Hi everyone, Samii here! I was browsing the internet and saw some interesting gyaru illustrations. I wanted to translate them to share with the community. Then I stumbled into a whole rabbit hole: they actually came from a long, informative article posted on My Navi Woman- a Japanese site for women's fashion- about the history and evolution of the gyaru style (which has been called "Gyaru kei fashion" by the author throughout the article).
You may be wondering, why put hours into translating this when Google translate/website autotranslations exist? Well, it was mainly so I could study Japanese by doing something that interests me. Also, Google translate isn't perfect - especially for Japanese, a language that relies a lot on context clues - and a lot of nuance gets lost during machine translation.
I am by no means a professional translator, and this is actually the longest thing I've ever translated... So please take that into consideration when reading this article!
As a final preface, please note the original article was written in 2019 and a lot has changed in these few short years since then. I would also like to point out that the author of the original article is Asahi Sato, a female fashion writer. She clearly has a lot of passion and nostalgia for the gyaru fashion, and the way she wrote about it brought me a lot of joy! It makes me wonder if she was or wanted to be gyaru back in the day. With no further ado, I'd like to share Part 1 of the article with all of you.
The original article on Gyaru Kei Fashion
What is Gyaru kei Fashion? Brand & History. [Illustrations &
Diagrams]
Throughout the 90s, gyaru culture was thriving. We call the fashion worn by the gyaru of the time “gyaru kei fashion”. The fashion writer Asahi Sato will teach us in
great detail about gyaru kei fashion’s distinguishing points, magazines, and
brands.
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It was the fashion of light hair, colored contacts, false lashes, flashy makeup and sexy, revealing clothing.
Gyaru fashion swept the 90s generation by storm, and now that we are in the Reiwa era, it's getting attention once again.
Gyaru fashion changes flexibly under the influence of current trends. I tried to examine and summon the gyaru boom from the Heisei era.
What is Gyaru Kei Fashion...?
“Gyaru Kei Fashion” Meaning and Definition
“Gyaru kei fashion” refers to a Japanese fashion pioneered
by the core boom in Shibuya in the mid to late 90s, and the avant-garde fashion
worn by young women at that time.
It has standard distinguishing features such as bright coloring, tanned
skin, flashy makeup, revealing clothes, platform shoes, and the like.
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The Evolution of Gyaru Kei Fashion
The 1990s saw the birth and widespread craze of gyaru kei fashion. The mainstream brands were in the Shibuya 109 building, and as such, Shibuya was called the "holy land" for gyaru.
Initially, the trend was called "gyaru kei", but they were subdivided into groups - high school girls were "kogyaru", middle school girls were "magogyaru" [lit. "granddaughter gals"]. When gyaru became a bit older, they were called "onee kei (onee gyaru)".
"Ganguro gyaru" and "yamanba gyaru" were of the extreme variety, while "hime kei (kyaba kei)" and others who didn't tan also started to appear.
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The Distinctive Points of a Gyaru Kei Co*de
The below characteristics were features of what we call the initial gyaru kei style.
(1) Tanned Skin
A deep tan was gyaru kei's biggest distinction. It was popular to tan at a salon, and at the time of the boom the streets of Shibuya were lined with healthily tanned golden brown young girls.
Those who did extreme tanning introduced "ganguro" and other substyles, while at the same time more conservative styles called "bihaku1 gyaru" brought in another boom.
(2) Bright Coloring and Flashy Makeup
Hair colors were fundamentally light brown to blonde, and it was trendy to curl hair using a hair iron.
False lashes, color contacts, bold eyeshadows and other makeup that emphasized the eye were also distinguishing features.
(3) Revealing Clothing Like Miniskirts and Shorts
Mini-length bottoms were essential in order for the girls to show off their hygienic golden brown tans.
High school girls wore their uniform miniskirt with "loose socks" as a staple. Additionally, pairing mini-length bottoms with platform heels and boots was also a distinguishing point.
It seems that the observable gyaru kei fashion of the Reiwa era adopted the above-mentioned distinctive traits in small quantities - hair, makeup, revealing clothes, accessories, etc.
In order to suit the ongoing "bihaku" trend, it seems that there aren't as many tanned gyaru as there were at the time of the initial craze.
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Example Gyaru Kei Fashion Brands
I'll introduce the brands that exemplify gyaru kei fashion from the time it was trending in the 90s until now.
