> CD #49: K-fashion
I have many friends who are big into K-dramas, but I never really understood the appeal until I started watching one a couple weeks ago, hilariously titled Romance Is a Bonus Book. It’s a rom-com set in the Korean book publishing world, somewhat reminiscent of another one of my trashy TV favourites, Younger—and yes, I will basically watch anything, regardless of quality, if it’s book-related. I consider it research. Plus, my book is available in Korean, so.
Eleven episodes in, the show is starting to get a little soapy for my taste, but I’m too invested now to stop. Not necessarily in the storyline or the characters, mind you—I’m all in for the clothes. Why did nobody tell me about K-fashion? All the oversized sweaters? The layering? The bold colours and patterns? My favourite character on the show, Dan-i, has the most wearable wardrobe I’ve ever seen on television, and every episode feels like a fashion show from the future.
Like this Sacai dress, which is somehow a sweater and an Oxford shirtdress combined?
In another episode, Dan-i also wears an amazing oversized blazer/jean jacket mashup that I can’t find anywhere on the internet but will live rent-free in my brain forever. Have I told you how much I like clothes that are clearly half one thing and half another? To wit. The duality.
The other thing I love about the fashion on the show, which is set mostly in winter, are all the fun coats featured throughout. South Korea looks cold, and I appreciate how warmly dressed the actors are without sacrificing style. Why do North Americans (me included) insist on buying such drab winter wear? Why do we not demand better from ourselves?
Also:
There’s also a racial component to my interest in K-fashion, I think. So often, when I see Asian women in western TV and movies, they are dressed either like nerds or seductresses. Ok, that’s not totally fair. I guess sometimes they also get to be poor and backwards or rich and crazy. In Romance Is a Bonus Book, though, they are all dressed stylishly, but not over the top, in clothes you could imagine any creative professional wearing.
Sure, it’s just television, and representation is not a full-stop solution to anything, but it’s so nice to watch something produced outside North America and remember that what’s “normal” here is not necessarily so anywhere else. I didn’t even know what I was missing until I saw it.
:) Teresa
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