my favorite gyaru resources!! a masterblog

 ORIGINALLY POSTED: June 2025

hi hi~! its time for another gyaru blog~!

if youve been interested in j-fashion at all, then you know its always caught between being easy to find resources and mind-numbingly difficult.

sure, things like pinterest, tiktok, and tumblr have an insane amount of content on them, but how many times have you seen the same photo? or the same magazine scan? im sure you cant even remember by now! when getting into j-fashion, its important to keep your stream of content fresh for your own sanity. gyaru is no different! 

however, every resource is not created equal! i like to follow a simple rule when weeding out good and bad sources: if it feels like someone is talking out of their ass, then move on! its important to use discernment when reading something, including this blog... who knows? i could be an evil faceless normie who wants to slander the good name of gyaru MUAHAHAHA!! okay, im joking, i would never do that to you. but still! always use your best judgement, and dont waste time on stuff that feels poorly made or just flat out wrong.

but sadly, it can be pretty slim pickings here at times, especially on the english-speaking side of the web. plus, gyaru was at its peak during the early days of the internet so theres tons of stuff that is just simply lost to time. so sometimes, we have to take what we can get. even if that means cherry picking bits of information from certain sources (cough cough... the gyaru wiki... cough)...

in this blog, im going to create a masterlist (or masterblog, if you will) of my favorite gyaru resources! except not really, because theres going to be some that i only tolerate. im going to list them in descending order from most accessible to least accessible, so if youre a seasoned gyaru and wanna get to the juicy stuff: the closer to the bottom, the better!

i plan to keep adding to this blog for as long as i can, since im always finding new stuff that i find useful. feel free to come back any time you want and peruse!

each resource will be linked with an x or otherwise underlined or bolded, so hopefully that makes it easier to click around and save some links!

~

MY RESOURCES:

here are some resources by me!

my gyaru pinterest board - x

my big mama board with over 1,000 pins! includes inspo, magazine scans, tutorials, and more!

my gyaruo pinterest board - x

the gyaruo version of my gyaru board! contains 375 pins.

gyaru 101: how did we get here? - x

my "origins of gyaru" blog.

crash course: gyaruo 101 - x

the gyaruo version of my gyaru 101 blog. contains gyaruo-specific resources.

the different substyles of gyaru! - x

my comprehensive subtyles blog.

gyaru terms & vocab! - x

my gyaru-go blog. other gyaru-go resources can be found below/

crash course: bodikon gyaru & Juliana's Tokyo - x

my blog all about Bodikon, the predecessor of gyaru as we know it.

gyaru beginner guide ! ★彡- x

my pinterest board for baby/beginner gals. includes everything one needs to know in a beginner-friendly format.

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MOST ACCESSIBLE:

tiktok, tumblr, instagram, pinterest

i think these go without saying since we live in a social media centric world, but the easiest way to find gyaru resources is on social media. notice that i said easiest, not the best. honestly, i dont think any resource is truly the "best", so i recommend that you abandon any notion that one thing is truly the "best". anyway, it's the easiest because it takes a simple search and you get tons of results immediately. but remember what i said about people lying out of their asses and faceless normies? tiktok in particular is full of that. i have my own gripes with how tiktok treats gyaru as a whole, but theres so much good on it that all i'll say is that discernment is key. i really love the users @cinnagal, @nuki3opatra_, @otknoharuka, and @goblinize for education/tutorials! you can also find veteran gals and egg models on tiktok as well! instagram can be great for finding other gals (lots of veteran gals and models use it), and following gyaru fashion brands and publications (new egg in particular!). tumblr and pinterest are great for archival purposes. youll find tons of magazine scans and even the odd archived post from a gal in the 2000's. tumblr is also great for following blogs that post moodboards, old web stuff (stamps, blinkies, etc), gifs, and fashion content. i love the user m0ney, who posts vintage japanese and korean street snaps, pics from old flickr accounts, and more! they arent solely a gyaru blog, but they do post some gyaru content. some gyaru-centric tumblr blogs i love are: poyoberry, gyawhore, and gal-cir. to find more, go on a deep dive thru the gyaru tag and similar. pinterest also largely requires you to do your own digging, but its worth it!

