ใกใใใฃใ It's Spacy! Finally back to talking ab gyaru it's been forever (for me) but idk I just tweeted happy july and gained almost 30 followers and got almost 1000 likes across 2 posts talking ab gyaru so thank you random hit tweet for pushing my lazy arse back into blogging. And maybe I would blog more frequently if ADSENSE MONITISED MY BLOGGGGG but you didn't need to know that.
In the year 2024, the label gyaru is diverse, gyaru being a label that has stood the test of time for over 3 decades, from the early Heisei era of kogals, Namie and platform shoes, to the 2000s with the ayu boom, cheetah print, ageha boom, agejo and blah di blah, gyaru is a subculture people have participated in for decades, but what about.... this decade. What about Reiwa? we know what trended back then, but what is trendy now? What trends define the Reiwa era of gyaru?
Note: This post is based off my own observations, based off what I've seen in trends as someone who has been observing Reiwa trends since 2020, not everything I say is fact so do not take it as such and you are free to not agree with my assessments.
All these words mean something.
Japanese historical calendars will usually be divided into certain sections, a period and an era. An era is a time during said period. The period is usually distinguished to the geographical region where the seat of power sits (long winded way of saying the capital), so the Nara period is called such due to the seat of power being based in Nara, this is one of the most common ways to name Japanese periods, although this may not always follow said principle. And to not confuse anyone, a lot of the periods use the historical name of places rather then their modern one, such as the Edo period of Japanese history, where Edo was simply another name for Tokyo which is still the current capital. The current period is simply called the modern period. Names of eras (nengo) used to be changed often historically, due to circumstances such as war, natural disasters, or such as the first instance of name changing an era where the emperor thought a swan was so pretty he renamed the era after it.
Now Spacy.... why are u rambling about Japanese periods and era naming history, well it's bc i like history, we continue.
The word Reiwa means 'beautiful harmony' and how eras are named is something that's flown right over my huge brain but Wikipedia said experts came up with the name Reiwa, and historically it used to be the courts who did. The reiwa era started on May 1st 2019 when former emperor Naruhito stepped down (usually they die but this dude was just an old fuck) and Emperor Akihito stepped up. Naruhito ruled during the Heisei era, which gyaru was formed, died and partially revived in, from January 7th 1989 to May 2019, after his father Hirohito (evil old fuck) died.
Now my useless talk about Japanese eras is over let's get to the fun.
After gyaru stopped being mainstream and turned to mush in 2014, gyarus changed their look from what was recognisable during the 1990s- early 2010s.
Now, Reiwa gals and gals in the Reiwa era are distinctly different, Reiwa gyaru IS A STYLE, which gals in the Reiwa era simply refer to people doing gyaru in our current era, it doesn't mean every gal doing gal in 2024 is a Reiwa gyaru, as people still identify strongly with Heisei Gyaru
According to galture, Reiwa gyaru is characterised by not simply the look, but the mindset, with the editor chief of EGG saying that the inside is more important than the outside.
But I caught myself bc this is about fashion.
Typically, Reiwa gyaru can physically be described as being more refined, with gals looking 'sweeter' in a sense. Lots of Reiwa gyaru will dye their hair, wear coloured contacts and still highlight their nose bridge. Galture directly says that Reiwa gyaru in appearance seem cleaner, modest and more approachable in comparison to gyaru of the past.
Some Reiwa gyaru also don't treat Shibuya like the holy grail Heisei gyaru do and people who simply like Heisei gyaru in the Reiwa era. Gone are the days of brand era gal items, with some Reiwa gals focusing more on buying what is cool and trendy, or sometimes what is cheap. This can be linked to the increase in online shopping and fast fashion in general. This lack of need for online shopping makes Shibuya 109 more like a nostalgic tourist attraction than a meaningful place for Reiwa gyarus.
Have you ever heard of.... 'Latte gals'
This term is probably strictly used by Japanese gals but Latte gals (ใฉใใฎใฃใซ) are almost like the in between of Shiro Gyaru (white gyaru) and kuro gyaru (black gyaru), usually gals with 'healthy looking skin or something that could look like a natural tan. In the past I think i've directly called gals like this 'sunkissed Reiwa gals'
Here is a tik tok explaining it
Some fashion pieces u may find popular with Reiwa gals are items like jumpsuits, flared pants (love me a pair of flared pants), lots of denim, however some Reiwa gals don't play around with colours these days, usually staying closer to browns, whites, denims, greys and blacks.
A good reference of a text book Reiwa Gyaru would be Aimi from EGG magazine.
Hair in Reiwa gyaru is also another thing. Reiwa gals will most likely dye their hair blonde, light blonde or a slightly dirty blonde, but again, no crazy colours, although u may see pink here and there. Usually hair doesn't stand out too much, yes it's dyed but it has none of that Heisei era volume, even not considering sujimori hair for a second. Often gals will have wispy bangs, While heisei gals often has a fuller bangs.
