Caption from BBC : “Fans gather at the Olympic Stadium in Seoul for a Lady Gaga concert. South Korea’s Media Rating Board said that the concert would be harmful for young people and banned under 18s from attending.”
Ok, if we can get past how angry the Media Rating Board makes us… how cool is this picture! Nice outfits :)
me: -reading the “last chance sale” page on forever21- Aren’t these girls going to be upset when they show up at New Year’s in the same sparkly silver dress? All this websites are selling the same sparkly silver dress.
dad: -barely paying attention, coos- No, they’ll all be happy that they’re wearing the correct thing.
me: Oh. … that’s probably right.
My dad as he is getting older has taken an interest in the most random shit. He sits counting how many girls are wearing leggings and boots -in a “nonscientific survey”- while he gives exams and then reports it back to me at end of day. What’d you think your professors were doing?
“Just a few weeks ago Urban Outfitters came under fire for their “Navajo” collection and now Forever 21 has joined them in releasing a culturally offensive product. Just as you should not refer to a Native American-inspired print as “Navajo” we take serious issue with Forever 21 naming an Asian-inspired character on a pendant “Oriental Girl.” Yes, you read that right. The “Oriental Girl necklace” is currently retailing for $1.50. Thanks to Fashionista for tipping us off.
It seems odd and offensive to sell a cultural stereotype like a geisha-styled girl on a pendant in the first place, but even if Forever 21 was hoping to celebrate the culture, it’s hard to see past their use of the incredibly outdated term “Oriental.” Lumping all Asian people into an archaic, offensive label like that is just plain wrong. And it’s particularly surprising seeing as Forever 21 is owned by a Korean American family. Why would they support—and profit on—an Asian stereotype?” from shine.yahoo.com
I ain’t mad. Know why? Because the aforementioned Changs founded Forever 21 to showcase cheap Korean style, and I saw these same necklaces in the Bupyeong Underground! Sure they weren’t called “Oriental Girl” necklaces, but it’s obviously depicting an Asian girl in an old style, and since “Oriental” is an outdated term, they sort of go together in my opinion.
Anyway, I sort of get peeved when I see news organizations (or individuals under certain circumstances) getting offended on others’ behalf. Instead of reporting your anger, how about you go gather opinions of shoppers and the people of the ethnicity you are trying to defend? That would be far more enlightening.
You know what pisses me off? That you called this a “geisha styled girl.” IS IT REALLY? I don’t recall ever seeing a geisha that looked anything like this. Maybe someone doesn’t realize that they’re piling racist on top of “racist.”
This is Everland Everland Everland Everland Everland. Right near the gate. Also it’s where I want to be. Are there M&Ms there? I don’t remember. Mostly gummies I think.
I think it’s cool that Korea is such a small world that you can often recognize places in photographs as places you’ve been.
Put me in this place with a 10,000 won bill please.
It’s the first day back in school for me [and therefore back to productive blog], and in my best interest [to remember] and yours [if you are new and give a shit about it] imma put down a treatise about what is commonly worn by women in this season [ramble for awhile about clothes.]
I’ve thought about it a lot, and having just got back from America am thinking about it even more… even Sweetest Coteacher was freaking out about not wanting to look like a FOB now that she’s moved to America, but I think… it’s easy to not look like a FOB. It’s really hard not to look “American” [taken negatively in this sense, i.e. lazy fat stupid stereotype] here.
If you haven’t crossed your eyes by now and/or narrowed them, let’s see. This is, obviously, for central Incheon and may vary based on experience. For example, in Seoul women typically are fancier? I don’t know. I don’t live in Seoul. Ginnyteacher lives in Incheon. Also, this is for between 25-35. College age kids and high school students are very different stories.
Why is this important? This is a whole other post about Confucianism and what it means to live in the last true Confucian society on Earth, but long story short “being different in America is seen as brave and cool, being different in Korean is seen as strange and antisocial.” I don’t remember who said something like that on Tumblr a little while ago, but it’s true as far as it goes, and more than that it’s not a bad thing, just different from what most Americans are used to. You don’t want to communicate that you are strange or antisocial? especially if it’s just because you didn’t realize that would happen.
THINGS SEMI-CASUAL KOREAN WOMEN TYPICALLY WEAR IN INCHEON BETWEEN 30-50 degrees FAHRENHEIT.
