Recap Sundays: GAL TV

As previously mentioned, this is the first installation to GAL TV: Recap Sundays! Since Sunday is our day off from making videos, I wanted to make Sunday the day that we can look back on what happened this week. It was our first week, and even though the majority of us was busy and quite possibly overwhelmed, we all followed through with our plan and stuck to our guidelines.

This first week was our test run and the first time any of us really went on air, so the theme was to introduce ourselves. It was fun to learn more about each other since we're all somewhat strangers to each other, so we all learned more about each other through these videos.

10.24.11 Monday -- Ninoshka

Ninoshka tells us that she lives in San Diego, CA and is half Mexican and half Venezuelan. Her favorite types of food are Italian, Japanese, and Mexican; However, she ♥loves♥ sweets! Ninoshka started practicing Gyaru around May of this year, but has been interested in Gyaru since Gyaruru's video "Boom Boom Meccha Macho" came out (you can watch it here). Currently, she attends college and is studying graphic design, but her goal is 3D animation.

"One of my goals is to go to Japan and stay at a hotel near Shibuya 109 and spend lots of money."

10.25.11 Tuesday -- Daniela

I'm rather boring in my video, so we'll stick to my previous animation! I talked about my love for music and fashion. I listen to basically all kinds of music in English, Spanish, and Japanese. My love for fashion started when I went through my goth phase back in 2001 and I eventually developed to what is now my Gyaru style. I talk about how originality is very important to me and how I try (though maybe not succeed yet) to incorporate Visual Kei and Harajuku elements into my Gyaru style.

"The reason that I feel so attracted to Ora Ora Kei is because of my Yankii side, heh. That's a story for another time."

10.26.11 Wednesday -- Kokoa

Kokoa already has a channel that's an extension from her blog, however, she lets us know that this is the first time she actually makes an introduction about herself. She first found Gyaru through Ayumi Hamasaki, and upon looking for pictures of her, she stumbled across Rina Sakurai's pictures. Perfection! Kokoa has been practicing Gyaru and does not have a particular style that she follows completely. Kokoa loves making nailデコメ and her favorite hobby is eating!

"The first thing I noticed about Rina Sakurai were her eyes. Her eyes were as big as Ayumi Hamasaki's. I simply said, 'WHOA! She's perfect!' "

10.27.11 Thursday -- Miccah Boo

Starting off with her own intro, a song that says "peekaboo" quickly resembles her own name as Miccah Boo. Miccah also has a channel that's an extension from her blog and her Gyarusa. She expresses her nerves for filming an introduction video as well as introduces a co-star: her puppy named Hiki. She's a stylist and makes nails in her spare time. Miccah found Gyaru when she was a Visual Kid and has a couple of years that she's been practicing Gyaru. She doesn't follow a certain style but would love to explore further into Rokku and AV GAL Style.

"I found Gyaru style when I was a Visual Kid. I saw it online and quickly felt like I belonged there, so I decided to just go for it!"

10.28.11 Friday -- Valentina

Valentina lives in Chile and has had background in Japanese fashion for approximately 5 years. She discovered Gyaru around that time but didn't get interested in it until a few months back. She's more into Rokku style because of the colors and makeup style.

"That's when I realized that I really like the style, and ever since then it's been something I try to improve on and practice."

10.29.11 Saturday -- Chil

Chil is from Argentina and is also a stylist like Miccah. Like many, she loves K-Pop and is in love with G-Dragon. She heard about Gyaru back in 2009 through a movie, and later got interested by the rumors on Gals. The first Gal she ever saw was Kumicky and loved it. Chil didn't dress Gyaru until she bought her first pair of circle lenses! She is also vegetarian, and loves to eat!

"When I bought my first circle lenses, I felt like a doll and I loved it. I didn't want to ever take them off!"

Shibuya Pole Dancing & Tokyo Dolores

Disclaimer: All media displayed in this post belongs to Tokyo Dolores.