r/actualgyaru - x

this technically counts as social media, but i think it serves its own separate purpose. this is a great subreddit with tons of knowledgeable people! theyre always sharing tips, tricks, resources of their own. its also a great place to ask for concrit on make and coords. all in all, super helpful! however, it is reddit. and redditors be redditoring. so be prepared for a little drama and infighting. but as far as subreddits go, its not that bad.

youtube - x, x, x, x

youtube can be great for finding more modern gyaru videos, such as video essays explaining gyaru, makeup and hair tutorials, and music! in the link collection i have 4 helpful playlists: the first two are old school gal videos, the third is gyaru make (the entire KAWAII PATEEN channel is a GOLDMINE), and the fourth is gyaru hair! if youre trying to get started as a gal, i recommend taking a look at these! besides playlists, i have a few specific videos that are great resources: 

⊹₊ ♡ ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GYARU 🌺 the history behind it & it's substyles 🎀 ✧･ by wickedbunniez

wickedbunniez has a few gyaru videos on their channel, but this one is great for those who want more information about the substyles! the history aspect doesnt go quite as deep as some other videos, but there is still quite a bit of good, solid information!

History of Gyaru (Gal) | Aritch (otknokusorina) by Otknoharuka

you may notice that this video is made by one of the creators i listed in the tiktok section! haruka is one of my favorite gals for education, tips, basically anything pertaining to gyaru. she's so incredibly knowledgable and just a great person to look to for all things gyaru.

Beginner Guide to Gyaru: History of Gal by Hime Hime Star

Hime Hime Star's entire gyaru series is insanely well written and researched, and i 100% recommend it! they put a lot of heart into their videos, and theyve been a great help ever since i was a baby gal.

everything you need to know about the history of gyaru and the predatory male-media culture by blissfulfaerie

this is one of my FAVORITE videos! its very important for us to talk about the more unsavory aspects of gyaru (i plan on writing a blog about that at some point), and this video is a very frank and honest discussion about it.

Hello Lizzie Bee's blog - x

if you are a gaijin gal, Lizzie is going to become your best friend. her blog is by far one of the most comprehensive, informative, well-constructed blogs known to man. she updates regularly and is a gyaru for-lifer, so she's written about anything you could possibly imagine in relation to gyaru. her blog is basically required reading for all gaijin gyaru!

LESS ACCESSIBLE, BUT DOABLE:

The Gyaru Wiki - x

it feels like a crime to put this above Galture, but my reasoning is its a lot more approachable for the english-speaking crowd. its also often the first place beginner/baby gals find themselves searching for information, so i feel like its earned a spot on my list for that reason. the information on the wiki isnt terrible, but you run the risk of inconsistency amongst the articles since it is a user-made wiki, meaning it relies on contribution from the users. some articles' information is more accurate than others, and some are better written than others so once again, discernment is crucial here. however, like other wikis, they cite their sources and those are amazing to look through. you can find old gyarusa websites, magazine sites, and more through the references section! 

Galture - x

this is by far my favorite gyaru resource! its in japanese (which is why i put it below the wiki), but if you use chrome as your browser, that can be easily resolved via google translate. since its google translate, the translations can be a bit iffy but its not difficult to read! they have a wealth of information, with dedicated sections about fashion, culture, models/magazines, and gyaruo. each section has tons of articles to read through, as well as tons of articles about substyles. if you can get past the language barrier, this will for sure become a favorite of yours as well!

History of Gyaru by Era | What is a "Gyaru"? by Miho Ito - x

this is a now defunct blog post via KLD, a second-hand store in japan. its a great resource for learning the history of gyaru and features a detailed timeline. its where i got my information about paragals, so definitely check it out if youve taken an interest in it! like Galture, it is in japanese so a translator will be a great help if you dont speak japanese. and for my friends interested in styles like jirai, they have blog posts about that too!

GalRevo - x

this is the only magazine archive that exists to me, to be honest. its insanely comprehensive, and i feel like it just speaks for itself. PLEASE check it out!

egg magazine archives - x

this isnt the only egg magazine archive by any means, egg magazine is probably the most well preserved of all gyaru magazines, but i still really like it! its very easy to navigate and the scans are very high quality. 