COCOLULU by CO&LU（ココルル）
Nostalgic for those who were gyaru in the 90s. Its distinctive points are the bold logo, the colorful use of primary colors and pop design. The jeans with the COCOLULU logo written across the butt were
nicknamed “Ketsululu”.
These days, they still have a physical shop as well as an online shop. The colorful designs haven’t changed, but, rather
than gyaru, it seems to have shifted to more of a Harajuku vibe.
CECIL McBEE（セシルマクビー）
Of all the gyaru brands, Cecil McBee is responsible for being
the #1 Sexiest. Its distinguishing traits are its tops, which can be worn for both streetwear and the
office, and the tight silhouette. This brand is also still in existence today
after some rebranding.
In the 90s, it branded itself as “erotic, sexy”, but now the
concept is “#1 Mote2 Clothes”.
At present they don’t just have gyaru kei designs, but have
also wonderfully adopted a casual elegance.
ALBA ROSA（アルバローザ）
The iconic hibiscus print and brand logo. It was extremely
popular in gyaru kei fashion, but the reality is that it was originally a brand
intended as “fashion for adults headed to a resort”.
Resort fashion, where individuals are free to wear
clothing in a more open-minded revealing way, caught the eye of gyaru who
preferred wearing revealing clothing at the time. From then on, it became a brand that catered to gyaru.
To this end, Alba Rosa closed all its shops at the height of
its popularity in 2005, to try to overturn the image of being a gyaru brand.
Nowadays, it’s shifting its image from a resort fashion
brand to a city fashion brand, which is quite a stark rebranding.
EMODA（エモダ）
A noticeable gyaru kei fashion brand lately.
The model Matsumoto Ayana from the akamoji kei3 and gyaru kei magazine ViVi was the former producer.
The clothes are revealing with slits and can be styled
well with platform shoes, making it suit gyaru kei fashion, but the cool
designs also give off metropolitan vibes that also suit Mode kei.
Ank Rouge
The famous brand which offers the latest trending gyaru kei
designs. The director is reader model Matsuoka Rie (Okarie) from gyaru kei magazines, and the clothes have a classic girly vibe that can be dressed
down in a casual way; “modern gyaru”.
Because the brand’s clothes are modest, out of all the gyaru
fashion it has a “retro girly” vibe.
ANAP（アナップ）
The models have healthy tans and flashy eye
makeup, and it is the originator of the sporty and casual vibe within gyaru kei.
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Distinguishing Features of Gyaru Makeup
Some facets of gyaru kei makeup haven’t changed
since the 90s, but there are also parts that have totally changed.
The distinctive point of 90s era gyaru kei makeup was that
the eye makeup was getting more and more flashy. Thin eyebrows with thick
liquid eyeliner, sometimes stacking 2-3 pairs of false eyelashes.
There’s probably nothing as flashy as that now, but still, eyeliner is essential.
There are more people who reject the double eyelid and don’t use tape or glue on their eyelids. For eyelashes, the trend has changed from false lashes to getting extensions for a natural lash.
Rather than the color of contacts changing, the goal has
changed to having striking, big brown eyes.
(2) There are 2 factions, tanned skin vs. bihaku skin
Because gyaru kei fashion is very revealing, a tan was
fundamental. Even though the trend has changed to the “bihaku” boom, there are
still people who get healthy light tans.
On the other hand, because gyaru kei fashion has evolved
over time, gyaru kei clothing suits the vibe of girly kei and others, and the
number of people in the “bihaku” faction is high.
(3) Hairstyle has also changed
Light-colored hair is fundamental to the gyaru kei style.
When the trend was at its fever pitch, wearing the “mori” hairstyle with a
suntan was super hot! Using a hard type hairspray so it wouldn’t collapse, it was
a competition of who had the most volume and the highest hair.
Both coloring and style has totally calmed down nowadays. There
is no black hair [in gyaru kei fashion], but blonde hair and “mori mori” hair
is very rare.
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Example Gyaru Kei Fashion Magazines
Magazines are fundamental to the gyaru kei fashion. They
ceased publishing after the initial boom was over, but we're later reissued… I'll introduce some of the representative magazines.
Ane Ageha (お姉さんアゲハ)
Targeting an age group of 25 and up, it caters to the slightly
older “onee gyaru”. It’s the direct successor of the tremendously popular
monthly magazine “Koakuma Ageha”.
Out of the gyaru kei fashion magazines, Ageha had unique
reader models, from which the name “Agejo” came. Because many were working as
hostesses, it came to be known as the “kyabakura bible”.
