.✧* Painful Truths About Gyaru *✧.

 Hello Everyone!

Today is gonna be a bit of a rough post that might be a little unpopular, but I still want to write it. I hope you all like it anyways. There are some things about gyaru that I think many people choose to ignore, which cause them to hold themselves back from success. No one can make gal into something it's not, even if they try, there are inherent truths about it that will always apply no matter what kind of gal you are. It might hurt, but we need to face those truths. 

You do have to look gal to be gal.

Yeah, there is a "gal spirit", yeah, gyaru is a subculture and lifestyle, not just a fashion, but Gyaru is a VISUAL based subculture. To be identified as gyaru, and identified by other gals, to be gyaru, there is a minimum of visual identifiability you need to achieve. It's totally fine if you're living your own life doing your own thing posting on your own socials and doing as you like, but please just don't be upset if you're trying to gain approval or involvement in the community, or if you don't want to receive comments about not being gal all the time, if you don't want to look gyaru at all, because you will have a hard time.

Gyaru is an investment.

Gyaru is high maintenance, it's going to require a lot of cosmetic upkeep, and you're going to find quickly that there's a lot of things you want to buy. That doesn't mean "it's expensive" or "you have to spend a lot", but it does mean it's something you have to put some amount into in order to get good things out of it. Time, Money, Energy, Mental Real Estate. If you aren't in a place in your life where you can really do that, Gyaru might not be a good thing for you to get into until you can.

(The response "I'm poor" every time someone gives you criticism doesn't serve you, I'm literally broke, unemployed, and don't have a home so this response really hurts and annoys me personally. You can definitely be gal on a budget, but you HAVE to be willing to put in something. If you're not, gal isn't the thing for you.)

Gyaru isn't subtle, it's always going to be dramatic.

If you are a person who is very shy and doesn't like standing out, you aren't going to like gyaru. If you try to do gal while taking away all the stuff that makes it look extreme, you're going to be stuck not looking gal in the end. You have to pick which you want: flashy style or not attracting attention. If you're a kid and you have strict parents or school, You'll either have to go against them or wait until you're away from them. That's how it is. 

Gyaru brand clothes (mostly) aren't valuable.

I'm really sorry to tell you, but if you bought a $70 ALBA ROSA shirt off of depop, you were ripped off. Gyaru brand isn't valuable just because it's brand, and you're going to lose money on resale if you import it. There are specific things that are more or less valuable than others because of high demand, but almost nothing (old) is worth more than $20 USD a piece tbh. This is why no one in the comm buys from western marketplaces. The quality of most brands are also pretty bad, which is part of why the resale value is so low.

(Click to see the prices clearly)

There are going to be some things that look gal on the models, but don't look gal on you.

This really sucks, but cultural relativism is a bitch. Sometimes you'll see a makeup look you like or an outfit you think is cute, but it just will not look gal when taken out of the context of Japanese society and Japanese features. Some things that Japanese gals do would just look normie on a western person. You just have to find something else that will work, or some other way to do it. Don't be offended if you're told something doesn't read as gal, it's not because "you're not gal ever period", it just means that you'll have to try something else.

(A while ago, I tried a Ranzuki makeup tutorial, and it DID NOT look gal on me.)

Gal is a commitment.

Not everyone is an extreme 1000% "full beat every single day" gal, but gyaru is inherently a lifestyle which requires HEAVY self modification, I often think "if a gal can change something about their appearance, they will". If you are a person who REALLY likes to keep their natural appearance and never wants to make any big changes, you probably won't enjoy gal at all. The Gal-O-Meter is a good tool to help you understand what I mean, as Hair, Makeup, Nails, and Tan are all commitments one might not be willing to make.

(Click to view clearly)

It's okay to have different styles.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO PICK A SUBSTYLE. You can wear something girly and frilly one day and something dark and biker-style the next day. You can wear something thats not definable. You don't have to pick one thing. If someone asks you what your substyle is, you can say "nothing". You're allowed. The majority of the source material we use has no clear substyle categorization anyways, because no one needs to care about it.

It’s okay if gyaru is just a stop on your fashion journey, and not the destination.

If you saw anything in this post that made you think, or in general if you're finding that you're not really enjoying gal as much as you thought you would. If you're finding that you never want to make any of those commitments, wear any of those clothes, or do any of those things people are suggesting to you. Gyaru might just not be the right thing for you. That's Okay.

Not every person on the planet wants to be gyaru. It's not for everyone. Also, sometimes people really like gyaru for some time, and then want to move on. That's 100% okay. There is no loss of pride or respect in just moving on to something else and choosing not to pursue gyaru anymore. You might be able to put your focus into finding the thing you DO want to do.

It's also completely okay to just be "gyaru inspired". It would be more respectful to the community, though, if you didn't spam comm spaces with "gyaru inspired" content.

It's okay to just be YOU, you don't have to make yourself fit into a category or under a label if it doesn't work for you.

That's all for today. I'm sorry for writing something controversial. All this isn't to tell people not to try gal, it isn't to tell people to go away, it isn't to tell people they aren't good enough. I would LOVE to help every single one of you reach your full gal potential, and I am absolutely willing to help anyone who comes to me and is willing to try their best. 

Bye for Now. ~