Reiwa gyaru make up also varies. I used references of reiwa gals and I wanted to say some Reiwa gals do the classic droop, but more often than not it's more like reiwa gals will do a droop or a wing and connect it into a long eyeliner and fill that in with a black pencil or eyeshadow, and will use harsh highlighter to enhance tear bags (called ๆถ่ข or Namida Bukuro and is similar to aegyosal) while also drawing it on to make the tear bags look plumper, and ofc this isn't all Reiwa gals but that's what I've noticed in some. often then not some Reiwa gals will do a straight droop rather than a curvy one which makes the eyes look wider. Some Reiwa gals also just decide to ditch the droop effect all together and all choose to leave the lower lashes a bit bear.
Examples of some Reiwa gals make
I haven't seen a single Reiwa gal who doesn't wear a fom of lash extensions, not all will wear lower lash extensions, but a lot will.
Kuro gyaru Reiwa gals.
Why am I separating Reiwa gals from Kurogyaru reiwa gals, well that's because Kuro gals who identify as Reiwa gals, in looks at least are sometimes distinctly different. Good examples of Kuro Reiwa gals are models like Kiiruipu and Momoa Seto.
Having deep tans isn't as common as it used to be within the gyau community, with many preferring that latte look or shirogyaru look. However, tanning still exists, with magazines like Loalo on the goal to promoting tanning.
The difference that I see with Kuro Reiwa gals is usually 2 things, make up and hair.
Reiwa Kuro gals will often have that droop, even if it's subtle it will usually always be there. When gals like these go all out, their make up looks more dramatic compared to the usual Reiwa gal. Kirei (Kyiiripu) is a good reference of a model with very very dramatic eye make up while keeping it within the trends of Reiwa gyaru.
Kiiripu's eye make compared to Mami and Mirichamu
Other than that, Reiwa kuro gyaru follow somewhat similar fashion trends.
Korean Gyaru
Wait.... Korean gyaru as in gyaru from Korea? No not exactly.
Ranzuki is an example of a self proclaimed Korean magazine, a magazine that attempted to cater towards gyaru and korean fashion trends.
Korean gyaru (้ๅฝใฎใฃใซ) is a term that can be used in a way to describe gyaru who follow Korean fashion and make up trends.
No i'm really not pulling this one out my ass, Korean gyaru is very much a real thing.
Korean Gyaru make is sometimes called ใคใซใใณ้ขจใกใคใฏใ, which seems to translate to ulzzang make up.
Korean gals may have blonde hair but it's also not uncommon to see Korean gals with brown hair.
Another difference may be with nail trends, with Reiwa gyaru still sticking to longer flashy nails compared to Korean Gyaru who may wear more shorter nails with nude looking nail polish.
So is Korean gyaru really gyaru? well i'm not here to answer that because that's not what this blog post is about, moving on.
How do i categorise this....
2020's American style
This trend of gyaru is very clearly inspired by American fashion, and can be clearly linked to the shift in gals listening to R&B, Hip Hop and music like Juliet, Nishino Kana, Shion, May's, all the good juices, to now American inspired Japanese rappers like Awich, JP the Wavy, Chamina, Elle Teresa, still artists who all make good music might I add.
A lot of Reiwa gyaru trends for-go flashy hair styles and colourful hair, however gals who follow this new trend defy these standards, often sporting colourful dyed hair and wigs from green, to blue, to blond.
You can feel the sexy hot girl vibes around these gals especially.
The style a lot of these gals wear usually consist of shorts and skirts with boots, sometime the boots are fluffy sometimes they aren't. One thing that unites gals like these tho are Jordan's/Nike shoes
Tank tops, outfits that are tight fitting and show of their figures, lots of jackets and outerwear.
SNAPBACKS! Hats, hoodies, you will often find these accsesories aswell.
I don't know if u can tell but ever since I've described Reiwa gyaru i've been struggling to properly put this into writing and that's because i'm writing without any of the fancy pictures on screen, just raw dogging it... anyway.
A part of me is trying to beat around the label of B-Gyaru because I don't personally think the label fits but I also don't want to call it BBL gyaru bc that feels crude.
For make, that differs between each gal but one thing that is very common is dramatic eye make, usually with very big and long eyeliner, big lashes extensions on top and bottom.
And final feature is BROWS, these gals love a good 2016 brow!
Older Sister Reiwa gyaru.
Onee san gyaru has literally, always existed, since the year 2000 where the OG gyaru who are now in their 40s and very late 30s started to outgrow gyaru.
(It's been like 2 days since i've started writing so hello)
I want to tackle Reiwa onee gals into 2 categories:
Reiwa Onee gyaru
and Plastic surgery trends.
Reiwa Onee gals:
First thing, what is Onee gyaru?
Onee gyaru first developed from the OG kogals who matured into a more mature and presentable style for professional environments.
