Yukata + Gyaru Series | Intro: What is Yukata? and Inspo

Yaho~!

Today is Tanabata! Matsuri season is in full swing and that also means... yukata season! I'm very excited to announce that I have an informative, inspirational series all about gyaru + yukata planned for the entire month of July! I hope you're as excited as I am

Let's start off with the most important question... 

What is yukata?

If you already know, then please feel free to skip ahead to the pretty pictures~

Yukata is a traditional Japanese garment that is quite thin and made of cotton for the summer. It's less formal and requires less "accessories" or ornamentation than a kimono (unless of course you're gyaru...) and you don't wear a second layer underneath.

Funnily enough, when I was younger I mistakenly saw a lot of people online referring to yukata as kimono (which it technically is, but that's the whole rectangle/square thing), but nowadays I see a lot of people calling all kimono or Japanese clothing "yukata"! Weird, right?

Here are some really simple, helpful graphics to differentiate the two that I found from an article on MangaDeJapan. I recommend checking out the link for a little more of an in-depth look! 

While it's relatively rare to see people wearing traditional Japanese clothing these days, throughout the summer in Japan you can spot many people wearing yukata to festivals, especially children and young women!

So... of course, it became quite popular among gyaru to do these really over-the-top yukata looks, and they really go all out! 

Let's take a look...!

Inspo Pics

As always, older gal magazines and blogs are great sources of inspo, and as OTT gyaru have slowly started to disappear, modern inspo pics are much harder to come by. However, I managed to compile some of my favorites that I've found on the web! This is very picture-heavy but I hope you enjoy!

Many thanks to ShibuyaGals on FB for some of these magazine scans!

This is one of my all-time favorite pics! She's wearing her yukata in what I'll call "Oiran style", which I'll discuss in a future post. Doesn't she look amazing?

Another classic! I aspire to have this much style inside a 7-11

Yukata gals + Purikura 

Some gals in floral yukata with sujimori hair

Yukata made the covers of gal magazines several times!

This one is being marketed as Celeb style yukata. Lace trimming is one of the many ways that gyaru yukata stands out from "normal" yukata!

This gal is wearing a yukata dress, a blend of Western and Japanese clothing that was super popular ~10 years ago (wow it hurts my heart to say that)! No idea if anyone still wears these now, but they are truly cute...

Another yukata dress! This kind of look is sometimes conflated with Wa Lolita by Westerners, but it's definitely not the same thing - it lacks the hallmark bell shape of Lolita and certainly the modesty. Also note the tan and gyaru makeup!  

This look is sooo cute with the My Melo and hair feathers!

I had to include this entire old-school spread all about yukata!

How cool is the animal print one?!!

The girl in yellow with pigtails is so cute!

Yesss another animal print one with a pink obi this time!

Toned-down onee gyaru wearing yukata in a very traditional way

These gals are super sexy and flashy!

I love this one so much. Note the chains and pearl details over the obi - quite uncommon for yukata, but not if you're a gal!    

From Shi-chan's blog

Yes, that is a dog yukata in the bottom left

That wraps up today's introductory post! I have so much more planned for this topic as it truly interests me, so I really, really hope you'll enjoy it

What did you think? Which look is your favorite?
Thanks so much for reading!
Until next time,

-SamiiChu