Review: Teen Vogue takes a look at Tokyo Fashion / What are Gals??

I am a big fan of photojournalism. We all know the saying that "a picture tells a thousand words". But there is one big problem with media imagery - anything that has the power to inform equally must carry the power to misinform. Teen Vogue is one of the most popular American youth fashion magazines that is sold in Japan, so I am a bit surprised to say that they were quite a bit off target with this photo collection. The description talks about taking kawaii to the extreme, or something along those lines, but the girls skipping around Harajyuku every Sunday in layers of used clothing tend not to fit the word quite accurately. 

There's no doubt that one might call this style of clothing a Japanese fashion, but it is in no sense representative of Japanese youth fashion culture, and I feel that people see these and tend to feel that they do depict the essence of such. In fact, these images epitomize an outcast group that is not involved in pioneering fashion in a new direction but instead following an anti-fashion subculture. I note this as following, because while these kinds of girls certainly aren't welcome socially, they are still plentiful, and they repeat the same trend of over-layering that exists within their own sector of street fashion. Creative fashion is really applauded in Japan, but not a single one of those girls would be called kawaii by those standards. 

So, if these statements are disillusioning, then please give me the chance to help at least a little bit to guide you throughout your enlightening. 

I think that one important thing to do before exploring the really creative and amazing fashionistas in Japan is to learn about what the popular trends are. The first one is Gal (pronounced like gyaru in Japanese) fashion, which will be an important topic in this blog. 

You can find many websites that Westerners dedicate to the Gal style, but they tend to be outdated in their information, talking about outrageous sub-styles such as "Yamanba" and others that carry negative images like "O-Gal", which have long been abandoned by the majority of Gals in Japan. Of course, there are many exceptionally up-to-date sources, as well, but in case you haven't found one of those yet, below are some snaps from one of the most popular Gal magazines in Japan: S Cawaii.  

Okay. I know. It's hard to tell what Gal fashion is because... well... all of these girls are dressed quite a bit differently (except for the presence of small hats in a lot of these pictures; that's not something defining of Gal fashion; they just happened to appear a lot in this edition of S Cawaii). But typical Gal fashion is not simply classified, as others might insist. The point is not to put colors together logically but creatively; to test the borders of flashiness or cuteness; to dress, do hair, and just look differently.

The really sectionable subsets of Gals, i.e. Princess Gals (himegyaru), are not the norm for street fashion by any means. In retrospect, Gals lead the street fashion category with their creative color combinations, their pioneering of new street styles and their desires and efforts to express themselves through fashion and beauty. 

Gals are the real driving force of street fashion trends in Japan. Of course, to have numbers, there are followers, but within them, there are many who lead new styles and new definitions of matching and coordination. This is one thing that I hope to convince others of.

Beru