July 1, 2011

We’re noticing a trend with our TL;DR’s lately. We always want to start them with apologies and disclaimers. Some people might take offence to the opinions we post here, but we can’t apologize for them every time we start these posts. So, forget about it: on with the show!

The number one question for this week was “what are some cool trends in Korea that might not be considered cool in Canada or the States.” To which we answer: some Korean male fashion trends. The first and easiest one to talk about is those hideous sparkly, shiny suits that men wear. They’re just godawful. *Martina and Simon fight for the keyboard….* WHAT!? They are totally amazing! Simon, you’re crazy! I love those suits! They are really crisp and totally sweet looking!!!! *scuffle for the keyboard* Forget about a nice, professional three piece suit. Actually, don’t forget about it: think about it, but add some glitter and shine to it. BAM! Korean trend #1 that we can’t see transferring over to North America very well. Or maybe it has transferred over already: we haven’t been living there for over three years now. Please, oh please tell me people aren’t wearing shiny suits there! We just can’t take them seriously. *Martina throws Simon a ranch bone and he runs off* I guess our opinions are split here. I think the right person could pull off this suit, or maybe wearing them for a special occasion like a wedding would be awesome, but I think the everyday wearing of these suits to work probably wouldn’t be a catchy trend. Try googling “korean shiny suit” if you want an idea of what we’re talking about.

The second trend we’re gonna talk about is kind of a trend that requires you to be born as an exceptionally good looking guy. We’re referring to Flower Boys. They’re guys who don’t fit the typical look of manly looking men. Flower boys are pretty boys, VERY pretty boys. They’re usually skinny, have gorgeous hair and have feminine features. They’re not beefy or muscly, but are quite lean. Fashion is extremely important to them and they dress really really well, often with tight fitting clothing. They have exceptionally smooth skin, quite possibly from usage of BB Cream and sometimes they might wear gray or blue contacts lenses, along with circle lenses. They’re ridiculously and unfairly pretty looking.

However, to an uninitiated North American audience, they’re sometimes mistaken for women, otherwise thought of as looking quite girly. To a Korean and Asian audience, though, Flower Boys can be thought of as exceptionally beautiful and hot. If we could match it up with a North American archetypal equivalent, they would be the “jocks” or “preppy guys” of Asia. Not that they’re athletic or buff, they’re just the kind of guy that’s really model worthy.

We know that lots of people all over the world find Flower Boys hot (including Martina after a couple months of living in Korea). Our only point here is that if they were to form a kpop band and be presented in other parts of the world besides Asia, it’s possible they would be confused as girls and, possibly, mocked by some ignorant people. Remember Taylor Hanson…anyone? MMMbop? No? Guys? Anyone?

Anyways, this should not be seen as an insult to them, it’s just that to the uninitiated – like some of Martina’s friends – Flower boys are confusing. This is the #1 trend that we don’t think will transfer over very well into North American culture of be considered very cool. It’s hard to understand why. I mean, look, for example, at this article on Soompi, in which one of the members of Super Junior jokes about his looks as a girl. And, really, he pulls off a girl look quite well. In fact, many male kpop celebrities and actors have dressed up as girls on Korean variety shows just for fun. Can you imagine North American pop stars pulling that off well (apart from maybe Justin Bieber, of course). Oh, perhaps Lil Wayne? Foo Fighters? Now they’d make for some uuuuugly women. SEUNGRI! TIME FOR KISSES!