One of the best things about gyaru? Well, unlike some jfashion styles (I’m talking about you in particular, Lolita) you can wear jeans! This was a godsend to me when I first started my gyaru journey because I was forever living in jeans, and it made the everyday gyaru life seem more achievable.
So today I’m going to share how to style jeans (aka denim bottoms) for gyaru! To make things easier, I have split this blog post into different sub-styles so if you’re into himekaji and the cuter styles of gyaru, you can skip straight onto that section, and if you’re into onee gyaru, then you can skip ahead to that, too. Let’s get straight to it!
Please note: Some substyles may be missing because it was hard to find examples for that particular one. I also grabbed most of these pictures from various corners of the internet so I might not have the sources to all of them!
Amekaji
Amekaji are the bosses of wearing denim bottoms! There are plenty of examples online for inspiration and the most popular style are baggy jeans, often with colourful patches sewn onto them or with painted slogans. Their style is just so fun so if you want to go for this kind of style, it’s best to pair your jeans with incredibly vibrant colours and lots of accessories!
Ane Gyaru
Ane gyaru is basically the rebellious sister of Onee gyaru, so their overall style is a lot edgier and they usually pair their jeans with t-shirts and hoodies (or short crop tops). They have a strong bad girl vibe so expect to see a lot of ripped details. Most of the time they wear dark denim, but I have seen them wear acid-washed or light denim colours.
Himekaji
Ideally, you’d want to go with lighter blues or pastel-coloured denim bottoms for Himekaji and sweeter gyaru styles, and it’s quite rare for them to have ripped details. Go for something that has a nice waistline with ruffles or some bow/ribbon details, or if not, just a plain pair of jeans. Dark jeans are becoming more common as of late, but my personal preference is to go with a lighter pair as they make the outfit look cuter. Jeans aren’t really that popular in himekaji so it was quite hard to find lots of photos, so hopefully these will suffice!
(Most pictures were taken from Liz Lisa’s website but please note that Liz Lisa isn’t solely a gyaru brand anymore so some of these pictures are very old)
related post: how to style denim shorts for gyaru!
Onee Gyaru
I’ve never seen anyone who could style a plain pair of jeans as well as Onee gyaru do. They make jeans look effortlessly chic – whether it’s with slouchy knitwear or floaty blouses. I noticed that their denim bottoms are a bit more sophisticated, with less rip details than other substyles. These photos will be great to use as work inspiration or when you have to go somewhere a bit fancy.
Rokku
Again, a loooot of ripped details. In fact, I can’t recall seeing many Rokku gyaru outfits without a ripped pair of jeans! If you’re going for a Rokku gyaru look then I would style the jeans with skull tshirt, leather jacket, belts… And definitely a black pair of boots! It’s quite easy to achieve a Rokku gyaru look as quite a lot of offbrand stores (such as Blue Banana in the UK) could easily be incorporated into Rokku.
Tsuyome
Tsuyome is very similar to Ane Gyaru (the rebellious older sister of gyaru) but I find that, overall, they wear a lot more accessories. Expect a lot of acid-washed jeans as well as big flashy belts. Their denim bottoms are usually in dark blue colours.
A lil’ Bit of Everything… Gyaru Kei!
These examples don’t really fit into a particular substyle, but were too good not to include! As you can see, you can get away with any shape of jeans (whether it’s flared or straight leg) as long as the overall look is 100%. It might be tricky to figure out whether or not it’s gal enough at first, but you’ll get there! What I usually do is pile on the accessories (especially if they’re animal print!) or add a flashy belt when I feel like something’s missing.
I’ve added old school gyaru into this section as well!
Gaijin Gyaru Coords
I wanted to dedicate a lil’ section to some wonderful gaijin (foreign) gyaru who absolutely rock wearing jeans! They all have various styles, from rokku to tsuyone.
And that’s how to style jeans for gyaru!
How do you wear your denim bottoms? Let me know in the comments below!
Love,
Lizzie xx
P.S Big shoutout to Risa for helping me gather these images!
Risa
August 30, 2020I had so much fun helping with this and am filled with inspo! I might start a whole new pinterest sub board just for jeans gal!
hellolizziebee
August 30, 2020Awh well thank you so much for all of your help on this! You da best 💖 and yesss do it do it!
Michelle
August 31, 2020I used to wear jeans every day when I was in school, to the point where I ended up hating jeans. I always thought you couldn’t do much with denim jeans until I bought my first Japanese fashion magazine and saw how Gyaru styled their jeans. I’ve always been a fan of overaccessorizing and I think Gyaru do it the best! ♥
http://www.mooeyandfriends.com
hellolizziebee
September 4, 2020Oh my gosh I was the exact same! One year I made it my goal not to wear jeans as I was so fed up (although I broke that goal within 2 months haha). And yes I totally agree – gals really know how to accessorise!
Kieli
September 1, 2020I love this post! Jeans are about 90% of my daily coords! I love how you can dress them up or down. Onee is my favorite look of all ❤
hellolizziebee
September 4, 2020Aaah that’s so amazing! I’m going through a bit of a clearout at the moment and I have so many boring jeans that I wanna replace with some cool ones they have in this post. And yes, onee is so beautiful!
Sparklewolfie
September 2, 2020Those are so cute!!!
I love the himekaji take on jeans, though I personally would lean toward rokku… if I wore jeans XD
Don’t wear trousers/pants at all on a regular basis, so Lolita and such styles really fit me well – found that a funny contrast reading your first paragraph!!
I wish pastel color jeans were more common. I had a couple pairs but I am a bit fat for freesize (in Taiwan) and a bit tall, so they were just a touch too uncomfortable T^T
hellolizziebee
September 4, 2020Haha aah sorry! Lolita was the fashion that really stood out to me when I was thinking of ones that don’t really wear jeans tehe.
Gosh me too, I would love some more pastel jeans! Hopefully shops will bring out some more next Spring!
Sparklewolfie
September 4, 2020Haha no worry, it’s true that Lolita fashion doesn’t suit jeans :3 It’s just a fact~
Ooh Iwould consider to wear jeans again if shops had nice pastel ones *u*
M.
September 9, 2020Just a few days ago I was desperately searching for an Gyaru outfit in my normie wardrobe and I found a cool jeans that I thought would look perfectly for Gyaru. But just every outfit I tried on didn’t looked Gyaru-like, until I realised that the most important thing are actually the shoes! “Jeans Garu” outfits seem to always include heels or other cool shoes; it can make or break an outfit in my opinion (of course besides the make-up and hair that is also important). So soon I have to go to the shoe store haha.