Stephanie on Fashion
Monday, July 14th, 2008What I noticed about the fashion in Korea was that most of the women wore high heeled shoes. The students, however, wore tennis shoes, preferably some ridiculously expensive brand name such as Le Coque, Adidas, Nike, or puma. I never saw a student wearing high heeled shoes. Also the students uniforms are usually altered. The girls that I lived (중삼) with told me that they gave their skirts to the launderer and asked them to shorten them, because only losers wear their skirts long, according to them.
As for the boy’s fashion, there was one boy who had one pant-leg shortened and rolled up partway, but when I asked about it, I was told it was just his own fashion. Boys in Korea are also more conscious of how they look, one other foreigner told me that she was surprised at how often they looked in the mirror. All the students , boys and girls, wore really cute socks with cartoonized singers heads on them or cute smiley frogs. I even saw the waiters at 도내누 restaurant wearing them.
Also my cousin told me that boys and girls wear the same clothes, regardless of whether or not it was made for their gender (and I know they do that here too, but maybe not as much). And I also noticed that when couples go out on dates or whatever they wear matching outfits, meaning they wear the same thing, usually boy style though, so like baggy long shorts and a guys T shirt.matching. Seriously. So I like Korean fashion better. It seems like Americans wear ugly clothes. Sad.
Posted by steved in Travels in Korea, Steve's House |
July 14th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
What if a girl wears pants instead of a skirt in school? I’ve heard that girls can wear them, but I’ve also heard that they can’t.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Stephanie..
Good observations! They are quite accurate!
I have noticed the boy/girl thing a handful of times in my school. One of my students has a hoodie that says very clearly on the inside “Girls M.” His English is good enough to know that… but he wears it proudly. There are a few other boys I’ve seen wearing shirts that have a girls cut. And sure, girls wear clothes that look more boy-ish, but at the elementary level there is some overlap! And those socks! I think if a 6th grade boy went to school wearing power ranger socks in America he would get beat up!
However, there is alot of adult hipster male fasion that looks pretty feminine to me!
July 15th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Ah! I really like Korean fashion too! Frankly, I don’t mind if the guys looks kinda feminine ^^
I suppose here in America guys are supposed to dress in a “gangster” manner and extremely manly….nahh I don’t like that
July 15th, 2008 at 9:58 am
Ah, Korean fashion… and you didn’t even go into the fact that most people wearing clothes with English writing on them have NO idea what it says– even if they attend English academy!
The couples in matching clothing is just something that, to me… well, it’s just too much!
July 15th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
the whole “boys wearing girls clothes” thing is extremely common here in america as well, at least within the hardcore/emo/indie scene kid circles. all of the boys wear girls jeans because they are tighter and usually girls tshirts (even little girls’ tshirts) because they are smaller. i have worked at several concert venues, and that is how almost all the boys are (teenagers, young 20’s). even many of my “more mature” guy friends wear girls jeans. they all swear that they fit better.
but i can see how it is different in korea - the boy i tutor came to school with pink cartoon character socks, he has also come to school in capri pants. that is not something you could expect from an american 5 year old, but is common to see in korea.
July 20th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Some girls I saw wore pants to school, but they’re the pants they wear during physical education, meaning shorts that come a little below the knee. I saw more girls wearing them after school than in school though, like if I happened to see them at a restaurant or on the street.
and the guys really do look feminine.
yes, apparently english writing is cool, even if they most likely don’t know what it means. Most of the time it doesn’t even make sense to me. I have a couple pictures of some.
August 9th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
I get into Korean fashion a little and by “get into” I mean that I never wear it. I simply can’t. I look too metro in it and I am flat out not cute enough to wear it. It looks fine on Korean guys and it matches just fine with the young women…but this guy? Sorry SHINee. No can do. You guys keep on doing what you’re doing, though.
October 22nd, 2008 at 9:13 am
hi, My pictures of my new emo haircut
at http://tinyurl.com/59ps64
November 28th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
hey!
xoxoxo
I made on photoshop glitter myspace banners.
have a look at them:
http://tinyurl.com/65lf75
Thanks for your website