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mausee, 06, ISFP, and a future gyaru

y’all i’m so sorry for not posting recently but i started work and on top of that my laptop broke 😭 i’m hoping i can get a new one soon! i’ll continue posting when i have one since it’s much more efficient for me 🫶

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Kogal

Kogal members of the Gyaru subculture are those, who still attend school and have to wear school uniforms (since school uniforms are obligatory in most - if not all - japanese schools). The name is a combination of the word 'kokosei' (japanese word for high school) and the english word 'gal'. This means that Kogal is not necessarily it's own type of Gyaru substyle, but it is rather a name for all Gyarus that still attend school.

There are however also adult Gyarus that wear school uniforms as part of their fashion. Those are reffered to as 'nanchatte Kogal' or 'Gyaru seifuku'. ('nanchette' meaning fake, and 'seifuku' meaning school uniform)

Kogal was at it's most popular in the beginning of Gyaru culture, around 1994-1995. It started around 1993 with high school and even middle school girls trying to imitate the confidence and sexyness of Bodikon. This new style was introduced throught a TV special in 1993 called 'The Kogal Night'.

After the Bodikon style died down in 1995, Kogal started to be a more mainstream thing and becoming more popular among teenage girls. Namie Amuro, a J-pop singer at the time, also had a big influence on the popularity of Kogal. Her music and style became a major part of being a part of Kogal culture.

Kogal fashion - as mentioned - was and still is heavily influenced by the japanese school system. Most school uniforms have plaid skirts, bows around the neck and sweaters that are commonly beige, but it can be many colors (see Momo Ayase in DanDaDan). Usually, they add other twists to their outfits, like wearing loose socks, shortening their skirts, or adding more bows and ties. Some Kogals even buy uniforms from other schools.

Kogals often dye their hair to be blonde, red, or light shades of brown - sometimes they might even add shades of pink or blue.

Kogals even have their own type of speech called 'Kogal-Go', but it is also used among other Gyaru subcultures. Kogal-go is a mix of English and Japanese.

Recently, there has also been a trend of manga/anime including or even being based on Kogal characters. Examples of such would be:

My First Girlfriend is a Gal (Anime)

Yuzu Aihara in Citrus

Mei Yasumura in Ouran High School Host Club

Junko Enoshima in Danganronpa

Mikoto Aiura in The Disastrous Life of Saiki K

Kogal visualisation

Bodikon

Bodikon, or also called Otachidai Gyaru, is a style and subculture based on the bodycon dress, but doesn't fully revolve around it. Bodikon is the predecessor of Gyaru, as the majority of Gyaru styles came from a radicalisation of the original Bodikon style.

The style was most popular in the mid 1980s up until about 1994, when what is now called Gyaru took over. It was inspired by dance-based nightlife at the time, and also by venues playing City Pop, Eurobeat, some types of Techno or House music.

Unlike Gyaru, Bodikon makeup was not as extreme. It included a light foundation, red or pink lipstick, lots of mascara, orange-ish blush, thick eyebrows, and single color eyeshadow.

The hairstyles were usually long, all one length and straight. This type of look was popularised through different idols like Chisato Moritaka. Lots of people also had so called 'tosakamaegami' or 'rooster hair'. This reffers to the hairs on top of the head being styled to be upright - very common for bangs. In the early 1990s, natural looking wave perms with some volume became more popular. For most of the popularity peak of Bodikon, hair was kept black. Towards the end, when it started to transition into Gyaru, bleaching and lightening hair to be brown or even blonde became popular.

As the name already says, the bodycon dress was one of the most popular fashion choices for this type of style. At first, this type of dress was popular in dance clubs, but with Bodikon it became something to wear out on the streets. These dresses were mostly paired with heels for a classy look.

There was another style of Bodikon that became popular by 1993 called 'sexy bodycon'. Women wore neon bikinis, transparent dresses, and extremely tight, short, or revealing clothes. Tanning was part of this style too, just like blonde hair. An icon that popularised the sexy version of Bodikon was Natsuki Okamoto, a race girl.

Bodikon visualisation

Himekaji

Himekaji is a type of Hime Gyaru. The name is a combination of 'hime' (means princess or noble lady) and 'kaji' (from the english word 'casual') - so it is basically a more casual version of the Hime Gyaru look referring to more casual clothes worn by wealthier girls. The fashion of this substyle has changed over time and is now also popular among non-gyaru communities like Girly Kei (a japanese aesthetic/fashion that includes lots of frilly and cute stuff). Since 2022, the word 'himekaji' is also being used to describe early 2000s fashion from Japan.

The exact year Himekaji started is not known, but it became popular somewhere between 2008 and 2012. At that time, it was a more romantic but casual style, that still included many of the 'basic' Gyaru elements like styled hair and dramatic makeup. During that era, it was also known as Kananyan style, because the idol Kananyan used to wear this type of stuff. Since 2020 the 'Coquette' aesthetic has also become popular, which uses some similar aspects of fashion.

The colors worn in Himekaji are often more calm like light pink, beige, baby blue, brown, ivory, and white. More recent styles can also include darker red or even black for contrast. Common patterns are florals, plaids, and novelty prints.

The tops of Himekaji can be very different based on preferences and seasons, but most of them will have common details like ruffles, lace. Peter Pan collars or similar. For bottoms, a type of skirt called 'sukepan' (with shorts underneath) is very popular. They are usually very short and make the outfits a little more sexy. This sexy element is also one of the key differences between Himekaji and Lolita, since only Himekaji has it. Himekaji dresses take inspiration from princess dresses - just like Hime Gyaru. Other common dress styles are 70s inspired dresses (like prairie dresses of Gunne Sax). In winter, Himekajis wear coats and ponchos with big sleeves, large buttons and fur collars.