“Himegyaru” and
“Ageha kei” held a rather special position in gyaru kei, but Koakuma Ageha was
completely canceled after going through a cycle of suspension and reissuing.
The audience of teens and twenties at the time was handed
over to “Ane Ageha”.
egg
It stood out as the "relatable" magazine that collected data from the real gyaru of Shibuya, from high school age to twenties.
From bare bellies to piercings, loose socks and more, we honor egg for reflecting on the pioneering booms of gyaru kei and the big trends that followed.
Monthly publication was suspended in 2014, but they later published irregular mooks and operated under a digital model.
Ranzuki（ランズキ）
Opposite to the shirogyaru magazines, this magazine catered to the tanned ganguro and yamanba "tsuyome gyaru".
Deep tans, flashy hair colors and distinct makeup characterized Ranzuki. It was the magazine of the trailblazing gyaru, but when the trends of the era took a turn, it ceased publication in 2016.
ViVi （ヴィヴィ）
A well-known magazine for the latest gyaru. It was not originally
aimed at gyaru, but was called an “akamoji kei” magazine.
Gyaru kei is not concerned with being favorable among men or other people, but rather "what you yourself think is cute", while the point of akamoji kei is having a Mote code that is popular with men.
Originally, the two were totally different genres but lately, the boundary between gyaru kei, girly kei, and akamoji kei is unclear. Good styling is trendy.
“Vivi” is a staple magazine for akamoji kei and “conservative
kei”, and a strong magazine for gyaru kei and girly kei. It’s safe to say it is
an indispensable magazine for the balanced gyaru of today.
JELLY （ジェリー）
A magazine published every other month targeted at adult
gyaru and those with a unique casual style.
It’s safe to say that with a brand concept of “Strong and cool, pretty women are popular!”, it certainly suits the style of today’s adult
gyaru.
It doesn’t have the vibe of original gyaru kei but doesn’t feel out of place as a reference for those familiar with Reiwa era gyaru kei co*des.
Popteen
The magazine of famous reader models aimed at teens.
Out of all the gyaru kei magazines, it’s definitely a magazine aimed
at young teens and high schoolers, and in the golden age of gyaru those who
were yearning to be kogyaru read it as if they were in a dream.
The initial gyaru boom has since calmed down, and now it features quite
casual fashion but it was driven by teen gyaru culture.
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Example Gyaru Kei Fashion Models
Tsubasa Masuwaka
The “Popteen” reader model who played a huge role! The
clothes and accessories worn by Tsubasa created such a surge of gyaru that a
new economic effect called “Made famous by Tsubasa” was born.
She’s also famous for producing her own false lashes. Even after graduating as a reader model, she was still sought after as a gyaru model.
Kumiko Funayama (Kumicky)She was scouted as a gyaru model in Shibuya when she was 17 years
old. She was so popular that she adorned the covers of a record seventeen issues
of Popteen in a row.
Three “Kumicky” stylebooks were published, named after her
nickname, and she was the idol of all gyaru.
At present, she is an exclusive model for “with”, and is engaged in a wide range of activities such as brand creation and television appearances.
Miyu Ikeda (Michopa)
Nicknamed “Michopa”, she debuted in “JC Popteen”- the “Popteen”
aimed at even younger teens- as a reader model.
She was responsible for planning projects for “Super JC”
since she was in middle school. She has kept her brown hair and flashy makeup.
Shiho Fujita
While working as a gyaru fashion model, she became president
of her own business at only 19 years old. She uses the unique characteristics
of gyaru as a focus for her marketing and has remarkable company activities
such as the agriculture project called “Nogyaru Project”, where gyaru farm Shibuya rice.
[End Part 1, to be continued]
Translator's Notes
1Bihaku - Lit. "beautifully white", it is a beauty standard to have untanned skin free of blemishes that come from exposure to the sun such as freckles, moles, sunspots and sun damage. There are a wide range of "bihaku" beauty products and UV cutting clothes and accessories marketed towards women. It seems that the "bihaku boom" started around the turn of the century.
2Mote- Lit. "attractive, popular, favorable (to the opposite sex)", "mote fashion" is a style that is characterized by a focus on what's attractive to men. Because the beauty standards are very different in Japan, it's quite conservative and feminine - maybe the opposite of what a Westerner might think of when asked what is attractive to men! See the below image as an example.
3Akamoji kei - Lit. "red letter style", it is a feminine style that seeks to emulate the styles in "red letter" magazines such as ViVi and JJ. It started to become popular sometime around 2007 and, like gyaru, has evolved with the modern trends.
