The Korean Passion for Fashion

La femme

Fishnet stockings, micro mini skirt, thigh-high boots with a six-inch heel and a leopard-print turtleneck.

I know what you’re thinking. I would think it, too. These threads are usually reserved for someone working the corner down on East Colfax (before the new urbanization, of course). But no, this is normal daytime wear for the working women of Korea, including my co-teachers. While I recoil at the idea of being on my feet for six hours in stilettos, other teachers daily massacre their feet and legs in the name of fashion.

Acceptable dress standards have evolved a little differently in Korea than in the United States. I suppose, these Korean women are flaunting what they’ve got – and what they’ve got are lovely legs but not much to brag about between the waist and neck. Maybe that’s why low cut is a big no-no – Korean women are preserving their own pride? Even a modest v-neck t-shirt will garner frowns and stares on the subways and buses to say nothing of those shocking tank tops and simply scandalous tube tops. So it’s perfectly normal to see young and middle-aged women in skirts so short they’re barely concealing their baby-making parts, paired with a high-neck blouses and sky-high heels.

L’homme

Skin-tight black jeans. Huge, puffy, white high-top sneakers. A blue blazer with a two-toned blue polka dotted tie. Red-dyed hair in a shaggy, cropped bob.

Ah, to be a young, fashion-forward Korean man.

Unlike the women, only the young men of Korea put together these loud ensembles. Once they hit 30, most Korean men seem to retreat into button-downs, t-shirts, polos and jeans. Pink (or salmon if you want to get picky) is a staple in every Korean man’s wardrobe. Looking around a restaurant the other day, I noticed six of the eight men in the joint were wearing pink shirts.

And a man is not a man in Korea without his man purse, or murse. Don’t be confused – this is not a messenger bag, backpack or briefcase. With just enough room for a wallet and a tube of lipstick, it’s a murse. Sometimes, the fashionable male will coordinate with his female counterpart, and they will step out with matching handbags, which brings us to the concept of “couple clothing.”

Ensemble

To announce to the world that two Koreans are in stable, committed relationship, the couple must wear matching clothes. This takes a fair amount of planning, seeing as couples don’t usually live together until after they’re married, though couple clothing starts at about date 4. Though couple shirts are the most common, it’s not unusual to see a couple that’s orchestrated whole matching outfits, down to the sunglasses, socks and accessories.

We foreigners have made a game of couple clothing. If you’re the first to spot it, you can punch your friend. We like to joke about things, like the impracticality of Korean fashion, the ludicrousness of not being able to try on clothes before you buy them and the mind numbingness of the saccharine bubble-gum pop that blares from every shop, home and office, but really, South Korea is the pop culture Mecca of Asia. Other Asian countries look to South Korea for the next hot look or oh-so-dreamy crooner.

Down in the dirty south, Busaners have a unique mélange of high fashion and fish monger couture – think plastic yellow apron and red rain boots. Shinsegae – currently the largest department store in the world, according to Guinness – and other large shopping centers boast Prada, Chanel and Louis Vuitton, while the open-air market down the road sells the almost-as-good Prado, Channel and Louie Vuiton. Koreans are also having a very public love affair with knock-off Burberry, which I call Faux-berry.

In this land of contrasts, we can all be queen.