It shouldn’t be any surprise by now that Japanese youth had tended to dictate what was trending and what wasn’t back when Gyaru was still new (I have a crazy theory I read a long time ago about how that’s not the case since the Idol boom but we’re not ready to discuss that yet 🥴).
Arguably, the biggest boom that ignited Gyaru was the Kogal boom in the form of loose socks. Though loose socks are not permitted per school regulations in Japan, they started reselling in late 2021 as if they were back in style. The kogal boom led to more well known booms, again made popular by Kogals first:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVaVwmam26I
When Namie Amuro became a trending topic in Japan, many youth wanted to be like Namie and thus the Amurer boom happened, which was primarily the combination of using platform boots and mini skirts. As per the New Words and Buzzwords Awards committee, Amurer was defined as follows: The fashion of super idol Namie Amuro became very popular, and the gal who imitated it was called “Amurer”. Her super mini skirt, thick platform boots, and a three-piece set of long hair hanging down to the shoulders seemed to be the “Amurer” condition for the time being, and the city was full of “Namie Amuro”.
But here’s where it becomes that much cooler! The Asahi Shimbun summed up the year 1996 when this boom was just starting and wrote that it was ” a year in which” the culture of men “was overshadowed and” the women’s spirit “was conspicuous .” THEREFORE, in a time where men’s fashion pretty much ruled and was in the spotlight for so long, women started finally shining once these trends boomed ✊🏼💕
(And yes, totally more about these music booms coming soon!)
I talk about SHOPPERS a little more in depth throughout this site, but basically it was very common for Gals back in the day to buy as much as they could from their favorite brands in order to have multiple SHOPPERS. Additionally, standing mirrors were a huge part of the Kogal lifestyle which were made even more popular the moment that LOVEBOAT became more popular among youth. Troll dolls were also big back in the 90’s and were most commonly seen on in sub-bags, pagers, and cellphones. Lastly, being seen wearing your boyfriend’s school bag was crazy popular and only boomed even more after being featured in a Gal magazine back in 1996 (the magic number for our post today). Of course, it was even more common to go schoolbag hunting for these reasons, though eventually exchanging school bags became more and more prohibited.