How to: Gyaru on a budget!

Hello everyone :) I thought I would do a segment where I give hints and tips on how to save money for Gyaru clothing. I have not been into the style for very long nor do I consider myself a full time Gyaru or anything but as I have been getting into the style I have found my own ways of saving money that I'd like to share! :) 

Rather than Lolita, Gyaru is not a style where if you buy cheap it can end up looking very tacky (of course if it is not done properly anything can end up look tacky) but mostly for Lolita your only options to ensure you get a decent dress are to buy brand or from Bodyline and I feel like it takes away the creativity sometimes. 

I will mainly focus on Hime Gyaru as that is the style I have mostly focused on myself.
The main attributes to Hime Gyaru style is pink, pink, pink and more pink! 
The style translates in English as "Princess Gyaru" so of course there are a lot of frills, lace, roses and bows in this style. 

The three main brands for Hime Gyaru are:
Jesus Diamante (a more mature and classier style)
La Parfait (Focuses more on the kawaii aspect by using a mass amount of frills and bows)
& Princess Melody (By Japanese fashion model Himena who works with Gyaru brand MA*RS. Her pieces are inspired by babydoll lingerie with a more feminine, cute twist)
I really suggest looking at these brands as it will help a lot when searching for items that resemble Hime Gyaru style, they are great for inspiration as well.

*PLEASE REMEMBER*
Please do not compare yourself to other's that own a lot of brand!! Be it that they have a higher paid job than you or you are a broke-as-a-hobo student (like myself) and simply cannot afford brand at this moment in time do not think of yourself as lesser than those who can! I know I used to feel this way - yes I agree there is nothing quite as satisfying as owning that brand piece you've always wanted you can still end up making brand look distasteful if it is not worn properly! I have seen plenty of girl's (and guys) that throw on every peice they own, making it a clusterfuck of "hey look how much brand I own." Yes your pieces are lovely but it is all about making the outfit work and I know you can do that just as well with offbrand. It is all trial and error and believe me, I have made many errors myself. So please do not be put off, it is do-able! :)

Hair
First aspect is Hime Gyaru hair which usually looks a lot like this:

Your main goal is volume volume volume!
Most Hime Gyaru's use hair pieces from prisila which are great quality but pretty pricey so alternatively there are many pieces to chose from on buychina and taobao:
Half wig search - Buychina

Little Devil Gal hair pieces - Taobao (Will need a shipping service)
I recently bought this ponytail piece from ebay as well. Make sure you find the right shade for your hair! If you are thinking of dying your hair to suit the extensions, buy your hair pieces first as it is easier to pick out which dye you will need ^^. There is also clairbeauty on ebay which sell many volumising extensions for your hair. The main pieces I would recommend buying would be a half wig and a rope wig (preferably two rope wigs for extra volume.)
Unfortunately a lot of the hair peices range from blonde, brown and black and every shade in between. There aren't many ginger/red colours nor are there many unnatural coloured peices (like pink, purple, blue etc.)
For tips on how to put them in and style them please check out Sui Princess's video below:

Or alternatively you can use a wig so you do not have to save for individual peices and hair dye! The best websites to use are:

Gothic Lolita wigs - Princess collection 

Bodyline - Hime Wig 

Lock Shop wigs

There are even eBay stores which you can search, but I recommend buying from a cosplay store as they will be kanekalon, high fibre wigs which are much more manageable. Make sure you are looking for a voluminous wig which you can wear large head wear with! :)

I got mine from bodyline which was quite expensive after customs but I am willing to pay this amount for wigs because they last a long time. This is what my wig looks like although it needs a lot of back-combing to make the bouffant higher: 

Accessories

Usually for the hair accessories and necklaces I make my own since I love creating my own things and having unique pieces! :)) Since the sewing machine has decided to pack itself up, I pretty much just use a hot glue gun to create bows. You can view how it is done in the video below and just before I pinch the middle to create the bow shape I glue white or pink lace around the edges and lots of it!

Don't have the time to make a bow? Why not decorate a plain bow you already have?
Here are some ideas of pieces you can use to hime up your hair bow:
Mini pink bows (example below) lace trim - lots of it, artificial roses, pearls, rhinestones and maybe so crown/tiara charms. All of which can be found pretty cheap on ebay, the key is to keep searching!

(Here is the link to these Mini pink lace bows)

Here are some examples of things I have made using minimal sewing and a lot of gluing! You cann view more examples here on this blog, just a few posts before this one :)

A little gluing goes a long way (:. The most expensive part is buying all the supplies if you have nothing to begin with. Luckily I have collected and stored my items and have two boxes full of helpful supplies now to make these accessories whenever I want :D. If you are quite crafty and enjoy making your own accessories this is definitely for you!