Who is Tokyo Dolores?blog // youtube // official site

Tokyo Dolores is a female dance group with a different fashion completely different from GAL. Incorporating burlesque and pole dancing into their shows, Tokyo Dolores delivers in both the theatrical and sensual aspect.

First, giving an impromptu show in New York and now forming part of the event opening for the "Shibuya Girls Bunkasai."
You'll more likely find these girls in their traditional Goth outfits, and continuing to do shows that display an amazing style of not just burlesque moves, but also acrobatics.
Tokyo Dolores has already started to make a name for themselves, and I can honestly say from what I've seen in their videos that I'm completely impressed. If you had previous misconceptions in regards to Burlesque and pole dancing being only something that you see at Gentlemen Clubs, Tokyo Dolores will definitely prove to you that there is an art in their performances.
You can find pictures from the Shibuya event here.


What do you think about Tokyo Dolores? Do they change the way you think about Burlesque and Pole Dancing? If you were lucky enough to witness (or plan on seeing) their shows, what did you think?

Gal's Halloween 3

It's time for part three of the Gal's Halloween series! If you missed part one, you can find it here and part two here. I wanted to do a bit of a how-to for Halloween, so I planned my costume from the very beginning. Have you guessed what it is? I'll be a bunny!

I'm not one to dress up -- EVER-- during Halloween, but I had high hopes on getting a cyber goth outfit for Halloween and those plans were thwarted when I found out that I would be working on Halloween (that and I pretty much have no life outside of work anyway;;) so I decided to dress up at work. I ended up deciding to try out last month's DIA-inspired DIY and immediately got inspired to dress as a bunny in the most casual of ways. My outfit literally consists of just that skirt and leg warmers plus a white top, ha!

Now on to the actual topic of this post:

DIY Bunny Ears & Accessories

What you'll probably need...

2 "packets" of faux fur color of your choice, preferably longest size avail.

Jewelry making wire (personal preference since it's easier to use IMO)

--Depending on the crafter--

Accessories of your choice

The accessories, completely optional at this time

I went with a gray/black confetti fabric (1/2yd)

and the chains that I previously bought for the DIY Skirt.

Step .001: Start with the jewelry making wire. Use a generous

amount without cutting it and form the shape of a bunny ear.

It's important that the length is long enough instead of it being

too short. Ideally, it will be approx. the same size as your fabric.

Step .002: Compare your wire ear with the fabric and adjust

as needed. It's important to keep in mind that you'll need it

to be a few cm. apart from the ends of the fabric for seam

allowance. Once it's adjusted, cut the wire.

Step .003: Make a duplicate ear and repeat step .002

Step .004: Turn the fabric inside out and in half. Place one

of your wire ears on top of the fabric and trace the ear.

Step .005: Once fully traced, secure the fabric with a couple

of pins so that both sides are equal.

Step .006: Start cutting! Leave a bit of space for sewing.

Step .007: Once done, you should have something similar to this. To make

sure that the size is the same, you can place the wire ear on the untraceable

side.

Step .008: Start sewing the wire in place first. This is based on personal

preference but I did an in-and-out type of seam to it in order to allow it space

to move around a bit.

Step .009: Time to sew the outside. This is the best way to make sure that

the sloppy work isn't visible on the outside! You'll need to sew around the

entire ear and leave enough room to later turn it back to normal.

Step .010: This is what it should look like when it's turned outside-in.

Step .011: Unfortunately, you'll need to sew from the outside to close that

gap in. Seeing it now from my own experiment, I highly recommend using

transparent thread instead of the color of your faux fur fabric.

You'll need to repeat Step .004 to .010 for the second ear.

At the end, you'll have something like this. Two bunny ears! The great thing

about the jewelry making wire is that it's easy to manipulate, so if you don't

want them sticking up completely, you can adjust to your own preference.

And there you have it, my experiment on making bunny ears. I think it went pretty well considering the lack of a previous tutorial! The bow is made by me and one of my possible accessories. A friend of mine inspired me to make it. I had previously envisioned it but didn't think there would be a use for it until our little conversation.

Me: Guess what?? I'm going to be a bunny for Halloween!