1. Skinny jeans and knee high boots: While college students are really into those old fashioned looking lace up/eyelet leather ankle boots, I haven’t seen women older than that favoring them. You really want to have a good pair of black/brown boots that zip up the side or back, and jeans that are black or else dark colored, not noticeably blue. Slouchy boots are ok, but not too slouchy, and less is more when it comes to details/embellishments. Watch out your heels aren’t too high.
2. Skinny jeans with flats are also ok, but they communicate personality? While #1 is uniform at this point, flats [structured, not floppy ballerina] can be substituted to show that you are cute/more casual. Watch out with too much embellishment on the front, and no neon colors.
3. Structured tops and blazers: Cut and sewn tops are popular, while some more… loud/easy going teachers I know do wear fitted t-shirts [always with a blazer on top] on occasion. Blazers should look well-tailored and be close-fitting. Loose or bulky blazers/jackets a la Chanel are the domain of much older women.
4. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Korean woman wearing a belt unless it was a fashion statement/part of a look. Have I just not been looking?
5. Close fitting coats/bubble jackets. New this Winter was what Uniqlo calls the “Heat-tech” jacket, which are just like old fashioned bubble jackets except that they hit at the hip and are much slimmer. They were knocked off by just about everyone [you can get them for 10 bucks on the street if you look.] The bulkier bubbles are again, the domain of much older women [because dammit, I bought one last Winter and then this year they were passe.] When my coteachers see my bubble jacket they squeal and babble about how precious I look.
6. Scarves without a whole lot of detail. I wear a lot of pashmina scarves [bulky and highly detailed] that I bought in China several years ago, but Korean women do not seem to wear these [really, no one does…] It’s good to have a few good solid color scarves [no neon again, but bright colors are good.] Bulky, knit scarves also seem to have maintained their popularity this year, but are really more for the dead of Winter. Around now [40 degrees or so] a lot of Korean women have abandoned scarves altogether.
7. If you’re going to wear a skirt, let it hit above the knee and wear semi-sheer black panty hose. Dark colors, not opaque. Nude panty hose is also ok, but it’s a judgement call. Is this just Bupyeong? but I haven’t really seen younger women wear skirts with knee high boots unless it’s really cold. Pencil/close fitting skirts are preferred over A-line [leave the A-line for late Spring/Summer.]
8. Watch the height on the heels. Bulkier looking [though not chunky] heels are coming in now, black or similarly dark color, with less height than before. When I first arrived here, even semi-professional heels were sky high, at least 3 1/2 inches, but I haven’t seen them as much at work as I did then. Try not to wear heels without dark colored panty hose around this time.
DO NOT DO THIS.
1. I have seen Ugg boots a lot more this year than before, but on younger women/women who do not seem to give a fuck. So if you do not give a fuck, wear Ugg boots.
2. Flip flops are not worn by Koreans at work/at all. “At all” is hyperbole, but even at the height of Summer, I did not see any Koreans wearing them in professional situations [except for me, but I’m semi-Korean and semi-professional. lolwat]
3. Flared or boot cut jeans. Korean women do not seem to wear blue jeans.
4. Sweatpants unless nobody is going to see you. I’ve seen BFF co wearing them outside while she was on vacation, but then, again, she did not give a fuck at that time. The fact that I’m not even sure I should tell you she was outside wearing sweatpants [fearing that she will give me a slap] puts this on the list.
5. T-shirts unless they are well cut/do not have large designs on them.
6. Large or many unmatched accessories.
7. [danger: opinion ahead.] I saw this one chick at the airport [fresh off the plane from America] looking confused and wearing knee high stockings. I found myself staring.
BONUS: THINGS I WEAR/USED TO WEAR THAT MAKE/MADE THE STUDENTS THINK I’M STRANGE AND AMERICAN. [and, in the longer discussion about Confucianism and authority figures, caused them to respect me less. …maaaan]
1. Brown pants.
2. Open toed shoes at work. [your workplace may forbid them outright.]
3. Cardigans. [wat]
4. A watch for a long while. But that’s cuz students are young…
5. Sweatshirts/hoodies at work.
5. Fat. On my body. I’M SORRY. If you are more than a size 6-8 in Korea you are fat. And it doesn’t matter what you wear. Call me up and let’s cry together.