Even if you feel you may not be very good at something like this, try it! Start small, stick with a theme and a colour combination and see what results you get :)!

If you want to skip all the crafting there are stores on etsy which sell beautiful handmade Hime Gyaru pieces as well which range from, hair accessories, nails, necklaces, braclets etc.

There are also pieces on buychina but they are replica's of brand pieces although there are mixed feelings about replica's. I myself do not own any replica hair accessories as I make my own or customise off brand bows as I like to save my money.

Clothes and shoes

This is what I find the most fun as I enjoy browsing everywhere to find offbrand pieces that can go with this style. Its like a treasure hunt and I feel like I've accomplished something when I finally find an item...I lead a very sad life okay! XD
 Sometimes it is pot luck with finding items on ebay as a lot of stores have stopped putting items up, there is Miru Japan Korea which sell Japanese inspired clothing for a decent price. They do not have as many clothes available as they used to and a lot of their pieces are one size only. Here are two dresses that I bought from Miru Japan Korea

I kept to the theme of pink/white, lace and bows and managed to find these two beauties!
There are also many stores on taobao but my favourite is BoBon21 as any of their items can be used for Hime Gyaru and their items are literally the most adorable clothes I've ever seen, and at a decent price! With taobao you have to use a shipping service so I'd recommend Taobaospree as I've read many good reviews on them.

 Also get yourself on Gyaru and Hime sale groups on facebook! I got both the top and skirt jn the first image second hand from Yumetenbo and MA*RS. You can find yourself some brand items for cheaper prices :)
In the second image I found this adorable white faux fur jacket in a high street store for £6! Its a good day when you find something so adorable for a cheap price :)

I also found this adorable pink bow jumper in Miss Selfridge - the items are out there, you just have to keep your eyes peeled! Some items can also be re-vamped like buying a plain cardigan and sewing lace and bows along the edges and sleeves! :)

This ebay store which has many hime inspired clothes, especially the coats!

Also check out bodyline even though it is a website mainly for Lolita and cosplay there are some items that can definitely be used for Hime Gyaru. Look for floral prints or classic style lolita (by classic I mean more ruffles, bows and lace and no print) and some of the cardigans are also perfect for Hime style. Bodyline is a very cheap website and ships worldwide, however you may get a customs fee when your item arrives as English and Japanese laws on customs have become more strict over the years.

Here are a few examples of my own items that I have put together - sorry I know I already have most of these images on this blog in previous posts but I think its helpful to see it again.

Image one

Yumetenbo Bow top - Facebook Gal Sales £8
BoBon21 floral skirt - £14
Shoes - Bought on ebay for £8 then custom made
Cardigan - £12 Hyper Japan

Image 2
Cardigan - Camden £25
Cutsew top - BTSSB £45
Shoes - Camden £30

Image 3Cardigan - Funk Rock £5

Top - £4 Primark
Frill shorts - Liz Lisa £26
Chiffon over blouse - T.K.Maxx £12

Image 4
Dress - £5 H&M Lingerie
Tights - Taobao £4
Fur warmers - £3 ebay
Shoes - Christmas present

Image 5
Blouse - GLP £26
Fantastic Dolly JSK Replica - £65 DOL

Image 6
Lace top - H&M (Chrismtas gift)
Floral jeans - £23 New look

Image 7
MA*RS replica dress - Buychina (Christmas gift)
 Fur bow boots - £30 ebay

Image 8
Over dress - cutejapanesefashion £8
Belt -Camden £10 then customised myself
Shoes - DreamV £25
Lingerie dress - H&M £5

Shoes can be found on ebay, I would suggest looking for pink/beige/white shoes, preferably with bows on. There are a lot of Asian stores on ebay that do very adorable shoes for reasonable prices and the shipping is free too! :) Or if you want to save even more money and have plain shoes already why not decorate them yourself with bows, lace and roses?
Most hime gyaru's wear heels however, there are flat shoes that work with the style and I have a few examples myself (although I do not have photos of them yet sorry!)
 There is also DreamV on rakuten which also ships worldwide and lovelyshoes which is a cheap Chinese website with a lot of choice!

 I also left out lenses which are not necessarily crucial to Hime gyaru but it definately makes a lot of difference to the appearance of your face! I have been giving my eyes a rest as my Princess Mimi sesame grey ones have been irritating only my left eye since I bought them.
There are definitely cheaper circle lens website out there (koreabigeyes) but there are also make-up examples that work without needing lenses, my advice is to keep the eye make up simple like this:

I have a lot more items that will be arriving in the post soon so I will be adding more to this post. But for now I hope this has helped!! I know its sloppily done but I had a lot to cover! I hope you can feel like a princess without making your bank account cry! :D

Bye Bye for now~!
xox