Hello Babydoll: The Nitty Gritty of Gyaru

 

The Nitty Gritty of Gyaru

Hello, Babydolls! I really hope you all enjoyed my last post.
In this post, I want to talk about an in-depth deepdive on where Gyaru came from as a fashion style as well as the dark side of the style. 

————-Gyaru Origins————

The Gyaru subculture started becoming a phenomenon in the 1990s, but originally started with the Japanese girls trying to spice up their uniforms.

The Gyaru would usually have a loose ribbon around their neck as well as rolled down socks. Compared to the usual “elegant” and “formal” nature of the uniforms, this phenomenon quickly started to trend amongst the Japanese Schoolgirls. 

Soon, the Gyaru would start defying the Japanese beauty standard of pale-skin and dark hair. The Gyaru would also try to mimic the western beauty standards of blonde hair, tan skin and high amounts of makeup to make their eyes look bigger (like a western caricature). And just like that, Gyaru took off, and by the early 2000s at least 4 Gyaru could be seen in most Japanese prefectures. From here, more Gyaru subcultures would be worn like Hime Gyaru as well as other darker styles like Goshikku Gyaru. 

————The Dark Side Of Gyaru———-

Of course, with every amazing thing, comes a downside. The Gyaru would be looked down upon severly as sex workers, as most of them were getting kicked out of their houses for simply being Gyaru.

Gyaru “streetsitting” after being kicked out of their homes

These young girls had to use sex work as a way not only to keep up the Gyaru lifestyle as well as just living day to day. The Gyaru were also highly sexualized and looked at as sex symbols, especially by older men. Unfortunately, due to the bad connotations being Gyaru had, many Gyaru were getting assaulted due to this unfortunate stereotype.

————Conclusion———-

I hope this was able to inform everyone reading more about the Gyaru subculture as well as Baby Gyaru who may be new to the subculture who just want to learn more. 

- Goodbye, Babydoll ♡