It's been a million years...
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| Ummmmm..... |
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| Picture from Chic-Steals in 2011 [Spiral Girl Hawaii is closed as of 4/2016] |
Now if anyone has ever been to Shibuya 109, the hallmark of all things gyaru, it would be quite evident when entering the building that you are expected to look nice. Shopgirls are models, shoppers are too, and you, being a shopper, should looked jazzed up. Spiral Girl Hawaii however, had unattentive store staff and basic coordinates. Walking into the store, it felt less lively than Forever21.
What I expected:
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| Gyaru shop staff with simple daily coordinates |
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| Little extra details that make it gyaru, military styling |
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| Flowy tops and simple patterned OPs |
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| Inside middle. Back rack is sale, lots of off shoulder and tribal prints |
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| Left side mannequins, again, lots of tribal prints |
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| Right side manequins |
As is evident, an empty store (I visited two days, once on a weekday and once on Saturday. Saturday had three other customers inside, but that's not much) and pretty basic styling. Tribal print and set ups were pretty trendy summer '15 and are proving to still be trendy for the upcoming summer '16, but the grand majority of Spiral Girl goods were basics. Which is disappointing.
Prices were pretty average for a gyaru brand. Set ups were about 45-60 dollars per piece (top or bottom, skirt usually cost more). The flowy off shoulder tops were about 40, and dresses anywhere from 75 to 120. Considering that the grand majority of the store was basics, having a 90 dollar striped dress made out of cotton in a skater cut didn't seem like much of a steal.However, their sale selection was actually amazing? Set ups originally totaling $100 got marked down to $30. Blouses didn't get marked down too much, but an originally priced $60 blouse could be marked to $35. One thing to note though, was that some items on sale felt really outdated. For example, the set up on sale was evidently from winter a previous year or so. It was thick material with embossed roses, with a flouncy top and pencil cut skirt. Probably winter '14, and for it to still be on the sales rack says something. If it hadn't sold yet, they should have marked it even lower or just shipped it back.
One interesting thing was that the salesgirls didn't seem to know much about Spiral Girl or jfashion in general. When I asked about the set up price, the shopgirl had to find another one to ask if the price was for both items or just one, and when she came back she told me "this is a style popular in japan with matching pieces" as though it was new information to her.
Spiral Girl Hawaii Store:
Pros:
- About the same price as Japan, little markup
- Polite shop keepers
- Good lighting (a major weakness for shibuya 109)
- wide array of stock
- great sale prices
- not crowded
Cons:
- Really old stock that should not be there
- Damaged/marked items. A skirt on sale had been evidently ripped by a too big waist, because the zipper was cleanly broken along with a rip maybe two inches below.
- Tiny dressing rooms w/ poor lighting
- Misinformed/ignorant shopgirls
- Basic styling
Overall, a very basic experience with very little saying "Gyaru!".
As to what I actually bought....
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| Lackluster shop bag. |
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| Romper/jumpsuit |
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| yellow tag is the discount price |
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| Original price! |
I got it on sale for a great price compared to the retail of over $90. It is a very flattering cut, goes in at the waist with tight elastic so it shows off your figure. The high collared neck is great because it seems more mature, but the big mono-color blocking with the black panel on the left top is what makes it stand out. The details are what make it street-style.
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| Front view |
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| Side |
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| Back |
It's very figure-flattering! Very comfortable once on my body. The upper white part is completely buttoned, and the shorts have a clasp and zipper in the front like normal jean shorts. They also have... pockets! The little pintucks at the side and back really are what makes the cut so nice. It juts out a tiny bit before the waist, creating an hour glass figure.
Honestly, I like this piece a lot! I always thought my first jfash ~burando~ piece would be for lolita, but I'm growing fonder of onee and military gyaru. Having tried on Liz Lisa and Datura pieces in the past, I'd say that this jumpsuit matches up with their quality 2 years ago. Recently quality has been going down, seemingly style wide in Japan, but this jumpsuit seems able to take some wear and tear. The top is slightly opaque, but the shorts are made of very sturdy fabric.
One thing to note about Spiral Girl and other gyaru brands:
Everything in the store was one size fits all, except for shoes. I didn't try out the shoes, but having tried on clothes with my sister, I can say this:
> Bust: C and 90 cm are really the limit. my sister is only two sizes bigger than me and she had a much harder time than I for fitting into things. I can fit into this romper, but my bust really made it annoying at first.
> Waist: 68-70cm would be comfortable, stretch might go up to 76 but then it would be pushing it. Elastic on skirts/shorts were usually tight, so I'd imagine over 74 would be quite uncomfortable. Waist sizes under 64 would be quite loose and need suspenders.
> Hips: Go free. All you need is to pull the elastic over for a couple seconds.
> Figure: rectangle is best, hourglass second. A hybrid of the two is probably the most flattering and easiest to try on clothes. Apples are bust, pears okay if you're looking at dresses and not set ups.
> Ratio: shorter upper body, long legs are the goal. Small butt because these short skirts are short.
All in all, I'm glad I took time to go to Spiral Girl at Ala Moana. I found a figure-flattering versatile piece that could transition from military grunge to office wear with the right accessories, and on sale too!
Would I shop at Spiral Girl again?
Yes, but it wouldn't be first priority. Though quality of some of my fav gyaru brands have been going downhill (most notably LL, but it really is widespread. Larme brands are terrible quality), I would probably spend money on DaTura or Ma*rs over Spiral Girl.
Hopefully Spiral Girl will move away from basics come summer 2016 to 2017.
And that's all! There's a shocking lack of online content for gal brands beyond himekaji or onee-gal, even kogal or himegal are grossly underrepresented. When I order more gal things I'll be sure to write about them (especially Ma*rs adn DaTura... sigh).
I have two bodyline reviews coming up after this. Actual productivity! Yay!
