beauty,
By saying this I mean the style and the design
of the clothes cannot be anything more simpler. It is not anything that you
haven’t seen in your life, on the contrary, it is something that you see on the
streets every day. However, it is not each individual article of clothing that
makes the fashion, it is how you put it together. How all of them combine to
form an entire outfit on a person. To put it in food terms, it can be
interesting tasting the ingredients that are in a paella, separately, they
would taste good, but bland and simple and not something you haven’t tried
before. But once you put it together, that is when the flavours combine to make
the extravagant dish.
The combination of sweaters and skirts, tights with socks over and Vans on, long cardigan and waist length jacket. These are combinations I haven’t even thought of trying, yet, seeing it here, every day on the streets, it makes me think that it works. Not that I do it to be honest with you, I still think it is a weird combination, and even though I would think it looks okay, I think it looks okay on others. I tried it once, had to change my clothes instantly.
Vest (tank top), shirt over it and a cardigan over that and another jacket over it are the basic layering effect you’ll see on the streets of Korea, male or female, it goes just as well regardless. My favourite look has to be the turtleneck blouse with a jumper over it and another cardigan to go along. I was not a fan of turtlenecks before I came to Korea. To me they reminded me of school uniforms too much. Just as white does. However, seeing the nice and fresh effect the layering brings to it, made me change my mind. The other one that I love and I can actually pull off most of the time, would be shirt underneath pullover or a sweater. Depending on which one you choose you could play in between the 90s style or business chick yet casual style.
My answer is both. How? Simple, the layering has
to be done with baggy clothes, at least top ones, if not that would indeed make
it look chunky, however, to counteract that, skinny is required at the bottom.
And by skinny I do not mean your size, I mean jeans. Or any type of trousers,
leggings, jeggings that show off the natural shape of your leg without
hindering it too much. And how could I forget about skirts? And those too.
Preferably short ones. Of course it is not a must, but it would make you feel a
bit more comfortable about your chunkiness at the top if the actual shape of
your body can be seen at the bottom. Just a little bit.
The first time I tried the chunky look I felt like Santa Claus. The second time, it made me feel as if I had too much luggage at the airport and I layered them on me to get rid of the extra kilograms in it. That is exactly the feel of it. But then again, when you are not used to wearing something for the first time, you would feel as if you need to make sad excuses. Even though skinny jeans, leggings and skirts are more popular worn with the layered, baggy clothing, another trend that has taken over would be the high waist three-quarter wide leg pants, or more professionally known as culottes. In Korea they have been a big thing starting summer of last year, and funnily enough, they have taken over all over the world. But whilst in the western world you have seen them with ankle boots or booties, in Korea it is standard to dress them down with vans and sneakers, slip ons, converse and the most dressed up I have seen is oxforders for women and loafers for men. And yes, men do wear culottes. And I see nothing wrong with that.
Layering and wearing baggy clothes sounds
comfortable, right? It is, at the same time, it is not worn at the appropriate
time. Layering sounds perfect for cold weather, and especially if it is baggy,
it sounds even cosier and warm doesn’t it? I do have to add though, that
layering is seen even during summers. I had the chance to experience Korean
summer myself. And I have to add, it is extremely suffocating and wet. And if
you are not Korean, you tend to sweat. It might sound gross, but it is a normal
bodily function, and it happens to all of us lets admit it. Layers do not sound
as fun now do they?
I have to redeem the short skirts somehow,
Koreans do wear them in the summer, along with shorts, however, paired with the
upper body long sleeved anything. And that is not only because they seem to be
lacking in the sweat glands department, that is mostly because it is a social
stigma to show shoulders and back in Korea. I have no idea why, and I will not
try to pretend I know. I just know that if you do want those arms to get some
sun, you’ll have to deal with Tshirt tan lines. That is as far as you could go
with the Korean fashion. They do have the option of vests and tank tops to buy,
however, these are mostly worn as part of the layering effect. Thus if you
remember the: ‘Show as much leg as you want to the point where you are
wondering if you are wearing anything, but never show shoulders and back’ you
should be fine.
