One of the more interesting trends to come out of Japan has been the gyaru, or “gals,” young women who feel compelled to place “Harajuku style” before all else, dressing in outrageous fashions in order to stand out as much as possible. The bizarre trend started back in 1995 with the rise of Amuro Namie (iTunes Japan link), the enigmatic singer from Okinawa who inspired a generation of girls into dressing like her, a trend that was called “Amullers.” When her popularity faded, the fashion trend took off in a new direction which came to be known as kogal, later shortened to its current name of “gal.” While fashions come and go within the gyaru world, the recent trend is for the girls to be divided into shiro-gyaru or “white gal” and kuro-gyaru or “black gal,” the latter visiting tanning salons until they’re a very dark shade (a link to a rather ecchi but awesome artbook we just posted), which can certainly bring out an exotic air. While I respect the courage it takes to challenge society’s rules and dress in such a unique way, these girls unfortunately do away another Japanese social convention, that of politeness: by and large, they’re all too happy to cause inconvenience to others around them by talking loudly on the phone while riding a train (a big social no-no here), putting on their makeup in public places and so on. If you’re interested in this unique aspect of the Japanese fashion world, be sure and browse the magazines like Egg and FRUiTs and S Cawaii, available either as revolving subscriptions or as individual issues.
The strange Japanese fashion trend of gyaru.
