How to do Agejo Gyaru on a Budget

image source: ma*rs

I’ve been staring at this screen for goodness knows how long trying to think of the best way to explain how to do agejo gyaru on the budget, but the lines between doing that and just gyaru on a budget in general is quite blurred as many of the same things apply. I wrote about how to do gyaru on a budget a few years ago and I still follow those pointers, so I have decided instead to create outfits for less than £100 to give you an idea on how to put everything together with a few tips at the end!

To give you a breakdown of agejo – it is one of the sexier styles of gyaru and well known for its lacy stockings & “lingerie” aspects, but over the past couple of years it has toned down to what we now know as ane agejo. I’m going to be creating coords that you can do on a budget that could work with both styles – after all, you could simply tone these outfits down and your hair and makeup to make it go from agejo to ane agejo. To make it easier I’ve also labelled which ones are better for work/uni/college/etc, days out and nights out.

During the Day, At Work + Night’s Out

During the Day

Lace shrug, eBay (£2.49) / Lace top, eBay (£0.99) / Bandage skirt, eBay (£1.83) / Over-the-knee socks, eBay (1.95) /  Peep-toe block heels, New Look (£18.50) / Heart bag, boohoo (£12) / Large hot pink hair bow, eBay (£1.00) / Heart necklace & earrings, eBay (£4.99) / Heart waist belt, eBay (£4.54) Total = £48.29

Here’s a classic budget agejo outfit a.k.a. a very sexy outfit! This reflects the old-school agejo and it’s a lace overload, and also the cheapest outfit I’ve created in this post. If you do want to tone it down you can swap the over-the-knee socks for some cute ankle ones like I’ve featured in the next outfit ideas, or go for baby pink tones instead of hot pink. Great for nights out or for work/uni/college if toned down.

Lace off-shoulder top, boohoo (£14) / Pale pink skater skirt, boohoo (£8.00) White court heels, New Look (£19.99) / Rhinestone waist belt, eBay (£3.99) / Pale pink bow, eBay (£1.00) / Pearl necklace, earrings & bracelet, eBay (£3.99) or alternatively you could get these from Primark / Handbag, eBay (12.99) / Total = £63.96

This is sweeter than what you would normally get with agejo, so it’s great for those who are aiming for a softer appearance. I’ve included a couple of items from the last coordinate as I love mix & matching and it’s a great way to get the most out of your clothes, especially if you’re on a budget! And we could just pretend that the “M” keyring on the bag stands for MA*RS tehe… Great for girly days out.

The Working Gyaru

Lace off-shoulder top, boohoo (£14) / Bandage mini skirt, eBay (£4.99) / Frilly ankle socks, eBay (£3.29) OR Stockings, eBay (£1.75) / Rhinestone waist belt, eBay (£3.99) / Peep-toe block heels, New Look (£18.50) / Shoulder bag, eBay (£18.11) / Large hot pink hair bow, eBay (£1.00) / Total = £63.88

This is the perfect outfit for work, and if you want to boost it up an agejo-notch then you could always swap the ankle socks for some lace stockings. I love adding a spot of colour to a monotone outfit, and nothing is better than a pink bag and matching hair bow. Great for work/uni/college.

Night’s Out

Peplum dress, Quiz (£19.99) / Heart necklace & earrings, eBay (£4.99) / Pointed court heels, boohoo (£20) / Clutch bag, eBay (£7.69) / Total = £52.67

This is a super simple outfit and the main focus is on the dress. Peplum tops are extremely flattering and I’ve seen quite a lot of these lately, and as soon as I saw one in black and pink I knew I had to include it. A nice pair of black heels and a clutch bag completes it, and all you need to do now is to loosely curl your hair into a half up-do, put on gyaru makeup and then you’re done! Great for nights out.

It’s crazy how many outfits you can put together for £100, and usually that just covers the cost of a single MA*RS dress (taking shipping and customs into consideration). I know that £100 is still quite a lot but you can always reduce costs by buying things from Primark or solely off eBay – I’ve only included things from stores local to the UK to show that it is possible to just pop into town to pick up some clothes. You don’t need brand to be gyaru.

Tips for Doing Agejo on a Budget

Here are a few more tips on doing agejo on a budget and agejo overall:

01. Do your research

First and foremost, you must do your research before approaching a new style so that you get the general idea of what you need. The more, the better, and you could always save images that inspire you the most in a special folder somewhere.

In terms of where to gather images – I would suggest tumblr but nowadays there are some things posted on there that aren’t necessarily gyaru let alone agejo, so my favourite (& most reliable) tumblrs are himehimestar, rikkaboshi, auris-cosplay, fromtrolltodoll and romanticwish. I’ve also gathered lots of agejo inspo under my agejo tag.

02. Try to mix and match.

This goes for any style really but I’ve found that agejo is perhaps one of the most expensive styles to try out as (until recently) it’s so niche. One of the most common mistakes when approaching a new style is that you want to buy anything and everything within it, but it’s more than likely you’ll never actually wear those items.

03. If you want brand – buy it secondhand

Carrying on from what I said before, you don’t need brand to be gyaru but you can buy some if you want to. To save on costs, buy secondhand brand from FB sales groups. My favourite sales group is “Gal/Gyaru Sales” where everyone has to post feedback so that you know they’re reliable.

04. Buy cheap accessories

Accessories come and go and they are not the staple of every outfit, so I never spend a lot on them and always get my accessories from either Primark, Claire’s Accessories or eBay.

05. Invest time in the hair and makeup.

This makes/breaks the agejo style, so you can go as over-the-top as you like (however for ane agejo you can get away with a more toned-down look). You can get inspiration from Ageha magazine scans that float around online and on tumblr. 

06. Take note of what’s happening in MA*RS with a pinch of salt.

It’s hard, especially when you’re new to the style, to figure out what is/isn’t agejo and some of the pieces displayed in MA*RS aren’t really agejo anymore. The key point of agejo is that it’s sexy, and most likely in shades of pink, black and white.

Phew, this post was longer than I thought but I hope that this helps you along your way to agejo! If agejo is the perfect style for you then you should check out this list of 30 things that every agejo should have. Make that your shopping list to tick off as you go along!

And that’s it! I hope you all liked this post, and if you have any questions please let me know in the comments below (and if you don’t have questions, come over and say hi anyways!) I wish you all the best of luck down this wonderful path of agejo.

Until next Sunday, cuties ♡

Lizzie Bee xx // facebook / twitter / instagram / bloglovin’

Please note: Not all of these items will still be there in a couple of weeks time, and this post is just to give you a general idea of the things to look for when starting out doing agejo. You can always look for similar things, it doesn’t have to be exactly what I’ve picked. Feel free to drop me a comment here or a message on my Facebook page if you need any help!