls anywhere else, these girls take pride in their appearance and spend the majority of their money caring for it and purchasing the latest clothing trends, however Ganguro itself is an extreme take on this.The girls within this trend will often sport a medium to dark tan in an attempt to emulate various hiphop stars that are popular in Japan this deep tan will usually be combined with incredibly light hair colours, taking their naturally dark hair pigmentation to shades of medium brown, blonde and sometimes white/grey blonde hair colours.
This is of of course achieved with the use of hairdye, a very popular brand in Tokyo as well as many online Asian forums is ‘Palty’ (seen in the image on the right, click for the full colour range) with colours ranging from dark natural brown to an incredibly light blonde, the names of these colours are playful and cute, the models sport varying Ganguro looks and the box is adorned with gem graphics. The dye itself is designed to successfully lighten very dark however pre-bleaching treatments are usually needed to achieve the colour on the box, this however is the length Ganguro girls will go to in order to achieve a more unusual hair colour.
Makeup is also something heavily relied upon within the trend, colorful eyeshadow has been the latest trend amongst Ganguro however some extremes in terms of makeup are seen within the trend, Manba will often use white concealer as lipstick and to contour their faces in an unusual manner. False eyelashes are also daily wear for a few dedicated Ganguro, along with contacted lenses known as ‘circle lenses’ which give the appearance of a larger, more open eye.
This type of lens is so widely used in fact that Circle lenses are present on most of the girls in the images on this page.Hair extensions are something you will see an abundance of in Japan, mostly on teenage girls it is something you probably will not notice however as these extensions are usually incredibly well matched to the users hair colour (even if the colour is dyed) and human hair is often used. These extensions are used in order to create longer hairstyles as well as better volume within the hair to help create bouffant styles which are a common hairstyle for people with the Onegyaru (older sister) and Himegyaru (princess) styles. Curls and ringlets are also popular. Many Japanese fashion magazines demonstrate how easily it is to completely change your look via using hair extensions and clever styling.
Circle lenses and hair extentions used to aid beauty cannot be solely tied down to the Ganguro trend however as these two factors are present within most Japanese style groups and can be seen on many of the teens in japan, as well as when flicking through any Japanese fashion magazine. Many famous actors and actresses in Asia have also been known to use circle lenses to make their eyes appear larger on screen and in photographic imagery as it is generally thought in Japan that having larger eyes is a much more beautiful trait.
This being said however Ganguro is not about conforming to traditional beauty standards it is in fact the complete opposite, when the trend was first born it was said to have been a form of revenge against traditional Japanese society. The clothing and style that was being work was in direct contradiction to school rules and regulations and was very much about self expression and marking oneself as an individual. The tanning, dyed hair and use of slang is in direct contradiction to what is seen as traditional female beauty in Japan, and going against this has lead to the Ganguro girls and resembles of the style getting quite a bad press and media image in Japan. This being said during my short trip to Japan I saw very little negative behavior towards the Ganguro girls wandering around Shibuya or hanging around outside of Shibya 109, so I cannot confirm or deny this statement. (Please let me know if on your travels/life in Japan you saw a different view towards Ganguro) However it would seem that a more open and accepting view is taken towards Lolita trends than towards the trends within the Gyaru subculture.
‘Where’s the fashion?’
I understand that so far this post has been purely about beauty and very little about fashion however beauty and makeup is a key feature of this trend and is usually the defining factor of noticing if a person is part of the Ganguro trend or not, however this does not mean that Ganguro fashion isn’t a big part of the trend as well. Shibuya 109 is bursting apart with stores catering to Ganguro youth, constantly churning out new clothing that takes influences from current catwalk trends as well as styles that are currently big in the United Kingdom and America.
Taking to the streets of Shibuya and Shinjuku you will see a wide range of amazing Ganguro clothing, the girls walking these streets are dressed in bright colours, this seasons prints and will more often than not have the latest designer bag (or designer rip-off depending on how much cash they can part with.) While I was in Japan the Nu-Rave style was quite big within the Ganguro community and most of the stores in Shibya 109 were selling bright day-glo printed tshirts and luminous colored leggings.Ganguro style changes frequently to keep up with catwalk trends as well as trends purely confined to Japan, however the look itself is usually constant bright colours are often seen as well as cute accessories, oversized and gem encrusted jewelry, and high heel shoes sometimes verging on platforms are often seen.
A lot of the styles within Ganguro are heavily based around music, much like the Lolita styles in Japan are based upon J-rock and Visual-Kei, Ganguro style is based around Hip Hop and R&B music you will often see girls sporting looks that are very similar to their favorite musical artists (again however the r&b look is a subgenre within the Ganguro culture.) Hotpants, trucker hats and ‘bling’ accessories are big various shops exist around Japan who’s sole purpose lies in ‘blinging’ up whatever item you like, many Ganguro girls will choose to get their mobile phones encrusted in gems which adds to the expensive and unique look they like to portray.
‘Where can I buy some of these super trendy clothes?’
There are a fair few places to find Ganguro fashion in Japan however until I make a return trip and do a more full post on shopping in Tokyo I would say that your one stop shop for Ganguro style is definatly Shibuya 109 which I have mentioned many times during this post, however it really is the one place to find many Ganguro styles
under one roof. It is reasonably easy to find once you are in Shibuya and features 8 floors of clothing stores, makeup stores and places to eat. You will be loving welcomed by incredibly cute store workers and will spot more than the odd 100 Ganguro girls and guys wandering the shop floors.
