Dark Girly: The Sweet, The Bitter, And The Ugly

Dark Girly: the Sweet, the Bitter, and the Ugly

Dark girly... a term that seems to incite some sort of argument everytime it's mentioned. Some defend its position as a legitimate substyle, while others say it flat out doesn't exist in the Japanese sphere. I'd like to shed some light on the usage of dark girly in japanese SNS circles pre-2020, what constituted as dark girly, and where exactly does it fall in the lines of being a legitimate term.

Disclaimer: I will not be commenting on anything about jirai-kei and jirai culture, I am simply reporting on the existing usage of dark girly and other similar terms in Japanese SNS. I'll respect your opinion as long as you respect mine. If you have any problem with that then take it to the Japanese people who have used dark girly as a fashion/aesthetic term years ago if you seem to have no problem with taking it to english-speakers using dark girly.

First off, dark girly (ダークガーリー) has been used as an aesthetic term/descriptor even way back as 2013, with the example of Sugar Plum, a now defunct/inactive Japanese handmade shop that created accessories with a self-described dark girly concept. Their accessories featured edgy designs such as Kagome crests (not the Star of David) and crosses with some fantastical dreamy elements to tie in the girly atmosphere.

Though overall, dark girly was most commonly used by the jp fashion community to refer to the unique gothic-like girly styling that Larme sometimes used in their spreads, a morose, almost morbid style of girly kei that was bold and bitter (辛口) instead of mild and sweet (甘口) but still retained a dreamy "fairytale"-like quality (think Brothers Grimm).

But what exactly is dark girly? What makes a dark girly coord? Well girly-style.net (when it doesn't crash for non-Japanese users) defines dark girly as a gothic-inspired girly style, while lafary.net described it as a dark and dolly fashion with mysterious and cute clothes that give off a gloomy atmosphere. The characteristics of the clothing are majority black/dark colorways with little to no sweet colored accents, edgy gothic elements such as cross motifs (similar to things you'll find in gothic lolita), belts and harnesses, chokers, boots, but also accompanied with more romantic elements such as black lace and ribbons to keep with the girly style. Brands associated with the style are the likes of Jamie ank, Tsubasa Masuwaka's EATME, and Ma*rs.

The makeup is relatively bolder than the usual dolly makeup, dark eyeshadow and a deep red/wine colored lipstick is common.

The common view people have about this girly style is that it has a bolder impression than other girly styles. In Japanese fashion, there exists sweet or ama styles and hot/bitter kara styles. Girly kei usually falls under sweet, but dark girly is known for being more bitter with a dash of sweetness. If other girly styles are 75% sweet and 25% bitter, Larme is 50% sweet and 50% bitter, while dark girly is 25% sweet and 75% bitter. So when arranging a dark girly coord you need to consider the amount of "bitterness" you have, too sweet and it just becomes regular girly kei, too bitter and it stops being girly at all.

Now let's rip off the bandaid real quick, dark girly is not a mainstream term. Not as much as otona girly or french girly at least. While you will find a few Japanese articles presenting concepts along the lines of 「ダーク×ガーリー」 or 「ゴシック×ガーリー」, there is no universally agreed term for the girly styling referred to as dark girly. While ダークでガーリー and ダークガーリー are the most common descriptors people use for the style, other names and spellings people have come up with for the style are 黒ガーリー, 闇ガーリー, ゴシックガーリー but those are even rarer than dark girly. You will already have difficulty finding articles about dark girly as a solid girly substyle in Japanese, let alone in English.

But here's the thing, you will also barely find any substantial results looking up rokku gyaru and gothic gyaru, as there are barely any Japanese articles presenting rokku gyaru or gothic gyaru as solid gyaru substyles. Most of the usage of ゴシックギャル and ロックギャル is on SNS, where some gyarus use them as descriptors for their own style, just as jp girly wearers have used dark girly as a descriptor for their own style even if it's not a rock solid term.

I've noticed that there's this tendency in the overseas jfashion community to overcategorize things into separate substyles because they fear straying too much from the standard of a certain style to the point it stops being that style, so they try to make substyles to avoid any overstepping any boundaries of a fashion they might not be familiar with or have any authority over. Jp fashion communities tend to be more lax in terms of substyles (unless you're a lolita). Some choose to clarify they specifically like dark girly fashion, while others just say they like girly fashion even if they primarily only wear dark girly. This also applies to other jfashions like gyaru, decora, and gothic fashion.

So don't knock dark girly till you try it! You're not a poser for using dark girly as a term even if it isn't an "established" one.