Yap Session: The pressure to buy "gal brand" and how a brand doesn't just make you Gyaru

Wow! It's time for a Yap session! Basically I'm going to let my mind wander on thoughts here, not a lot of pictures on these types of posts. Most of these are inspired by my own gyaru experience + talking with some lovely mutuals on instagram + discussion posts on reddit!! Please forgive me I cannoooot keep a straight thought and I've tried rewriting this like 3 times already. It's Yap. Hopefully the more I do this the more to the point  Ican be.

Today's topic is surrounding the pressure to buy "gal brand". I put "gal brand" in quotes as some brands aren't made for gals specifically, but they're popular amongst gals.

Ever since I started working on my wardrobe, I started immediately with buying MA*RS pieces. I took time to scour on Fril and Mercari JP until I bought some items I thought were cute, as well as just because it was MA*RS and it was cheap. This was in early 2022, so prices were not great, but still better than today.  I actually went back to look at my purchase history, and most items I were buying were MA*RS and were about 20-30 on average, with my more expensive purchase being a 500 dollar haul of 3 listings totaling 19 items from 1 vendor, who ended up giving me freebies as well.

In my internet community lurking, I saw all these gals with amazing wardrobes of MA*RS but didn't think about how they were a decade ahead of me in collecting these pieces. I also fell into the Alba Rosa coat obsession (As most gals do!). The entirety of 2023 was me considering buying a Pink and White Alba Rosa coat for 1800 dollars, which I eventually caved in December 2023 and did after the first listing I was watching got sold (It was also 1800 dollars lol).

When I got the coat, I was really excited, it felt like I was the equivalent of someone who just spent all their money on a name brand designer bag. I also felt the same way with my MA*RS pieces. I was like "I'm gal! I have the brands!" I feel like this is something a LOT of baby gals deal with too, you see gals in brand, the inspiration pictures are brand, and they think it's the clothing that will make them a true gyaru and will get recognition from other gyaru.

And the reality is that it's not the case. You actually have to put in effort to read as a gal (and even then you still might not to the faceless accounts on tiktok lol but who cares what they say).

Something a lot of baby gals struggle with is "not looking gal enough". I saw Cindy write about this on their blog  and I really agreed with the statement of "I think a lot of you guys just have lame outfits and are bad at makeup."

It is actually really easy to make gal brands look bad or fall into the trap of looking like you're in a gyaru cosplay vs actually being a gyaru. Trust me, I've seen it and I've BEEN in that place. I posted on my instagram all the way as the last picture the first time I tried to style one of my cutest MA*RS dresses, and my god. It was so bad chat... no hair styling... poor make that I censored... was I even wearing nails?! 

It's really important to work on your make and understand how to style your hair (or invest in a wig!) and work on styling your pieces to make them look good. I love to work on color coordination and see what I have in my wardrobe to make a piece work. I think it would be fun as a challenge to try and do a non gal brand look... maybe something I'll try in January :)

There's also a really important thing you need to help you distinguish from being someone in a gyaru cosplay vs an actual gyaru, and that's CONFIDENCE. You really need to walk the walk and show you are confident and comfortable in what you're wearing. Gal is about being sexy, free, not confirming to standards (and it's still possible in the US! Many people don't live in fashion-filled districts and so you do stick out like a sore thumb lol why does everyone in RI wear neutrals please bring in some color....) Confidence and knowing this is who you are makes people know this is just who you are and they'll stop asking if you're in an anime costume (this is. a frustrating question i answer once a month. but luckily once i let them know i'm like this they're chill. This is probably because lack of fun clothing in new england).

And you can infact, do it without gal brands. Now I'm kind of inspired to try and do a non-brand gal look... this will have to be something I work on in the new year. :) Anyways chat, I've got my Monday night bingo, so manifest I win!! :D