You probably have seen a kogal in anime shows before but were not aware of what they were and if they even identify with a particular aesthetic. Today, we are going to tackle that by getting to know that Kogals, or also known as the kogyarus! The kogals are high school girl gyarus. Kogyaru, or Kogal, is a subculture of the gyaru culture that centers around schoolgirls. Kogyaru means high school girls, so that’s one way to remember it. The subculture itself is known to be the very first gyaru subculture of the gyaru culture and the most popular one at that.
Clothing
If you are thinking that the kogal fashion is simply high school student uniform fashion then you are not wrong.
The kogal is known for their lavish way of styling up their clothing, and by clothing, I precisely mean their school uniforms. Going against the usual standards of how one should be wearing their school uniforms, it is already a known fact that the kogyarus are school uniform rule-breakers due to the way they keep on altering their uniforms. On how they do this, rumors are they go to school in different attire and then wear the uniforms that they have brought which doesn’t mostly different from the rest of the majority.
If you remember a certain anime girl in one anime show that centers on school life and wonders why she’s wearing a different school jacket than others? Then most likely, that character is a kogyaru.
Aside from the fact that they try to find holes from the school rules just so they can identify as a kogal, what are other ways that they do just so to be recognized as one?
First, one thing you will always notice from the kogals when it comes to their clothing are their socks. Notice how they’re socks are always baggy and loose? These are knee warmers and they rock these styles every time and are essential to the kogyaru aesthetic. You can usually tell if someone is a kogal by checking out whether or not they are wearing knee warmers. But of course, not all who wear these socks are kogals, you will not when someone is a kogal when you meet one.
Aside from these socks (which practically everyone wears back in the days when the gyaru was still on its rise. Even in anime, even the non-gyaru characters are seen sporting these socks!), other iconic ways demonstrate a kogal’s charisma in the way the dress. And being known as students who normally go against their uniforms standards, the kogal is often seen with skirts that are shorter in length as compared to that recommended length. They do this because they think that having to wear the normal length school uniform skirt is not cute or appealing to the aesthetic that they want. And this practice is commonly seen among the kogals (even in anime! I learn a lot of these things through anime, I swear).
Other ways that kogals express their identity as kogals in their clothing is by altering other aspects of their uniforms (aside from their skirts) such as the ribbons that are part of their uniform. I mean, there are even times when their school uniforms do not have ribbons but the kogals still manage to put up their ribbons on. On regular days, they wear their ribbons loosely around their collars.
Hairstyles
Just like the rest of the aesthetic styles in the gyaru community, the hairstyles for the kogals are known for their colors. Whether bleached or just simply colored, the kogals make sure that there is a tint of color on their hair. Recently along as the kogal fashion is recognized as not just a gyaru style, many kogals are now sporting this aesthetic with their naturals hair colors.
Aside from the hair colors, the kogals also do other hairstyles that flatter their faces. They make sure that their hair is styled through the use of heating tools whether they want to style it straighter or to add in some curls to their hair, if you see a high school student all dress up and dolled up, yup that’s a kogal.
Accessories
The kogals are also known to be lovers of accessories, even to the point that almost everything that they own, they’ll accessorize it! I remember Aiura from The Disastrous Life of Saiki K, where she accessorizes not only her phone, she also accessorizes her ball of crystal that she uses for her “psychic predictions” that the main protagonist himself is baffled by the number of accessories attached to that crystal ball.
Basically put, the kogals love their accessories and will accessorize anything that they like to accessorize, and one of these items is their cellphones. Rarely you will see a kogal where her phone is not filled with different accessories The kogals love to put a lot of stickers and small crystals on their phones.
They also do their nails a lot which is not exactly a surprise for the gyarus. The kogals enjoy putting on colors and accessories on their nails a lot. Painting their nails is already part of their identity as a kogal.
Makeup and Tan
True, wearing makeup is supposed to be against the school rules, but I am not sure how the kogals can still apply their makeup despite this fact. And just like the rest of the gyaru style of makeup, the kogals do the same for theirs. Not sure if they try to make it subtle, but there are a lot of pictures of kogals wearing dark makeup even, so maybe it’s alright?
The makeup, as usual, focuses more on making the eyes pop and making it look bigger than it’s supposed to be by making use of white and brown eyeliners and then making use of fake lashes to place on both top lash and bottom lash line to create a bigger eye effect.
As for their tans, the kogals are seen to have tans like the rest of the gyarus, but these days, this is changing especially when the kogal is now considered a separate fashion style and not just a gyaru style anymore even when there are aspects of it that still embody the gyaru. There are still a lot who do the tanning but not tanning their skin is also now acceptable.
What do you think of the kogals? Do you think you might want to try it out sometime? Tell us your thoughts!