Him: A bunny? You mean like the Playboy kind?

So I started thinking about the show The Playboy Club and how the bunnies there have little bow ties. The bow may very well become a bow tie necklace or something to that extent. Who knows? I leave you with this last picture that has the close up of the bow itself.

GAL TV! times 3

While I'm obsessed with making animations, I made this quick one showing my latest video get-up. Now that I look at it, I somewhat regret it because it means that I have to step up my game next week >////< GAL TV has begun today, and I'm very excited about it. I spent about three different times trying to work on my look because I'm scared that I won't look Gyaru enough. I tried to emote the Rokku feel to my look and I think that I somewhat succeeded in it. I did my makeup differently, finally grasping the concept of using not just an eyeliner pencil, but also a liquid liner. I believe that I need to work on the end line of it, but I'll get there.

Aside from this personal post, I also want to announce part three of the Gal Halloween series, and that will be a DIY! My second DIY in such a short while. Check back later for it!

Introducing GAL TV!

Find us on Youtube & Suscribe!

It's time that I introduce the new project (out of many) that I'm working on: Gyaru America Latina (GAL) TV! This program will be on Youtube starting on the 24th of this month and will feature some amazing Latin Gals. I'm deeply honored to be part of this project as one of the hosts with such beautiful (inside and out) cast members. 

The line-up features:

Chil - blog

Kokoa - blog

Miccah - blog

Ninoshka - blog

Valentina - blog

...& myself.

Though the videos will be in Spanish, I will do my best to figure out how to add subtitles. At the very least, I've decided to put up a weekly GAL TV post on this blog showcasing a summary for each video.We are all very excited about this project and working very hard to make this a great experience for everyone. We hope that all of you can support us!

SYBY for SHIBUGAL

Introducing... SYBY! The newest addition to SHIBUGAL.

According to sources, this is the newest group to debut in music under SHIBUGAL! They will officially debut on November 2nd and give a show at Shibuya 109 on November 10th. The quintet are definitely representing the OraOra Kei style. In fact, it's being considered as the brand new genre to squash the fluffy and cute. The official members for SYBY (Sheibi) are:

えひゃん21歳（リーダー）blog
SAKURA18歳
亜野芽19歳 blog
まぁちゅん18歳
ぽっちゃん17歳

My opinion is that they want to show people that the Gyaru market is still there! I think this is fantastic and trumps over the recent writings about Gyaru disappearing. SHIBUGALinc. is determined to bring that comeback for Gyaru and show them that Gyaru never left.

What do you Gals think about SYBY and SHIBUGALs determination to push Gyaru further into the market?

New Gyaru Interview with Trendster

I've been in contact with the Trendster team for a few days now. I was initially contacted because of their interest in both my blog and myself, and got an interview in regards to Gyaru fashion. Trendster is a fashion website for women, based in Hungary. It currently has website translation in both Italian and English (UK).

Here's an excerpt from the interview that I was really proud of:

...It's also not just a style, it's a way of life. The Gyaru mentality is that you can always improve, and to have fun! In fact, the EGG Magazine and early Gyaru motto is: Get Wild! Be Sexy! Being Gyaru has boosted my confidence so much and improved the way I see myself. What other styles can you say truly do something like that for you? 

To check out my interview on Gyaru with the Trendster team, click here.

As a bonus, I wound up on highest rank in their other category. Other is mainly outfit pictures, even nails!

I have to admit that I'm very proud of this accomplishment. Never did I think that I would get to this, and again it's because of that extra effort I put into working Gyaru into my life. I can only hope that there will be more good things to come! An extra thank you to the trendster team for compiling the interview questions and being open to a different fashion. Let's keep in contact~!

Gal's Halloween 2

Everybody needs a little inspiration now and then, so this second post is a pic spam filled with Halloween Gal-related pictures~
If you missed Part One, you can find it by clicking here!

Part Two: Getting Inspired

The date is getting closer! Have any of you Gals bought or made your costumes yet? I've already decided on mine and I'll have pictures on Halloween Day!