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Welcome to yet another post!! Today I'd like to focus on plus size gyaru because let's be real every size deserves to dress the way they want and even Japan's iconic gyaru brands sadly didn't cater to them and the only thing plus size gyaru could buy from these brands were accessories, shoes and scarfs, but they deserve more!
In this post I will be talking about a lot of things from skinny ideal type gyarus to obviously mid-plus size gals, how gyaru has become a toxic fashion culture, the whole ethical and sustainable debate and of course where you can source your clothes from and many more.
The Harsh Truth (privilege, living in a bubble, etc)
Problems, are they really tho? (Ethical, overconsumption, fast fashion etc)
I have been war with my body for a really long time and it took me so many years to finally love what I saw on the mirror and I have been fluctuating my weight for a long time so I can definitely assure you guys that I can understand and see all perspectives.
Every time I see any posts or something mid size and plus size are always excluded but not anymore, I have few guides and even sites and such to help you girlies and even few criticism and opinions <3
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As we all know the whole purpose of gyaru was and still is to rebel against the norms of societal pressure, especially for Japanese women where topic such as freedom soeech and general personal choices are very considered to be very dire but with the rise of Gyaru and having global celebrity sensation like Namie Amuro and kaoru watanabe popularizing the gyaru concept really helped the youth of Japan express themselves lot freely.
Economic and fashion market saw this as an opportunity and so soon household names that defined gyaru fashion started to erupt like D.I.A, MA*RS, JSG (Japanese super girl), ALBA ROSA, Liz Lisa etc and malls like Shibuya 109 and magazines like ahega, egg etc became the household name for these brands but sadly amidst the uproar and the rise of Gyaru fashion one thing that companies and even magazines to even this day the digital footprint of Gyaru always excludes MID-PLUS size people.
Some of y'all might say "but almost everyone is Japan are really slim so why should they cater to others?" Well the truth is plus size people do exist in Japan but finding that demographic in google is really difficult but when I spent my years in Japan, yea, they do exist and there are good number of them.
It also doesn't help tue fact that even in general there isn't much famous MID-PLUS size models or popular people in Japan the only celebrity who managed to push the way through the harsh and diabolical Japanese entertainment industry is obviously Naomi Watanabe she has been the pioneer for size inclusiveness for many years and it absolutely admirable how she manages to survive such harsh industry where even dating is considered taboo, although I would like to put 2 more honorable mentions to this and they are Dulmi who is Sri Lankan and Japanese model and Miu Tomita (actress) they aren't gyaru by any means but they are definitely tue closest representation of plus size media in Japan and you guys can already make out how few mid-plus size people actually make it a success in Japanese entertainment industry especially if you're a woman.
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I will say few things that will definitely cause a lot of rage but it must be said. We shouldn't live in this rose tinted glass and be real and connect with the reality. Doing any sort of fashion it doesn't even matter gyaru or even Japanese fashion in general but either way when you choose to dress a certain style only and focus on your craft that is called privilege. I don't think people I'm general realize how lucky they are to be able to spend 300$ on a singular iconic bow hair accessory from ma*rs that went on sale on eBay or Zenmarket.
I also don't think people realize how much of a privilege it is to be able to go to thrift stores buy what you like then go to fabric store get your things and tweak your own clothes like that also I don't think people realise how much of a privilege it is that sometimes when other gals try to do something different they shame them and thus it's one of the reason why gyaru is almost dead fashion culture, the toxicity and whole plethora of "oh I know better than you, you are stupid for acting and asking such easy questions" and etc is why new gals are so afraid to ask seasoned gals some advice.
We all started somewhere some early and some late, gals in it's peak were known to be one of the most kindest people and total girls girls to ever exist, their "loud" behavior was just them being unapologetic and having fun, where is this energy now? Especially gaijin gals, most foreginer gyarus know that main reason of gyaru's existence was to refute Japan's traditionalist views and letting women be who they wanna be yet they forget the most basic thing and often shame a lot of gals for not sourcing clothes the "correct way" and even if some gals make mistakes can we all please be kind to each other about it? I have joined and seen multiple YouTube videos, reels, tik toks, even reddit, tumblr, X and even Instagram of new gals and plus size gals literally getting scared and saying "I just keep my mouth shut and google and do my own research because my past experiences of asking were very negative"
Okay, to old gals can we please be welcoming to new gals and not scrutinize them like this? And this doesn't end at just new gals but we have to keep in mind that every single of us have different body types, not all of people can have the privilege to buy of brands because of financial issues or sizing problems so can we as a community please for the love of this fashion culture stop saying such jaded things like "you don't even own one gyaru brands? You aren't real gyaru" and this doesn't just apply to clothes but accessories produced by those brands as well.
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Problems, but they really tho? :-
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over here we take a little philosophical route to be honest, we need to understand and empathize with all sides. I will say something which will case a lot of controversy but it must be said, as someone who has been gyaru follower and started dressing up gyaru quiet early in life and even experienced gyaru in Japan and who practically lived inside Shibuya 109 I can tell you that whole gyaru culture lives off of overconsumption and this is the truth, from well known and very famous subcultures like agejo Or himekaji to very less known and rare subcultures like mode and bohemian everything is and extension of overconsumption like it Or not even if you diy some clothes or such majority of it like hair extensions, brands, makeup to iconic gyaru nail designs everything is a part of overconsumption and you are a willing participant of it, shit! I know I am because I for one can't make my own extensions or wigs ffs and even if I were to make my own nails I'd still have to go out to buy necessary tools for it.