FRUiTS magazine archives - x, x, x

this might be a bit of a controversial pick, since FRUiTS focuses on harajuku fashion and gyaru is from shibuya. but! i think that even if the street snaps arent explicitly of gyaru fashion, theres still a fair bit of inspiration that can be found here. the outfits are INCREDIBLE and i take some inspiration from them for my own coords.

Cute! Girls of town street snaps - x

for all my Amagyaru and Himekaji friends, this is a treasure trove! their watermark is iconic so youve probably seen them before and didnt realize it. linked is their Ameblo, but they also can be easily found on places like tumblr, pinterest, and twitter! this is a great resource if you need inspo for make or coords.

the old egg magazine website - x

i love the old egg magazine website, not so much for the information it provides (especially because i view it via the wayback machine so its all outdated and useless), but because its a total blast from the past! i also love that the nature of the wayback machine allows stuff to still be functional and that you can visit other webpages. you can still access the models blogs, read user comments, and look at peoples profiles! since it is the wayback machine, some pages are better archived than others (i.e. some are more visually appealing), but they can still be read with google translate. the link i provide is just at a random spot, so you are totally able to go backwards or forwards in time as you please! i would also like to note that this is the old website domain (eggegg.jp is the current one), so once you get far enough, the domain changes ownership and it has nothing to do with egg or gyaru at that point.

LEAST ACCESSIBLE:

thrifting (mercari jp, buyee/other proxy-buying sites, sheer dumb luck)

i was tempted to put this at the very bottom, but i figured it wasnt completely impossible to find stuff this way, so i kept it higher. thrifting for clothes and accessories can be pretty easy, but thrifting for resources is an entirely different ball game. basically, it takes a lot of sifting through mercarci jp and buyee to find physical magazines (especially when it comes to the more popular publications). its even more difficult to find para para cd's and tapes, as well as music. i chalk it up to sheer dumb luck to find either at reasonable prices or at all, but as i said, it isnt impossible! it just takes a bit of grinding!

The Internet Archive

once again, no specific link for this one. things like the old egg magazine site link back to the internet archive, but thats because i knew what i was looking for. knowing what youre looking for is key when it comes to using IA! you can find magazine scans, basically anything you can think of as long as some kind internet user has archived it and uploaded it. like thrifting, it just takes being really specific in your search and some work!

Ameba blogs (Ameblo)

think of Ameba like MySpace: it technically still exists, but different than what it used to be. this is a japanese blogging site, and was popular amongst gals. from my understanding, it went through some changes at some point and sadly, some blogs are completely lost to time. however, it is possible to hunt down old gyaru blogs! The Gyaru Wiki links to a few (i recommend looking in the members section of gyarusa articles, here is one Ameblo i found by Kyon from Angeleek!), but some posts on pinterest link to Ameblo's too (like this one). if you can find them, Ameblo is a great resource and give you a personal glimpse at a gals life. however, i want to make something very clear. THESE BLOGS CAN BE INCREDIBLY PERSONAL, SO BE RESPECTFUL. some are still active today and many of the gals have retired, and use them as personal blogs. DO NOT HARASS ANYONE WHOS AMEBLO YOU MANAGE TO FIND. LEAVE NO TRACE!

LANGUAGE RESOURCES:

kogals online - x

a cute neocities page with some gyaru-go resources! also includes some magazine archives!

Slang Words Every Gyaru Should Know by xlicious - x

includes social media terms i didnt mention in my terms & vocab blog!

Gyaru-go | The Language Of The Mysterious and Elusive Creature: The Gal by Tofugu, Rachel B - x

contains good information about general japanese slang and gyaru-go, as well as some good language examples!

*･ﾟﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*ﾟ:*:✼✿Gyaru Vocabulary✿✼:*ﾟ:.｡..｡.:*･ﾟﾟ･*! by pastelhimegal - x

a good resource for gyaru vocab with some helpful visual aids!

20 Japanese Slang Words to Learn by 2023 by Mochifika: Japanese with Akari - x

this is a great resource for japanese speakers or students looking to improve their skills, Akari is a great teacher!