It is not by any chance that Korean dramas
choose certain brands for their actors to wear. The next day it becomes a must
and a staple within the wardrobe here. If actors such as Won Bin or Song Joong
Ki have worn it, or Shin Min Ah or Song Hye Kyo have been seen in a drama wearing
it, then you should go and grab it while you can. Because you know that the
next day they’ll be out of stock. That is, if you want to go with the trend, a
thing that happens very often here in Korea. The trend governs whatever the
Koreans would wear, and with no exception. No diversity whatsoever, thus it is
really not that hard to follow fashion trends here in Korea. Not even the shops
give you that many things to choose from. Just what is considered to be trend
at the moment. Thus, most brands would use Korean stars as their ‘ambassadors’.
If G Dragon wore it, then I have to.
Lastly, I have to add one more thing…a bit more personal…
I stated before I am not an expert when it comes
to fashion, just a passionate one, but I have noticed a difference in guys’
fashion and girls’. Unless you want to talk about couple outfits which are a
must and a staple when you are dating in Korea. The outfits have to be matching
and colour coordinated. I will not go into detail about the matching underwear
that you can find either. So guys and girls, put your pride aside and start
matching, I have to admit sometimes it is cute and endearing.
Going back to guys vs girls, you might think, of course there is a difference. But what I mean by difference, I mean the variety and the styles. Guys’ fashion seems to be a lot more developed than girls’. And that can be seen from the variety of styles you see men wearing, however girls’ just stick to a few ones. And I thought, that might be because that is the trend nowadays; however, looking what the shops offered I noticed that there is no variety. That struck me as odd, and I might have a few theories that might explain why that is. It is a story for another day though. But what I am trying to say is, as a guy you’d have more chances to find something that would suit your style. As a girl, you might have to change the style and accept that there is no other style available for women fashion at the moment. Girls, think cute.
Thus, if you feel like they do not fit, they
make you look chunky, weird and the normal size that you would wear at home
does not fit, then do not fret. Mostly, all the products that you will see, are
for their body types, their style and their sizes. Just up the size and you
should be fine. They do have larger sizes normally, so it will not be hard to
find something that will fit. However, do not think you put on weight just
because the size does not fit. Korean small size is impossible to wear, even
being a small size at home. Do not worry
if you think it looks bad when something does not fit.
LOX
Things Korean Fashion has taught me
For me fashion is more than passion
Because it is the week of Seoul Fashion Week i thought i would share some of my views when it comes to Korean fashion.
I am not a professional, and this is purely a subjective
approach to Korean fashion. Keep that in mind as you read this. After being in
South Korea for a while-not enough in my opinion, I have experienced different
seasons here, I have walked around the great city of Seoul enough, I have
traveled outside of Seoul. I will also add that not being a professional and
this post being entirely subjective, I will obviously tend more towards female
fashion than men’s. I am not trained as a fashion critique or designer, and I
am more inclined towards makeup and skincare than fashion. Not saying that I am
not into fashion, however, I think it takes more to write about fashion than
passion. So everything that I say will be purely out of interest and passion
for different styles. Saying that, I have come to a few conclusions when it
comes to Korean fashion.
Korean fashion in my eyes is…
Simple yet complicated
By saying this I mean the style and the design
of the clothes cannot be anything more simpler. It is not anything that you
haven’t seen in your life, on the contrary, it is something that you see on the
streets every day. However, it is not each individual article of clothing that
makes the fashion, it is how you put it together. How all of them combine to
form an entire outfit on a person. To put it in food terms, it can be
interesting tasting the ingredients that are in a paella, separately, they
would taste good, but bland and simple and not something you haven’t tried
before. But once you put it together, that is when the flavours combine to make
the extravagant dish.The combination of sweaters and skirts, tights with socks over and Vans on, long cardigan and waist length jacket. These are combinations I haven’t even thought of trying, yet, seeing it here, every day on the streets, it makes me think that it works. Not that I do it to be honest with you, I still think it is a weird combination, and even though I would think it looks okay, I think it looks okay on others. I tried it once, had to change my clothes instantly.
The diversity of the patterns and colours, at least for
every day wear, not the high end brands, might not be as big as you’d see
within the western fashion, however, by layering, they achieve the desired
‘complicated and thought of’ effect. The majority of the colours that you see
are neutral, dark, wintery tones and the designs do not go over simple writing
or a small printed image.
