We know by now that Heisei Gyaru and Reiwa Gyaru have a looooot of differentiating features. I’m not even going to begin touching on Reiwa as much because ✨N O P E✨ , but in the meantime let’s continue discussing Gyaru fashion and history from the good ol’ days, Heisei! Especially now that it seems that the 20-year curse has creeped up (I call it a curse but eh, it’s said that specific fashion makes a comeback every 20 years) – which actually explains the overseas Gyaru trend because 2001 is back and a whole hell of a lot more scarce than we could hope for in terms of supply. My own bitterness aside, let’s get started, yes?

First the basics: Let’s define Gyaru Fashion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqTxcu4hI2U&skip_registered_account_check=true

The origin of Gyaru fashion in Japan was the fashion worn by young women who were avant-garde at that time (does B★D’s “Avant Gyarude” ring a bell?), which became a boom mainly in Shibuya from around the middle to the end of the 90’s. The fashion has certain distinguishing features such as bright colors, tanned skin, flashy makeup, exposure and platform shoes. This, of course, ends up evolving as pop culture’s influence on Gyaru starts changing.

And then, let’s Touch on Gyaru Substyles a bit

So now there’s a Gyaru boom (at that time) and the brands in Shibuya109 are the mainstream, trending fashion brands, so naturally Shibuya was considered a Gyaru sanctuary.

At the beginning of the Gyaru boom, it was just called Gyaru/Gal, but high school girls are subdivided into Kogal and junior high school students are subdivided into Magogal. Older and more mature girls end up considered Anegal… But that’s not all! Then we have the more radical styles which were prevalent at the time: Ganguro and Yamanba, and then after a while, the Hime Gyaru and Agejo/Kyaba Gal will appear (and of course, so many other substyles in between).

But I digress… Let’s go back to the origins for a sec:

Characteristics

• Tanned Skin
  • Dark tanned skin is the biggest feature of the original Gyaru style. Shibuya’s streets at the time of this boom were full of healthy young women with a light brown color, as it was popular to bake at tanning salons. While the sunburnt, tanned Ganguro appeared, “snow white gals” also became a boom during the transition period with conservatives (pop culture strikes again!).
• Bright Colors & Flashy Makeup
  • Gyaru hair is basically brown to blonde, brightly colored and bleached in some cases, and it is also popular to wind it with a curling iron. The original style also features flashy eye makeup that emphasizes the eyes, such as false eyelashes, colored contact lenses, and frosted eye shadow.
• There is a lot of Exposed Skin by Using Miniskirts and Shorts
  • Bottoms are usually mini length. High school girls’ uniforms are also mini-length skirts, and loose socks become a staple. The style is enhanced by using a pair of platform heels, platform wedges, and boots.
  • In comparison, Reiwa Gyaru fashion, all of the above like hair, makeup, clothes, accessories…they’re all modest. Also as skin whitening continues to be a boom, there are not many gals with tanned skin as they were at the time of the first Gyaru boom.

Brands that Represented the Original Gyaru Style

• COCOLULU
  • COCOLULU is nostalgic for those who were active gals in the 90’s. At that time, it featured a prominent logo, primary and colorful colors, and a pop-type design. Jeans with a large COCOLULU logo printed on the denim butt were commonly known as “KETSULULU”. After the boom and Gyaru decline, COCOLULU could still be purchased and still showed to be colorful, but it shifted more towards a Harajuku-style atmosphere rather than Gyaru-style.
• CECIL McBEE
  • CECIL McBEE was a brand that was basically the epitome of “sexy” among gals. It used to feature slits, off-shoulder tops and a tight silhouettes. However, prior to closing, they rebranded quite a lot. In the 90’s, “sexy” was the main concept, but the recent concept is “Mote clothing is NO.1”. [Editor’s note: Original Gyaru style and gals were literally the “I hate men, I’m a woman and I’m fucking fierce and did I mention MEN SUCK?” type of gals]
• ALBA ROSA
  • The distinctive hibiscus pattern and brand logo and status symbol for any OG Gal. ALBA ROSA was very popular as a gal brand, but it was originally a “resort fashion brand for adults” (PS: I hate to crush your Gyaru dreams but this brand HATED Gyaru and did everything they could to deter them from their brand because Gyaru = bad propaganda for them, which is also why they would have exorbitant prices). The open and highly exposed design that is characteristic of resort wear caught the eye of gals who liked exposure at the time, and quickly became a purveyor to gals. For this reason, ALBA ROSA was hellbent on changing the image of being THE Gyaru brand by closing all stores at once in 2005, when it was at its peak.
• EMODA
  • EMODA is a brand that started attracting attention a little bit later when the Blogger boom was barely entering what I consider to be the “new” gal fashion. Ena Matsumoto, who was a model for the magazine “ViVi”, is a former producer of this brand. The concept includes sexy slits, some skin exposure, and styling that match the blogger fashion, but more than anything the brand was made to have a cool and urban look to it.
• ANK ROUGE
  • Speaking of more modern Gyaru brands, this brand is directed by Rie Matsuoka, who was a reader model for gal magazines in the past. The concept or rather, the goal for this brand was that “modern gals” could be styled with a classic atmosphere in a girly style. The exposure is modest, and the design has a very retro girly atmosphere among the gals. (This was also when mote fashion reached a peak).
• ANAP
  • This brand is part of the original Gyaru style, though it has a KIDS and GIRLS version of the brand. Primarily, the concept is sporty and casual.