ギャル文字一覧 - x

a resource on gyaru-moji!

~

i hope this blog was helpful! like i said, i plan to keep updating this every once in a while. if you have resources of your own, please dont hesitate to share them and let me know if you want them included! i was going to post a blog about different substyles first, but i figured this was better so people can read up about substyles through these sources and to open up some discussion! so, the next blog will 100% be about the substyles. if you have topic suggestions, id love to hear them! and if you like, please check out my gyaru discord inquiry!

chat again soon~!

kiss kiss~ ☆⌒ヽ(*'､^*)chu

gyaru 101: how did we get here?

 ORIGINALLY POSTED: June 2025

**03/23/2026 EDIT: oh my first gyaru blog... how nostalgic (;_;) if you are reading this for the first time, please know that this is not my best work or by any means a definitive, comprehensive blog! do your own research to supplement the information here!** 

take a seat, students! shido-chan is about to yap! 

i'm sure everyone on the alternative side of the internet has seen the rise of gyaru in recent times. we're really seeing a proper gyaru renaissance, but i'm sure plenty of y'all are confused about the ins and outs, what it means to be a gal, and stuff like that. as spacehey's resident education major, i've decided it's basically my sworn duty to spread the gospel of gyaru, and that's what i intend to do! 

so, what is gyaru? and how did we get here? 

gyaru is derived from the english word "girl", with gyaru being the japanese pronunciation. just like the way we use the word girl in english, it carried a lot of playful energy. it was used to describe youthful, energetic japanese girls. 

as for the style, we first need to take it back to the 80's. a lot of english-language gyaru resources will say that gyaru began in the 70's, but that isn't the complete truth. sure, it had probably begun to take root in those days, but it wasn't a full-fledged movement then. we need to look at japan's bubble era to get to the bottom of this. 

not to get too history teacher on ya, but i feel this is important to mention: a lot of people conflate the showa era with the bubble era, and while there is definitely some overlap (the showa era ended in 1989, and the bubble era began in 1986 and lasted until 1991), there are distinct differences in the gals we saw in the early 80's compared to the late to mid 80's. so, i'll be pointing out the differences when applicable. 

either way, gyaru was born out of economic prosperity in japan. meaning, young people had a lot more disposable income. especially young women, as entering the workforce had become a popular decision by the early 80's. the main demographic was university students and office workers, which you may notice is a bit older than the modern day gal tends to be, but we'll address this a little later. no shade to these ladies, btw, i'm 100% sure they were killing it in their business attire by day and tearing up the dance floor in Bodikon fashion by night. 

speaking of which, we need to talk about Bodikon! like the term gyaru, Bodikon comes from the english words "body conscious", which were then shortened and took on the japanese pronunciation of Bodikon. you may be thinking to yourself, "hmm... that sounds a lot like a body-con dress..." because it does! the hallmarks of the Bodikon style was that the clothes were skin tight. although Bodikon is its own distinct style and aesthetic, there is an undeniable connection between it and gyaru, which will become clearer as i get through this blog post and the others i have planned. 

anyway... 

we have a group of showa era young women with money to burn, and clearly they enjoy having fun and engaging in fashion trends. they were called ikeike girls, and were seen as generally aspirational (very much unlike the reputation gals have these days). like i mentioned before, an ikeike girls' favorite pastime was clubbing and we will see that remain a staple in gyaru culture for the foreseeable future.

Bodikon fashion

they dont look quite like what we picture today as gyaru, but as we go deeper into the bubble era, we definitely see the style start to take form. 

in the late 80's, we see the emergence of paradise gals, or Paragals. a better term for these gals might be Ganguro or Gonguro, since if you look up old-school gyaru style on pinterest, you'll most definitely be met with magazine scans of these gals with that identifier. either way, they loved tanned skin, floral and tropical prints and motifs, and the general california/LA/surfer style. very beachy and emulating, well... paradise. if you know anything about gyaru, then you know we love a hibiscus flower and a tan more than anything, so these gals set the trend and continued old ones, such as clubbing. 

(a quick note about Paragals: i was only able to find information about them from one resource, which is why i included the term Ganguro/Gonguro despite it being more of a late 90's and beyond term. i'll link it in the resource masterblog i plan to post, but its possible the translation was inaccurate since further research under Paragals yielded no results. if anyone has any information, i'd love it hear it!)

