ギャル

Oi, tudo bem?

Don’t ask me why I’m starting in Portuguese - it’s a very interesting language to my ears though, btw. - but today’s topic has nothing to do with it.

I feel like writing about gyaru, a style, which became incredibly popular among Japan-interested people, for about 1 year. First I have to ask: Why is that so? Do girls like to walk around clothed in tiny skirts - or should I call it gift ribbons? -, covered their faces with tons and tons of make-up and dressed the hair like an explosion happened? Oh yes, they do!

Don’t get me wrong, I think gyaru is a pretty cool and awesome style.

As most of you might know, gyaru got big first in 1990s and was a rebellion against strict dress codes as well as equal looking society, like almost every style, that comes from Japan. To stand out of the crowd, girls started to dress and make up as just the opposite of the originally Japanese ideal of beauty. So, they didn’t draw back on tradition but on fakes: Lashes, hair, lenses, nails.
Gyarus often look overdone and that’s the essence (well, there are styles, that look quite naturally; most of gaijin gyarus, which I want to focus on, are into hime, agejo etc.).
The more the better! (from this “more” economy profits a lot*)

So I have to guess again: Why are so many girls into hiding behind a mask of make-up and wigs?
Answer might be quite simple: nearly every girl wants to look brilliant and perfect.

Circle lenses are a must, because natural eyes never can look like that big; wigs or extensions are really functional, if the own hair are thin, week or flat; and make-up is self-explanatory.

The result should be an awesome looking girl with gorgeous eyes, bright, healthy skin and a thatch that makes everyone envious of her.

Okay, this is the ideal. Often reality is different. Visual fails are run down at “gyaru-secrets”. Most comments are constructive as: “You are so gyaru... not! You are so ugly! Never try again!” or “Your are such a false and ugly bitch! I hate you!”

Let’s remember what the original plan of secret-pages was: To write about personal secrets or to criticize the styling of another person, anonymously; you can be fair and constructive or nasty as hell, concerning the look. Recognize something? Exactly: I didn’t mentioned taking somebody’s character in vain, because this has nothing to do with fashion and styling. Even if there are bitches in gyaru-community, I think nobody has the right to pass judgment over anybody, without knowing her/him - and if you know a bitch, secret pages are the wrong place for bitchfights (although they can be really funny sometimes xD).

Of course there are nice secrets as well. One of the most friendly - but in my opinion quite silly - compliments for gaijin gals might be: “Wow she looks awesome! Is she Japanese?” Sure, she looks like a Japanese girl which tries with gluing her lids up, painting her eyes big and dying her hair dead to look western!

*thumbs up*

The goal is exactly this: emulate the favorite Japanese model which looks fucking perfect.

Yeah, there are some gals who play with their styles, but gyaru consists of imitating - just as any other style.

So~ finished for now!

じゃまた。

*A friend told me about the “gyaru-index”. It seems to be a joke by a magazine: the more gyarus exist, the sounder the Japanese economy is (Just because, being gyaru means, spending a lot of money on fashion and beauty-products).