Is made by layers
I touched the subject of layers earlier, and said that this
is what it gives the ‘thought of’ effect. When I say layers I mean as many as
possible. Does not matter that normally you’d think it would look chunky and
not good. Korean fashion manages to pull it off.
Vest (tank top), shirt over it and a cardigan over that and another jacket over it are the basic layering effect you’ll see on the streets of Korea, male or female, it goes just as well regardless. My favourite look has to be the turtleneck blouse with a jumper over it and another cardigan to go along. I was not a fan of turtlenecks before I came to Korea. To me they reminded me of school uniforms too much. Just as white does. However, seeing the nice and fresh effect the layering brings to it, made me change my mind. The other one that I love and I can actually pull off most of the time, would be shirt underneath pullover or a sweater. Depending on which one you choose you could play in between the 90s style or business chick yet casual style.
Huge chunky cardigans rock the Korean fashion, whilst 70s
style denim jackets which look too big on you, as if you’d stolen your mother’s
clothes complete a casual yet funky look. The jackets, as it is still the
cold(er) season, that you see are big plain turndown collars double breasted
for the majority, however, you do happen to see some trenches here and there,
mostly on people who rock the casual business look.
How does this layering not make it look chunky? That brings
me to the next thing I have noticed…
Baggy? Skinny?
The first time I tried the chunky look I felt like Santa Claus. The second time, it made me feel as if I had too much luggage at the airport and I layered them on me to get rid of the extra kilograms in it. That is exactly the feel of it. But then again, when you are not used to wearing something for the first time, you would feel as if you need to make sad excuses. Even though skinny jeans, leggings and skirts are more popular worn with the layered, baggy clothing, another trend that has taken over would be the high waist three-quarter wide leg pants, or more professionally known as culottes. In Korea they have been a big thing starting summer of last year, and funnily enough, they have taken over all over the world. But whilst in the western world you have seen them with ankle boots or booties, in Korea it is standard to dress them down with vans and sneakers, slip ons, converse and the most dressed up I have seen is oxforders for women and loafers for men. And yes, men do wear culottes. And I see nothing wrong with that.
This sounds comfortable though doesn’t it? That is because
it is…
Comfortable yet impractical
The same problem is with short skirts. You might imagine
wearing them during summer, letting the sun hit those legs that acquired that
perfect wintery paleness. But that is not the case; short skirts are a must
during winter as well. And as hot the summers are here, the winters are just as
cold. And no matter what DEN your tights might be, your legs still feel that
frostbite. But that does not seem to bother the Korean girls in any way. Thus,
winter and summer styles are not that different, and with the lack of vibrant
colours within their wardrobe it makes it even more accessible at any time of
the year. I will have to add though, many of these things happen because…
Still governed by social rules
And I am pretty sure everybody has at least watched one
Korean drama or knows of Korean pop music, if you do then you must also know
that…
Trend is a must!
Lastly, I have to add one more thing…a bit more personal…
Guys vs girls (no I am not trying to be sexist)
Going back to guys vs girls, you might think, of course there is a difference. But what I mean by difference, I mean the variety and the styles. Guys’ fashion seems to be a lot more developed than girls’. And that can be seen from the variety of styles you see men wearing, however girls’ just stick to a few ones. And I thought, that might be because that is the trend nowadays; however, looking what the shops offered I noticed that there is no variety. That struck me as odd, and I might have a few theories that might explain why that is. It is a story for another day though. But what I am trying to say is, as a guy you’d have more chances to find something that would suit your style. As a girl, you might have to change the style and accept that there is no other style available for women fashion at the moment. Girls, think cute.
The clothes are mostly for them and their body types
I am almost confident I have not said everything I had to
say, but fashion is such a broad subject, that it would take me weeks probably
to talk about Korean fashion and what I have noticed about it. Also I briefly
touched the subject of shoes and nothing about other styles such as hair and
makeup and where you could find such style, for cheap or not, brand name or not.
I will do separate posts about that soon. Fashion-out!
Gooood!!!
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