I’ve always wanted to be no.1; when I first joined gyaru I wanted to be the best gaijin gyaru in the U.K., and a few years later it changed to wanting to be the best agejo in the world. My aims were pretty high so I bought as many MA*RS items that my greedy hands could get a hold of, and for a time I believed that I was the best and that I was happy. I tried hard – perhaps too hard – and I called it the golden age of my gyaru life.
That golden age lasted a year, maybe two, before I started my downward spiral. Agejo began to slip away from my fingers and I felt my identity lose its grip. I didn’t know who I was anymore and I began to doubt myself. I loved agejo, so why wasn’t it making me happy anymore? I worked so hard to be the best but it just took the joy out of gyaru and made it into a competition. In the end I was left disappointed and dissatisfied.
Aah, the gaijin gyaru community. Where do I start? Well, it was one of the first things I discovered when I started out doing gyaru and I’ve never looked back. Maybe it’s the sunshine (as Summer always calls to us gyaru) or the fact that I went to a gyaru meet recently – I can’t seem to get enough of gyaru and the online and local community! Here are the reasons why I love the jfashion comm…
What I Love About the Gaijin Gyaru + Jfashion Community
You’ll be surrounded by boss bitches
Wearing a jfashion style is not easy, especially if you’re from a place where pretty much everyone wears the same thing, so every person within the community has had to deal with some sh*t. This means that quite a lot of us has developed pretty thick skin, and no one can bring you down when you’re surrounded by your fellow gals.
They share your love for all things cute
Not everyone in the gaijin gyaru/jfashion community loves cute things, but it’s nice to be able to not feel ashamed for having Rilakkuma hanging off a chain on my bag or having a super pink phone case.
People love to go crazy with their style
Even if they’re just wearing jeans a hoodie, gyaru always find a way to pull it off in such a way that it looks fashionable. Wearing it’s by topping it up with over-the-top accessories and then some more, there isn’t a limit to style! ‘Boring’ is not a word in their vocabulary (even though sometimes we fall victim to feeling so), and I live for it.
Kawaii fairy kei fashionistas Caspian & Chi
Wai-yi – probs one of the cutest shop staff I’ve ever laid eyes upon
Zanni! I adore her, she’s so lovely!
Artbox, Covent Garden
You get to make friends from all over the world
If it wasn’t for gyaru I wouldn’t have been able to step out of my comfort zone and meet people who soon became the best friends I could ask for, let alone meeting people in a completely different country! Even meeting my jfashion friends from London causes butterflies in my tummy, and I’m just so overjoyed to know them.
Bigger community = more access to jfashion stores
Thank goodness our community is so big – in terms of jfashion as a whole – that we have UK stores like Dreamy Bows, Artbox, Tofu Cute, Roxie Sweetheart, and lots more! If it wasn’t for the fact that there’s a large ‘fanbase’ for all things cute, I don’t think we’d ever have access to things that came all the way over from Japan. And I love it!
They push me to try new things
I never thought something like this would happen but I’ve recently done my first vlog!!!!!! I tried it out when I was a young teenager, but I ditched the idea because I thought I wasn’t good enough. However the other day a newbie gaijin gyaru, Annie, encouraged me to try it again, and I did!
With gaijin gyaru newbie, Annie (just look at her hair omg love)
With Dani, probs the cutest hime gyaru ever
Wib, my long-time gal pal & I
A few members of the UK gyaru comm! Myself, Wib, Dani & Annie
What are the things you love about the gaijin gyaru/jfashion community? And even to those that aren’t gyaru/into jfashion etc – what do you love about your alternative fashion community?
My idea of heaven would be to drink hot chocolate in a comfy sofa, surrounded by cats. Luckily heaven is a place on earth – the cat café in Nottingham was just under a couple of hours away, and it was the perfect spot for our next QueenE gyaru meet hosted by our member Rachel. We’ve been trying to do more ‘themed’ meet ups with our gyaru circle and the cat café – aka Kitty Cafe – was at the top of our list.
I remember the excitement building as I stood grasping onto the train handles, counting down the stops on the Yamanote line to Shibuya. I have been waiting for this moment ever since I found out about gyaru – it is the birthplace of gyaru after all, and I couldn’t wait to be walking along Shibuya crossing in front of my beloved Shibuya 109. After we stepped off at Shibuya station I whizzed straight to see Hachiko, the world’s most loyal dog! The story about how he waited for his master years after his death at Shibuya station is one of my favourites, and struck several heartstrings when I finally saw the statue in person.
And then it was time to join the crowd of people at Shibuya crossing to walk towards the beacon of all things gyaru – Shibuya 109. And I was extremely disappointed.
I might have said this a million times on my blog already, but gyaru makes up a huge part of my life. I don’t do the makeup everyday (because of allergies and eczema etc) and so I treasure gyaru meets. I realise that some of you are quite new to this blog and probably don’t know what I’m on about (“what the hell is gyaru, Lizzie?”) so in this post I’m going to show you what a day in the life of a gyaru is from the last meet I went to.
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