Paragals

putting on my history teacher hat on once again to mention the relation between gyaru and yankii. as i am not an expert on yankii, i wont try to describe the ins and outs of the subculture and lifestyle. there are some key distinctions that keep it completely separate from gyaru, but there is some overlap in ideology and attitude. although one is more extreme than the other, both gyaru and yankii were seen as forms of delinquency, so there was some intermingling between communities. especially between teamer yankii's, who's de facto headquarters was shibuya, a section of tokyo. shibuya will become EXTREMELY important to gyaru culture as we continue. the Paragal style was incredibly popular by girls who frequented teamer clubs, and continued to widen the overlap that existed.

An illustration of teamer yankii's

as we enter the early 90's, the gyaru style continued to evolve. the Paragal style became Kogal, or Kogyaru as it was known in those days. in fact, Kogyaru was the original name for gyaru! Kogals were high school girls who liked the style of the Paragals, Bodikon/ikeike gals, and the club scene. they began tanning, dying their hair, wearing extreme makeup, everything you would expect of a gyaru today. except they incorporated their school uniforms into their looks: preferring cardigans to blazers, loose socks that hung over the shoes, and shortening their skirts way more than was allowed by the dress code. as i mentioned above, both Kogyaru and yankii was seen as rebellion and delinquency. they both defied japanese standards, both in the ways one should behave and in the ways one should look and dress. teamer yankiis took inspiration from american hip-hop culture, and gyarus by having light hair and tanned skin. they both had no time for the japanese virtues of obedience and conformity.

Kogal's in the 90's

teamers and Kogals interacted even more after this evolution, as it was common to see a teamer with a Kogyaru girlfriend. while their boyfriends hung out in shibuya, Kogals would flock to the department store shibuya 109. it carried the trendiest clothes, catering to the gyaru style and becoming the gyaru mecca even until today. see? i told you shibuya would be important! 

besides shopping, Kogals also loved clubbing. they would often fake their ages and use fake id's to get into the clubs. this is how the Kogyaru title was coined in the first place, as they would often be clocked immediately by club staff and patrons, calling them "kokosei gyaru", or high school girls, which was shortened to Kogyaru. 

in 1991, a new club popped up in tokyo. Juliana's. in my research, i found no indication that it was a teamers club like the ones gals frequented. but gals soon flocked to it anyway, because Juliana's did something no other club had ever done before. they were the first club in japan to play techno music. techno, of course, being a form of catnip to a gyaru. by 1994 when Juliana's closed for business, it had cemented itself as a gyaru hotspot and had introduced a whole new wave of gals to techno, house, and eurobeat: some of the music genres a gyaru cant live without. 

from the mid 90's and beyond, gyaru continued to morph into something a little more recognizable. it was shortened from Kogyaru to just gyaru, as non-high school students began engaging in the style. in 1995, Amuro, named and modeled after the singer Namie Amuro, gained popularity and was characterized by black turtlenecks, burberry plaid miniskirts, and black knee-high platforms. another style, not pictured here, was inspired by a celebrity around the same time. Ayu-gals were inspired by the singer Ayumi Hamasaki, and sought to emulate her in their style and it quickly overshadowed Amuro in terms of popularity. as time went on, more and more substyles emerged but i'll save that for another blog.

Namie Amuro inspired fashion

i hope you enjoyed reading this incredibly long blog about the history of gyaru! as i mentioned in my bulletin post, if you read it, i'm planning to make this a little series. so, please let me know if there's anything you want me to cover in another blog! also, fellow gals, please correct me if there is anything i've gotten wrong. i try to use authentic resources as much as i possibly can, which means me and google translate have become great friends... and that oftentimes doesnt bode well for getting the most accurate translations. please, let me know and i'll correct it! concrit is also welcome! is there something you think i should skip for next time? does my writing style make for an unpleasant read? let me know, and i'll try to make my next blog a bit more enjoyable! 

bye bye~! 

hope to yap again soon~! kiss kiss~ ☆⌒ヽ(*'､^*)chu

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