On this topic I'd also like to say another controversial thing and that is we shouldn't really judge people for shopping from fast fashion and here is why because some might have financial issues or live around were there isn't really second hand clothing stores or they are mid-plus size. There might be a debate and I might definitely get comments like "but oh I am big size, poor and live in remote area yet I don't indulge in fast fashion" and that's okay, that is your opinion and you are entitled to it but don't judge without knowing the reason why.
Sure, you might even think "no you are being stupid" but I'd like just for you guys to maybe look into this thing called perspective and maybe get off of your privileged view and look into other perspectives. Being ethical in this era is very difficult with us being the victims of capitalism from the phones we use to even down right food we consume, be it from supermarket or even organic farm. There are many questions to he asked like were our Vegetables grown ethically? Were the pesticides made with ethical ingredients? Did the farmer source the seeds ethically or not? The truth is we can't always be 100% ethical but we can try about best to reduce when we can.
Above reasons are also why I'm always sympathetic towards gals who happen to shop on fast fashion. You and I are blessed and privileged enough to mindlessly spend $$$ on Vivienne Westwood or Sandy Liang but others aren't due to financial issues and just because they are financially unstable doesn't even they can't dream, they also have 100% right to dream and partake in their hobbies and likes. I'll also always have sympathy for gals because finding big sizes in thrift stores can also be a hassle.
In conclusion what I'm trying to say is as bad at it seems not everything is 100% ethical one of the few examples of this is himejaki and tsuyome winter wear usually they wear fur and to be honest vintage real fur is WAY more ethical and environmentally friendly because that fur has been passed down from generation to generation from first manufacturers to family heirloom or given to thrift and someone thrifted it and now using it than faux that we get these days because they aren't ethical AT ALL!!
On the side note thrifting these days also is very difficult due to it being the next new "it" thing and store owners are literally racking up the prices because Veronica from lower East Side, New York wants to buy it and then sell it for 500 or more $$$ in Depop to profit off of literally pre worn and second hand clothes!
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The most awaited part of the post is here, so let's begin!! These are some of the few ways that I source my clothes, this applies to not only gyaru clothes but other types of fashion as well like grunge, emo, coquette etc etc. Mind you that gyaru is almost dying fashion community and finding clothes that cater to mid to plus size is difficult but I tried my best and here are few lists that I found by searching and have experience from having buying from these stores.
Instagram stores: there isn't one specific stores that I can recommend because for this you really need to search and look at every single post to see if it fits substyle you're following or not but there are some of the pages that do international shipping. y2xvintage (London Based) , velvethrift (Mexico based) , pepxicola.thrift (Ho Chi Minh based) , pixz_style (Peru based), weirdwearx (Philippines based), gimmeclothingy2k (Thailand based) I must say that not every one of these stores sell only gyaru but I have seen one or few pieces that fit gyaru style and it is difficult to find plus size sizes because they are second hand clothes and they buy in wholesale regardless of size but once you see a plus size clothes they're good and worth money.
Online stores: these are some of the online stores that you guys can visit. Honey wardrobe, punyus Naomi Watanabe's brand (not gyaru by all means but they do have good collection for kogal inspired skirts and few pieces that can go well for rokku gyaru), ank rouge (good selection for hime and himekaji although dresses aren't plus size friendly their poncho and oversized clothes collection is really good) , Dreamvs, Yumetenbo, Tokyo otaku mode (you can search Galaxxxy which is brand for Haady gyaru), Zenmarket and taobao (3rd party shopping) and I will get hate for this but Amazon yea they do have cute accessories like leg warmers and iconic light brown cardigans for kogal and those buckles shoes for kogal, hime and himekaji
Physical store: well for physical store there is only one which is Shibuya 109 and that too if you go to Japan. Sorry there isn't any physical stores in present era that cater to gyaru, although throughout years stores in Shibuya 109 has changed so much and in the recent years the latest I know is this year when I had gone to Japan again and there on the either 4th or top floor i forgot but there is this store called spinns and next to that store is this Gothic and emo store and both spinns and gothic/emo store sell pretty good street style but few belts and accessories can totally work for Tsuyome they have belts for plus size too and few belts even have bedazzled words that lowkey resemble the bling bling visual of iconic D.I.A belts, but i think spinns does have an international site with worldwide shipping as well so check them out.
Other ways: obviously is tweaking here and there and making your clothes, for people who don't know how to the most easiest trick is to find the clothes you wanna change and start small like for example agejo is my favorite subculture so i go ham on animal print or any cute print bows and buy lots of bead string decors from online (Amazon and Instagram wholesale stores) and stick them to my heels, denim skirts and my tops.
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So sorry for the delay I kept editing, adding and removing but I think so far what I have done is good enough, for now it's this much, hope to meet you guys in my next post. Bye pretty gals!! <3 💃🏻💕
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