From the beginning I always claimed I was 'gyaru inspired'. I used gyaru fashion as an inspiration for myself to dress better. To be honest I lived in t-shirts and jeans and whilst those are all cool and all, I wanted to look after myself a little better. I stumbled upon what came to be my bias, Liz Lisa, and aspired to dress like that using primarily UK fashion.
Did it work? No, not really.
I didn't think I needed lower lashes as my own lower lashes were long enough with mascara on and circle lenses were something I was in complete denial about. I didn't need those! My vision was also pretty bad and I wasn't confident with getting them incase I order the wrong prescription and my optician would've murdered me if they'd known I wanted to shove those infamous 'Lady Gaga' lenses into my eyes.
I stumbled across gyaru in 2010 to be honest and perhaps my grasp of it was a little better than what it was as 2011 progressed. I started off with curled extensions and false lashes at least! My natural hair was cut into a cutesy bob which was cute for every day wear but no good for gyaru in the slightest. I barely bothered to style my hair! I had no idea how to put a coord together or anything. As a teenager I was never a fashion conscious girl as I was very studies focused and in my early years it showed.
As opposed to what I wanted to be I was a silly girl who was just 'inspired' by it. I knew if I claimed to by gyaru it would be pointed out that I was absolutely, 100% not this thing I claimed to be.
From here I actually made a bit more of an effort. I was gifted my first set of Dolly Wink lashes, both upper and lower, and I felt thrilled and actually felt a little bit more legitimate. I also stopped biting my nails and letting them grow out which was great. I still loosely followed gyaru trends; during winter 2012 I went crazy trying to get hold of anything that was pastel because that was the new thing. Seriously.
I actually tried doing proper gyaru make-up as I had the lower lashes to do so but I still sucked. Looking back, those eyelashes were no good for the make-up I wanted but they were Dolly Wink so it was okay, right? No. Not at all. I did discover hairpieces other than extensions which helped me spruce things up a little and I was less reluctant to wear wigs. Clothes wise I was still off the mark but I did manage to purchase some key wardrobe staples so everything wasn't a complete loss!
I barely posted at all during 2013 on my blog due to some personal issues. This is the year things actually started changing and I began making small improvements.
I purchased my first ever pair of circle lenses (for my Christa Renz from SNK cosplay) and found that they weren't as scary as I thought they were. This made me more relaxed and much more receptive to purchasing future lenses. I also purchased clothes from DreamV which was a big shove in my style and made me feel a lot more confident. I also discovered the miracle of half wigs and realised that they weren't as scary as I thought they were. In fact, they were stupidly easy to apply!
I was also approached in public and asked if I was gyaru for the first time which was... well, not something I expected. I still denied that I was and just said the same old line; that I was inspired by the fashion.
I shed what was holding me back and continued experimenting with my make-up although I was never satisfied; it still wasn't what I wanted.
2014 has been the year of experimenting and pushing myself further and further. I purchased eyelashes other than Dolly Wink which improved my upper eye make-up, I think! I pushed myself to wear agejo style clothes and purchased my first gyaru brand item from GOLDS Infinity and my first pair of gyaru style shoes. Even then I still denied I was gyaru but instead was 'gyaru inspired' because the gyaru community scared me and I still felt inadequate compared to some of the other gyaru I had seen, especially the other UK gyaru.
The biggest changing point for me was May Expo. I was determined to do Junko Enoshima justice and looked up how to do rokku style gyaru make-up and applied it for the first time. For the first time in my life I felt like I looked gyaru which was kinda silly because I was in cosplay! I couldn't believe it.
Even then I noted the changing state of gyaru and tried to follow the make-up trends but no matter what I still didn't feel like I looked gyaru without the rokku style make-up. I purchased MA*RS clothes and cute pumps and even more circle lenses and felt confident in myself for the first time in forever. Even when I had some potentially serious health issues that was marking my body I still felt confidence when I was dressed in my precious MA*RS. I purchased more wigs and hair pieces and began experimenting with my look and image.
I also met some of the UK Gyaru at MCM Expo and following them has helped me a lot, I think. Watching them inspired me to spruce up my own image and I gathered the courage to even apply for a gyaru unit (although I got too scared after to even reply to any of their messages) but even doing that has just helped.
To be honest, 2014 has been one of the worst years of my life so it's almost funny that this is the year I've had the most improvement. The year isn't even over yet! I'm still finding my feet because I don't know if I'm agejo or if I like rokku or hime better or if onee would be better for me but... I'll get there somehow.
Stay sweet! ♥
I don't think there's anything wrong with being 'inspired' by gyaru, though I really like your style how it is now :3
ReplyDeleteI could never commit to a style and really admire people that do! Love the last photo ~
♥ Little Owl Diary
It's really hard to stick to one style, isn't it? I tried to go himekaji for awhile but I was like, "wtf no I wanna wear leopard print," etc. ahahaha :'D
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