Himekaji makeup is casual compared to the usual Gyaru look. It can look like dolly makeup: pink blush, pink liptint, lipgloss, round eyeshape with dolly lashes and lots of highlights.

For hair, waves are seen as a usual hairstyle. Other common styles are ponytails, piggytails, loose braids or big buns. Many people will add accessoires like ribbons, and hats.

Himekaji visualisation

Hime Gyaru

Hime Gyaru is a Gyaru-substyle. It means 'princess gyaru' and can have similarities to Lolita because of the clothing style many Hime Gyarus choose to wear. Especially common dressing choices include lots of frilly things. It is seen as an umbrella term for more feminine styles of Gyaru and some people say it is the same as Agejo (another substyle).

This substyle was most likely introduced somewhere in between 2006 and 2012 - which makes it a relatively new style.

Each style has it's own unique features like makeup, hair, clothing etc.. For Hime Gyaru, doll like lashes, big circle lenses, pink or nude lipstick and blush are common makeup choices. They usually have lighter haircolors like blonde or brown, bangs, some type of curls, and Sujimori hairstyle (a type of hair-styling technique that includes lots of volume and detailed strandwork).

Common clothes in Hime Gyaru style are pastel colored dresses with lots of frills, lace, pearls and bows. Floral patterns, puffy sleeves, tiaras, bows are other common style choices. To accessorise, many have long acrylic nails, fancy bags, necklaces, and - of course - heels.

Hime Gyaru visualisation

Masterlist

Bodikon

General information about Gyaru

Hime Gyaru

Himekaji

Kogal

It's looking a little empty here right now but I'll be fixing that, don't worry!

Gyaru

The name comes from the japanese pronunciation of the english word ‘Gal’ (=woman or girl). Male Gyarus are called 'Gyaruo'.gy

Gyaru culture first came to be in the 1970s but had it‘s popularity peak in the mid 1990s in Japan. Before becoming a subculture in the 1990s and being associated with fashion and rebellion, the 'typical' Gyaru look was common among fans of the Okinawan singer Namie Amuro. At the time, her fans were imitating her more tan skin and style.

However, the direct predecessor of Gyaru subculture were not Amuro's fans. Before the rise of Gyaru, there was a style called 'Bodikon' (from the english word 'bodycon'/'body conscious'). Bodikon had it's popularity peak from 1985 to 1994 and is now considered a type of Gyaru.

The subculture was born out of rebellion against japanese - and generally asian - beauty standards like being pale or showing little skin. There is no particular clothing style that is seen as Gyaru since there are many different types. The most common feature among Gyarus are: the heavy make up (dark eyeliner to make the eyes look bigger, dramatic lashes, lots of contour and bronzer), heavily decorated nails, dyed hair, and overall vibe rather than specific clothes.

When it was at it's most popular, it was not unusual to see celebrities embrace the style. Famous Gyaru icons and idols are people like Tsubasa Masuwaka, Kumiko Funayama (Kumicky), Rie Matsuoka (Okarie), Hikari Shiina (Pikarin), Satomi Yakuwa (Satomin), Sayoko Ozaki, and Rina Sakurai.

In the past, Gyaru used to appear much more extreme. Over the years however, it toned down a lot. Since 2020 there has been a revive of sorts, because people started to be interested in the style more again. There are some differences between old Gyaru culture ('heisei' gyaru) and new Gyaru ('reiwa' gyaru) such as the preference of online shopping instead of going to stores, creating connections online instead of meeting up in person, and vlogging/posting videos being the main medium of media usage (instead of magazines and articles).

About...

...me

Hi guys, please call me mausee! At the time of starting this blog (June 2025) I am 18 years old, born in 2006. I really love music and fashion, and I have been really interested in Gyaru and it's subcultures since I first discovered what it was a few years ago. My current hobbies include listening to/making music, drawing, reading, and doing nails. I really want to start being a part of the Gyaru community, but I don't exactly know where to start.

My first language is not english so I appologise for any mistakes already.

...this blog

I started this blog because I want to find out more about Gyaru culture and what makes it so unique. I've always noticed that I learn much better when I write things down to re-read when bored, so I thought this was the perfect platfrom to write on. This means that I will treat this like a kind of journal.

The things I will be posting on this blog include: Run-downs of different Gyaru substyles/subcultures, music, fashion, and many more interesting facts and figures I will come to learn on my journey! Hopefully I will find many likeminded people that share my interest for fashion and music!

Please feel free to send an ask if you have a question and I will try to find an answer!

However, I can not guarantee that I will post regulary or respond quickly, since I am a very inconsistent person and I lose motivation very fast.

Rules

Do not...

...mock or make fun of any subcultures and styles

...gatekeep the community. its a community, not a clique

...erase the rebellious origin of gyaru

...do not think gyaru is just an aesthetic. its a lifestyle

...be disrespectful or deny any subculture. I will make sure to do my research correctly. and if I make a mistake respectfully correct me

Do...

...be respectful to me and everybody in the comments

...express your interests (in a respectful manner ofcourse)

...leave constructive criticism for me or anybody else

...celebrate the individuality and uniqueness of every single gyaru out there

...encourage new gals and make them feel comfortable