Evening once again everyone!
So for one week, I conducted an "Anket" - A survey, if you will.
This was to see what Western Gyaru (Or well, at least my readers) were more geared towards within the Fashion and the Lifestyle of Gyaru.
It's actually produced some pretty interesting results. Although I can still see how it ultimately does relate to and show the 'pressures' we go through with the Online community across the Globe.
Here is the Chart I put together, and I will explain more underneath for those interested.
(It's a little large so everyone can see it clearly!!)
At first glance, you can see that the highest categories to score were 'Looks' & 'Health'.
I found this quite surprising really, but then I looked back on the questions I asked within those categories originally, and it all boils down to one thing:
Good ol' Peer Pressure.
There is no denying that the common phrases "GET IT RIGHT" or "YOU'RE DOING IT WROONNGGG!!11!" are in abundance throughout sites like 'Gyaru_Secrets' and on various forums etc.
As a Female-dominated community, we also have the general bitching about weight, our private lives and dressing Fugly.
This, with the stress of a lot of Western Gyaru being young ladies & gentleman lacking hard cash, this puts unwanted stress upon the individual trying to 'Make it Big' within the scene.
Not only that but even with today's Society in the printed and digital form, dieting is on the rampage like never before, with everyone trying to achieve this Pole-like frame so they can post their wares on Tumblr etc. :(
However I was pretty shocked at 'Style' being the lowest. But I did ask two questions about everyone's Wardrobe situation. Of course with exchange rates, different body shapes, different culture or even perhaps unwillingness/lack of knowledge(?) it seems that Gyaru on the whole isn't something that could be a predominant style over here. While most of you answered that when you dress Gyaru you have two styles within Gyaru-kei, the 2nd highest % went to that you wear other styles outside of Gyaru-kei.
'Fashion' and 'Beauty' seemingly went hand in hand with an average percentage, with the majority caring about their skin regime and keeping hot on the latest trends and popular brands. This is obviously a good thing, the highest two percentages coming in with Big-name Gyaru magazines and people reading those for Niche sub-styles. Instead of a few years ago, where everyone read Egg or Popteen, and was dressing either in Manba/Banba or copying RumiRingo and Kaoru's style - niche magazines like Es Poshh! and more recently, Vanilla Girl didn't stand a chance because of passing trends and the bigger names, well, getting bigger. I am really happy with these results. It's really nice to see Western Gyaru into different sub-styles or even copying a particular model's style.
All in All, I am proud of doing this, and seeing some really positive, and (hopefully) honest answers. It does give us an overall view on what Western Gyaru has for it's strong points and weak points too. If you're serious about the style, love the Lifestyle and enjoy working towards your goals, perhaps the Gyaru scene will change again - for the better in the West and I will conduct another Anket at the end of this year.
Thank you to everyone that took part!
Not only that but even with today's Society in the printed and digital form, dieting is on the rampage like never before, with everyone trying to achieve this Pole-like frame so they can post their wares on Tumblr etc. :(
However I was pretty shocked at 'Style' being the lowest. But I did ask two questions about everyone's Wardrobe situation. Of course with exchange rates, different body shapes, different culture or even perhaps unwillingness/lack of knowledge(?) it seems that Gyaru on the whole isn't something that could be a predominant style over here. While most of you answered that when you dress Gyaru you have two styles within Gyaru-kei, the 2nd highest % went to that you wear other styles outside of Gyaru-kei.
'Fashion' and 'Beauty' seemingly went hand in hand with an average percentage, with the majority caring about their skin regime and keeping hot on the latest trends and popular brands. This is obviously a good thing, the highest two percentages coming in with Big-name Gyaru magazines and people reading those for Niche sub-styles. Instead of a few years ago, where everyone read Egg or Popteen, and was dressing either in Manba/Banba or copying RumiRingo and Kaoru's style - niche magazines like Es Poshh! and more recently, Vanilla Girl didn't stand a chance because of passing trends and the bigger names, well, getting bigger. I am really happy with these results. It's really nice to see Western Gyaru into different sub-styles or even copying a particular model's style.
All in All, I am proud of doing this, and seeing some really positive, and (hopefully) honest answers. It does give us an overall view on what Western Gyaru has for it's strong points and weak points too. If you're serious about the style, love the Lifestyle and enjoy working towards your goals, perhaps the Gyaru scene will change again - for the better in the West and I will conduct another Anket at the end of this year.
Thank you to everyone that took part!
This is an interesting read. And I feel that gyaru is a fashion, and there are no rules in fashion ^ ^ Just have to make it work.
ReplyDeleteThat was a really interesting read, thanks for taking the time to put it together, and doing the questionnaire.
ReplyDelete