Yep. Mirror culture is absolutely a thing and we’re breaking it all down today!
In the 1990s, when Kogals became more active and the culture of instant cameras and purikura was born and revitalized, mirrors were useful not only for fixing makeup but also for redoing your look after school. As for make-up, thin eyebrows became popular, and Oldschool Gyaru make-up such as dark foundation and white eyeliner became popular. In particular, the foldable mirror was so popular that it became one of the trendy items for Kogals at the time.
In the early 1990s to mid-1990s, a little before the late 90s, there were popular mirrors such as Hello Kitty characters and Mary Quant, among other memorable brands. Due to the popularity of the foldable mirror, many 109 brands such as CocoLulu and Baby Shoop began selling them as novelty items. Harajuku wasn’t far behind on the trend though, and brands like SUPER LOVERS began selling these mirrors too.
Rather than focusing on functionality, putting on purikura stickers would show how many friends a Gal would have, and having a mirror with your favorite brand’s logo or sticker on it emphasized a Gal’s individuality and what they like.
So, by the 2000s, brand mirror popularity started to decrease but began picking up towards 2010 through the collaboration of putting mirrors inside magazines such as EGG and 小悪魔ageha. These collaborations became a big hit not only because of their cute visuals but also because of the magazines’ novel ideas, rare magazine appendix, and collaboration with popular brands at the time.
With the evolution of smartphone apps and camera functions, selfie culture has become a standard regardless of age or gender. The in-camera feature provided by the camera function is the mirror mode that acts as a mirror. The communication culture of photo booths and instant cameras has begun to shift to SNS, and now, you can check the “mirror” you used before taking pictures with a purikura machine or instant camera with a single smartphone. You can see yourself in a filtered aesthetic state without having to hold a big mirror and check every detail like you used to.
Now that selfie culture is alive and well, many accessories that have ring lights have appeared as both phone cases, phone accessories, webcam and streaming accessories, and even mirrors with built-in LEDs have arrived.
What do you think about the mirror’s evolution and importance in gal culture? I feel like we don’t nearly put as much emphasis on mirrors now that we have camera phones and filters, however, an important thing to note is that despite this evolution, purikura booths continue to go strong even in Reiwa, so the old-form isn’t necessarily dead!