Onee gals don't have an age requirement but gals can start participating in onee gyaru from any age from 18-19 to 21, or even older at ages such as 25-27, but it depends on the person, such as how Nicole Abe graduated from Ranzuki and transferred to Onee gyaru magazine Happie NUTS in 2011 when she was only 18, compared to Models like Hiromi Hosoi who started to participate in Onee gyaru a while before leaving EGG magazine at 23, Or Sayaka Araki who graduated from Koakuma Ageha in 2011 at 26-27.
Reiwa onee gyaru are usually gals in their early to mid 20's who have matured into onee gyarus. These gals can be mama gals as well.
A good example of a Reiwa Onee gyaru are models like Kato Mika from Happie NUTS.
Tans can vary depending on onee gals, a lot of Onee gals are the for-mentioned 'latte gals' gals without harsh tans but 'healthy' looking tans, such as Reitapi (NUTS), they can be lighter such as Reipoyo,Ange and Seika, or have harsher tans such as Harachabn (all NUTS models).
Reiwa Onee gyaru sometimes wear bottom false lashes, gals like Ange and Mami do. Reiwa Onee gals will also rarely ever do the droop, with some preferring to draw 1 long line under the lash line but will not connect it into a droop. Sometimes instead of highlighting with white, the tear bags is brushed with a darker eye shadow, usually brown and reds
Onee gals may also love a good smokey eye.
Hair colours can vary, from blondes, to greyish blondes, to darker browns, but nothing too flashy like bright blues or even bright bleach blondes.
Former Heisei gyaru who are still gal's today aren't too dissimilar to Reiwa Onee gals, but their style will be more matured and nurtured than gals in their early to mid 20's.
Plastic surgery is also hugely popular with Onee gals, usually older gals in the 30's, former Heisei gals such as Former Koakuma Ageha models like Rina Sakurai (Sakurina) Hozunyamu (Hozumi Numajiri), The Yoshikawa twins (Former ageha models), Sakamoto Remi however, plastic surgery has been popular with gals for a while so this section will never be that big.
JK/JC Heisei Gals
Heisei gals (ๅนณๆใฎใฃใซ) - Gals who identify with gyaru trends created in the Heisei era. And if u forgot all about that scroll back to the top to refresh urself on the different eras.
A very perfect example of a gal like this is Ran from EGG.
JC- Junior High / JK- High school.
JC and JK heisei gyaru are teenage gals aged usually 14-18 who identify with clothing, hair and makeup styles created during the heisei era of gyaru.
A lot of these young gals are the children of OG gyaru, so will own second hand gyaru brands like Alba coats, alba accessories... lots of alba, you know how much ALBA ran owns, go on her instagram and count.
Heisei gal trends are still popular with loads of gals today, many gals such as LOALO models still wear Heisei era trends as well, so this trend isn't specific to young teens but there are an increase of young girls dressing in Heisei era gal fashion as well.
Elementary school gals also fit into said trend but I don't feel like thinking ab elementary school gals and Kogyaru magazine so.
However, one overarching trend I did notice is lack of deep tans with gals like these, especially younger gals, which makes sense, however, there are tanned gals like Kira, 'Latte gals' like Ran.
I decided to end my blog post here bc if I don't I will literally never finish it bc there's so much I could talk about, I skipped over Hostess gyaru trends, Ora ora gyaru trends (mainly bc I dont want brain damage looking through soul japans instagram reels) So maybe I will do a part 2 in the future but not the near future, since I feel like I'm going crazy trying to explain something without having the visual representation that will be added after I go and edit everything at the end.
As a matter of fact this post was very fun to write, people often talk about Heisei trends or substyles whatever you call it, like Amekaji, like Agejo, like manba and Hime but sometimes it's easy to also think trends in Reiwa era are just reiwa gyaru but when you look a little deeper that's totally not the case, As someone who likes gyaru sometimes I feel like it's sometimes hard to appreciate Reiwa era gyaru due to the fact that it is more toned down then Heisei gyaru, so hopefully this post has given some insight into Reiwa trends that aren't picked up on or noticed in international circles. I also want to mention that I am not claiming to name or found any of these styles, nor am I attempting to popularise terms. And, I know not all gyaru do the eye droop thing, I just used it as a comparison point
Also just note, this is mainly what I have noticed, if you notice other things or if you think my observations are wrong, that's fine, tell me because I will never always be right nor do I think i'm a source of authority to say what is right and what isn't.
-BYE BYE spacy ๐
ageha models edit their insta pictures beyond belief, so sakurina doesn't actually look like the 2024 picture at all
ReplyDeleteOh yeah ageha models 100% edit their photos but idk ab Sakurina not looking like that at all, the picture i used came from a week ago and in the 3rd and 4th slide it shows videos of her looking the same just without all the smoothing filters, showing off her new jaw so...
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