Importantly, this is all a gray area. Most of your schools will subject you to a strange dichotomy where they want you to act Korean outside of class but American inside of it. This is a strange dichotomy anyway, but probably the most confusing when it comes to clothes. Should I wear what I would wear in America or emulate my coworkers? Probably, imo, it’s best to do a mixture of both. Stay true to your personal style [cuz it’s American de facto] but translate it into Korean clothing language [slimmer, more tailored, structured, etc.] The most important aspect is that you are communicating a willingness to be part of the group [which will make everybody more comfortable] and conversely, that you are not alienating anybody unintentionally. I totally get that with this sort of thing there’s a propensity to resist, to want to be individual and rebel against being told that it’s good to be the same, but, I don’t know. And of course, all of these are general. As long as you’re generally hitting Korean fashion basics, just like all women Korean women obviously love to look “cute” and if you’ve got something “cute” they’re going to make cooing sounds just like anywhere else. Just, you don’t want to have too many “cute” things at once maybe or you fall into the danger zone… or… the “precious” zone…
Anyway, hope that helps and hope I can better remember some of this stuff. If you have a different experience I’d like to hear about it, or if I got something wrong do handle me with kid-gloves and tell me so. Did I forget any basics?
Good God I hear students outside.
Leggings and Socks, Myeongdong, Seoul
I will miss the availability and cheap prices of leggings, sock, tights, hair accessories, sunglasses, regular glasses, jewelry, and many other things that can be found all over the streets of Seoul.
This is also something I have taken for granted, as well as the sprawling markets present in most undergrounds. How do I liiive? A person wants cheap baubles once in awhile, so convenient. If only to browse, easy to see what’s au current too.
20 questionable t-shirts. There’s one I want. You can’t guess which one.
Again I apologize to my dad and the contingent of underaged persons who read my blog.
I find that I don’t see enough questionable t-shirts [at least English-wise] in Korea to satisfy. I think it’s because English education starts young enough here that the most heinous examples are more easily avoidable…. Though sometimes there’s a reeeal head scratcher, you can’t quite wholly believe that the wearer has no idea what’s making foreigners stop in their tracks and go “buhhhbuhhhbuhhh D: “
imo.
:)
Student: Teacher.
Me: Eh?
Student: Teacher. Passion.
Me: … -thinking about it-
Student: Passion! Passion!
Me: Oh! Thank you -double thumbs up-
She was accusing me of being fashionable due to my purple shirt and orange hipster scarf.
I was worried about my fat girl arms [in addition to… it’s not a farmer’s tan. It’s more of a… Korean gradient. Normal pale hands, but once you get up to my shoulders something vampire is going on] but this has given me carte blanche. Short sleeves!
Also the abnormal amount of posts today are all going out to Jackie Lee, who complained that I don’t post enough and how is a girl going to have something to read at work when I only update 3 times a day? Carte blanche AGAIN. Here’s hoping Followers Hemorrhage 2.0 doesn’t happen.
Me: It’s really cold.
BFF coteacher: …
Me: … :| ?
BFF coteacher: … -pulls down my rolled up shirt sleeves-
Me: … -apologizing with my face-
_______________________
BFF coteacher: I feel like the semester is very long.
Me: Me too. And it’s like, we’re not going toward anything.
BFF coteacher: huh.
Me: Yeah like when I was in school we had around 2 or 3 months of vacation. Here we have… a week? What kind of goal is that? Then it all starts over again. It’s like… what are we moving towards?
BFF coteacher: yeah…
Me: Death.
BFF coteacher: NO!
Me: :((((
__________________________
-watching tv-
-the reporter is talking about some kind of plastic surgery where they stick a long needle into your stomach and pump it full of paralyzing chemicals-
me: -to no one- What the hell is that?
-staring intently at the screen looking for any English word-
me: What is… -news flashes back to the reporter- is it… HOLY SHIT!
I was concentrating really hard and then she had grotesque alien face. You know the one. The nose is all cranked up too high and the lips are too big and it doesn’t move when it’s reporting the news…
Also men should not wear harem pants.
Also I can’t watch dramas wherein: 3 things. The guy is prettier than the girl. The guy is prettier than the girl but has facial hair [SHOULD NOT BE.] The guy is prettier than the girl because the girl has plastic surgery face.
Once I was watching a drama with my BFF coteacher and this happened:
Me: Holy crap her face
BFF co: yes.
Me: What happened?
BFF co: she was greedy.
Apter than any apt thing ever.