There is a good range of stores (and a whole paint store of the colour pink) ranging from cheap to expensive most of the stores however are cheap and you will be able to pick up unusual accessories and cute makeup brands without putting a large hole in your purse, you will also be able to find reasonably cheap bags, tshirts, shoes and other clothing items in a lot of the stores. Most of the things you will find usually works out at about the same price you would pay for the garment in a store like Topshop here in the UK or over in the USA, when you count the fact that you are buying the item from Japan and no one else back home will have it then the prices for most things actually work out quite cheap and fully worthwhile. There are however a few stores within 109 with higher pricing but again if you see something you want the prices are usually worth it when taking the exclusivity of the garment into account.
It can be a tiring task however looking around the mall itself, as mentioned earlier it is an 8 floor affair and though the building itself is pretty narrow like most stores in Tokyo they defiantly make up for it in height so if you are planning on going I would say be prepared to spend a whole evening there, it closes pretty late thankfully but be sure to check the times before going, there are also a few places to have a rest and something to eat within the building so if you feel you are flagging a little there are plenty of places to take a rest.
The people in the stores within the mall will be incredibly happy and probably go out of their way to help you as well if you are needing any help with anything,
feel free to ask to try anything on in any of the stores one of the girls I was with on my trip to Tokyo did and the store assistants were incredibly happy to help they told her she looked ‘kawaii’ in what she had tried on and even suggested as best as they could different ways to wear the outfit and what she could wear it with. So don’t be afraid to ask the language barrier is difficult I won’t lie but trying your best and pointing will usually end up with you getting the assistance you need, and all of it will be in the friendliest way possible I have said it before but it is true that every person I encountered in Tokyo was lovely and it will be the best customer service you receive anywhere.‘I want to know more about Ganguro!’
If you are looking for more scans from Japanese fashion magazines then I urge you check out Jmagazinescans Livejournal Community there are posts a few times a week of various Japanese fashion magazines and you can even request scans from specific issues of certain publications, it is a great tool for anyone wanting to check out the latest Japanese fashion and beauty trends.
If you are looking for specific information and images about Gals style then I highly recommend the blog Shibuya 109 gals it has quite a lot of informative posts and frequent posts about new fashion magazine releases.
Like always I hope you found the information you needed/learned something new and I hope the whole Gyaru/Ganguro explanation wasn’t too complicated for you (just remember all Ganguro are Gyaru but not all Gyaru are Ganguro!)
Feel free to comment if you found it helpful! And do let me know if i’ve missed anything or if any of the information is incorrect as I can only write down what I know and what I saw while I was in Tokyo so please let me know if there is anything misleading.
04.21.08Kiddyland
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uring my trip to Japan I’m ashamed to say I actually ended up going to Kiddyland 3 times, I loved the place so much - try to imagine someone dashing around each floor of a store filling a basket with cute things like his life depends on it, and you’ll get a pretty good picture of how I looked when I was in Kiddyland. I can’t even begin to describe the amount of excitement it gave me.
Kiddyland, for those of you that don’t know, which is probably most is basically a very big toy shop that’s is in Shibuya, however it being a Japanese toy shop it is eight floors tall and filled with the cutest goods imaginable it has everything from sanrio goods, character goods, stationary to urban vinyl, collectable figures and very tempting expensive dolls on the top floor.
Anyone that is a child at heart would probably react the same way I did when I first entered it, which involved a lot of rushing over to things and claiming how cute they were and then filling up baskets. You have to pay on every floor though, which can be annoying as opposed to paying for everything at the end each floor has its own check outs for products on that specific floor. Each floor however is a delight, each one being set out for different things. There’s one for sanrio and san-x, one for other character goods and stationary, one that has licca dolls and kids toys, and for disney goods, and the most exciting one with blythe and urban vinyl.
Each floor also has gashapon machines relating to the goods that are on the floor as well, and seems as while I was in japan I became rather addicted to those little plastic balls full of joy I ended up getting at least one gashapon from each floor, on the top floor I ended up getting quite a few.Needless to say I do describe this shop as heaven, at least it is either heaven or a culture shock depending on who you are. If you like the cute, you’ll love Kiddyland and if you’re not used to Japanese cuteness you’ll probably be able to find at least one character or product in the store that you’ll fall in love with and have to have.
I couldn’t list everything I bought on my visits to Kiddyland, as it would probably take up half the post but to sum up I bought a whole bag full of stationary, stickers and pens, many many Rilakkuma (relax bear) products (he’s my favourite), various Robin and his 100 friends cute things, a little re-ment, another blythe doll (even though I promised myself I wouldn’t), and what ended up being the bottom of my bag full of gashapon.I’d like to say that Kiddyland hit my ‘cuteness peak’ when I was in Japan, but I could have went there another 5 times and still got excited, I think what is so special about it to someone like me that’s wanted to go to Japan since they were 12, or for someone that likes cute Japanese products is that it is full to the rafters of items that you’d pay double for on ebay, and each of these floors -
the first time you visit is like a little surprise that you feel building up inside your tummy like when you get given a present and it’s all wrapped up and you’re wondering what is inside and when you open it it is way more than you expected. Kiddyland is just like that, or at least to me it was even if it was to the detriment of my wallet.
