Yamanba
The style Yamanba is very similar to Gyaru (I'll explain later) but a lot more extreme and a lot more rare to see. They're characterized by their dark tans, bright clothing and hair and EXTREME make up around the eyes! Their name was, at the beginning, was used as an insult towards the style. Yamanba is a traditional Japanese ghost that is described as an 'old, mountain hag' who devoured young children. However, insult or not Yamanba embraced the term and ran with it!
As I've already mentioned Yamanba is a very small subculture. In all of Japan the number of followers were in the 00s but they received a lot of national and international publicity and their style is often emulated around the world, especially at cosplay conventions in North America. It's one of my favorite style but very hard to replicate. I've tried to replicate it in many of my fashion photography projects and have failed. For those of you who would like to attempt the style there are many youtube make up tutorial videos out there!
Gyaru
One of my favorite Japanese styles. Gyaru is Japanese English for 'gal'. The style is girly-glam. The constant feature of the Gyaru Girl is the Japanese beach style - very dark tanned skin and surfer girl hair, however it's not as extreme as Yamanba. The best place to spot a Gyaru Girl is their favorite place in the world which is Shibuya.
Shibuya crossing is the busiest pedestrian crossing the world and the Gyaru paradise is the store Shibuya 109. Gyaru is also considered a rebellious look, rebelling and arguing against 'what is considered pretty' and taking man-made beauty to the extreme (wigs, fake nails, fake eyelashes) and it's inspired by Western Culture. There are many other sub-style to Gyaru.
- Ganguro - The Ganguro began in the early 1990s and peaked once Millennium came. The style Ganguro falls into a bigger subculture of Gyaru. Their usual attire includes bright colored outfits, mini-skirts and tie-dyed sarongs. They too consist on bleach hair and tanned skin.
- Kigurumin - This was a short live style that occurred between 2003-2004 and it was seen as a strange fashion phenomenon. Girls wanted something more comfortable to wear and began sporting animal onesies such as Pikachu and Winnie the Pooh. Kigurumin enthusiasts would also be carrying animal purses as well as other cute accessories.
- Kogals - These are basically high school students who cannot go to the extreme lengths of Gyaru and therefore they're stuck in their uniform most of the time. However they shorten their skirts, and they often dye their hair. Their main accessory would be a scarf.
Gyaruo (and Ganguro boy)
This is the male equivalent to Gyaru and it also includes many different subtypes such as military, rocker, biker and surfer style.
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