Saturday, January 30, 2010

Ganguro girls




Have anyone seen this? When I first saw this I was like.... what is this? I couldn't stop looking away. I  know what was hot in Japan will probably be cool in the rest of the world 10 years later.  Personally I would not attempt this look. However I find it interesting to see what the context of beauty is in other countries. Strange as it is, this trend is spreading like wild fire.

The blog Pale is the new tan grabbed this shot. I think they were making fun of sunless tanner addiction and failed to see they actually caught some Danish Ganguro Girls.

 

From pale is the new tan.
I can totally see and understand our young Emo generation moving to this if Hippsterism is not for them. 




What is it? Ganguro girls by definition from Wikipedia.orghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganguro_girl would be: Ganguro (ガングロ; "Black Face Girls") is an alternative fashion trend of blonde or orange hair and tanned skin among young Japanese women that peaked in popularity around the year 2000, but remains evident today. The Shibuya and Ikebukuro districts of Tokyo are the center of ganguro fashion.

Ganguro appeared as a new fashion style in Japan in the early 1990s and to date is prevalent mostly among young women and women in their early 20s. In ganguro fashion, a deep tan is combined with hair dyed in shades of orange to blonde, or a silver grey known as "high bleached". Black ink is used as eye-liner and white concealer is used as lipstick and eyeshadow. False eyelashes, plastic facial gems, and pearl powder are often added to this. Platform shoes and brightly-coloured outfits complete the ganguro look. Also typical of ganguro fashion are tie-dyed sarongs, miniskirts, stickers on the face, and lots of bracelets, rings, and necklaces.

Ganguro falls into the larger subculture of gyaru (from English "gal"), a slang term used for various groups of young women, usually referring to overly childish or rebellious girls. Researchers in the field of Japanese studies believe that ganguro is a form of revenge against traditional Japanese society due to resentment of neglect, isolation, and constraint of Japanese society. This is their attempt at individuality, self-expression, and freedom, in open defiance of school standards and regulations.[2] Fashion magazines like Egg and Kawaii magazine have had a direct influence on the ganguro. Other popular ganguro magazines include Popteen and Ego System. The ganguro culture is often linked with para para, a Japanese dance style. However, most para para dancers are not ganguro, and most ganguro are not para para dancers, though there are many who are ganguro or gal and dance para para.

One of the most famous early ganguro girls was known as Buriteri, nicknamed after the black soy sauce used to flavor yellowtail fish in teriyaki cooking. Egg made her a star by frequently featuring her in its pages during the height of the ganguro craze. After modelling and advertising for the Shibuya tanning salon "Blacky", social pressure and negative press convinced Buriteri to retire from the ganguro lifestyle.[3]

As for style goes. I'm still waiting for Rhinstone Cowgirl to hit big in Japan. I would love to see it. Be it  Milan, Paris, London or New York City. Tokyo for me will always be the most creative and inspiring fo the fashion world. Be in Ganguro, Gothic Lolita, Maid Cafe, Kongol, Lolita, Cosplay or Harajuku.

Acid Cow  has the best collection of this practice.  Please click on the link for more information.


xoxo-Michelle


PS.  I just found this on how to do Manba make up which is related to this topic. very interesting.

http://4evertime.wikispaces.com/file/view/manba.jpg/31667829/manba.jpg



6 comments:

BLIX said...

That is just freaky looking. never seen it before...and I don't know why anyone would want to look like that.

Handcrafted Carolyn said...

The Japanese girls look like Umpla Loompahs but without the green hair... :P

But I think the Danish girls are cute.

I think that perhaps the emo's would find it too expensive to go tanning so much. Or, at least here in Washington where we don't get enough sun to stay tan for more than 4 months. (I am pale and plant to stay that way.)

Really awesome blog topic!

Michelle said...

@Blix: I think that this is an art of rebellion. In Japanese culture there is this national idea of what a woman should look like. Street fashion like Harajuku and Ganguro are forms of rebellion towards traditional beauty standards.

@Carolyn: Thanks ;) I think the Danish Ganguro lok like mice for some reason?! Possibly their mousy coats? Umm I mean hair? Also from what I have read they are literally coating themselves in sunless tanner. I wonder how they deal with the smell.

I personally think that tanning beds I hope have a bad enough rap to go extinct.

I'm glad you enjoyed this topic1 Gotta get creative until I find the right camera.

xoxo-M

Anonymous said...

Its hard to look away but it makes me sad ... sad that they don't realize the beauty of their culture and that they want to look like a california girl (blonde, blue eyed tanned toothpick) ... they also look like they belong in a circus

Michelle said...

Dear Anonymous:

Californian women do not look like that either.

~M

Fly London shoes said...

I really love this post
thanks for sharing it
please give me some old trend of shoes

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