Exo can help us answer that with their (LONG AWAITED) comeback, Wolf! There are two versions of this dance video (and a promised drama version) one in chinese, one in korean. However, both video feature all 14 members combined. We took images from both, though the outfits are the same between the videos.
As of June 10th 2013, the korean version had 4,443,432 views and the chinese version had 1,778,365 for a combined total of over 6 million views!
If you haven't gotten into the canine spirit yet, simply chose your language and hide your cat and then enjoy the new, wolfish side of exo.....
click for Korean OOOOOOLF
click for Chinese OOOOOOOLF
Overall impression:
Ruby: So there are 3 sets of outfits featured in both the
Chinese and Korean versions of this music video. One white, one black and one
more colorful but in shadow. Overall they went for a very simple aesthetic
which I super appreciate. As much as I loved concepts like Siwon (Super Junior)
in neon boxer-briefs and red leather, Exo went a little bit classier. Earth
tones complemented the neutrals, a manly-manly-military-man color palette
(ignoring the zebra shorts). I think the big thing here was that each outfit
had one cool or different accent piece, which provided focal points for each
cut scene in the video.
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Siwon of Super Junior in NEON BRIEFS WHY promotions for Mr. Simple |
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| My manly manly zebra shorts |
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| Barbed wire detail brings flair without distraction |
Em: They did some interesting combinations of different
aspects of men’s fashion. There were elements of sports clothes (stripy
athletic socks!) and military-esque pieces. They also had manly-gangster heavy
gold jewelry. There was a LOT of black and white, which always makes things
look dramatic in my opinion, and also served the purpose of tying these
elements together extremely well. Most of the clothes were baggy as well,
barring a few tighter things in the mostly-white outfits.
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| Gym socks as never seen before |
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| oh kris and his gangsta chains and hat and cute lil' gloves |
Other promotional Materials:
Ruby: Video teasers were primarily scenes from the mv and
pictures were promoting the full album, XOXO, and featured mostly school-boy
uniforms. They were cute. But I preferred some of the fanmade ones. ;) Their
comeback stage was one of the most consistent ones I’ve ever seen. They wore
t-shirts and sweatshirt variations with the same print on the front, a jersey
style number and the word wolf on the back. Many wore a graphic of the word
wolf elsewhere as well, on the crotch (eyebrow waggle) or on a bandana tied
somewhere. I liked the consistency and the references to both the mv for wolf
and the album. And then there was Kai and Lay. Alright guys who forgot to order
2 shirts…. -.-
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| FAKE TEASER, but oh so wonderous |
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| one of these things is not like the others.... |
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| one of these things just doesn't belong.... |
Em: Comeback stage was nice, it was an even more simplified
version of the mv outfits. I noticed the wolf
on the crotch pretty quickly too…I wonder if someone’s going to get a
new nickname along the lines of Dubulge.
The schoolboy teasers were odd and didn’t really seem related to their
concept. I felt like they made the teasers before they actually knew what the
song was going to look like. Odd. I mean I get the XOXO
thing…schoolboys…whatever. Still kind of a stretch to wolves.
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| exo yearbook teaser |
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| what are your pants implying sir? how... wolfish. |
Continuity:
Ruby: Honestly I thought it
was rather brilliant in this category. It seems obvious from watching super
junior videos that the answer is simplicity, even uniformity, if you’re going
to have that many people in one group. But recently sm has really been
innovative about clothing these massive groups. I thought small details, like
the fringe jacket, the red numbers or that rope jacket kept it unique while it
maintained the balance.
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| the numbers seem to be completely random, but look cool anyway |
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| rope jacket, like a straight jacket, only more fashion forward |
Em: They did do a really good job with making the group look
like, well, a group, while not just taking the easy way out and putting them in
all suits (see: Spy). Not that I’m complaining about suits , but it’s nice to
see some variety without it being overwhelming. It was interesting without
making my eyes bleed, which is always nice.
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| Super Junior in Spy promotions, and suits. lots of suits. |
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| us after some kpop videos. |
Band’s Overall Image:
Ruby: Exo tends to be
sportier than other bands. With the teasers and the mvs they released last
year, they clearly know how to dress up and look manly. However more often than
not, their stylists opt towards stretchy harem pants and hoodies. For me the
hair got weird this time. Rainbow dye and cornrows just don't belong together.
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| WAIT WAIT WAIT, could this be???? a veritable harem of harem-pants? |
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| its okay to be confused kai, we don't know why they put the cornrows in either... |
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| Sehun during the mv, its okay just kind of out of place... |
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| and then they dunked his head in acid. |
Em: Agreed on the cornrows. Ew. I liked the pink hair though
just because I have a thing for pink hair. The band has also ended up with a
lot of fantasy-ish themes, from the magical powers in Mama to the wolves here,
and I think it affects their clothing in interesting ways. They draw from the
quintessential mysterious cloak as well as fantasy futuristic metals. Wolf had
fur everywhere, for obvious reasons, which is also a little bit
manly-wilderness-adventurer. Not to mention the recent outbreak in fantasy
novels with wolves in them.
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| see this pink hair is okay.... |
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| magical movie wolf magic |
Trends in K-POP:
Ruby: There are some older trends, like high or thick
collars, but summer is beginning so I think there are some new trends that are
forming as well. Fringe seems to be something sm is latching onto, part of the
recent boom of 60s/70s era clothing in kpop. Also large scale details, like the
rope have featured in a few videos. We’ll see if earth tones are more popular
this summer, but they haven’t been dominant recently, and I am not personally
convinced the they’re destined to come back in the kpop world.
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| giant turtle neck (and we're going to ignore how many times the make up artist missed your eye...) |
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| fringe jackets are fancy |
 |
but not as fancy as this corset jacket worn by Joon from MBLAQ in their recent
single, Smoky Girl |
Conclusion:
Ruby: Honestly, I was really impressed by the concept and
styling for this comeback. It still feels like the exo from their debut but
this is much more refined and cohesive. I think it really stands out in the
midst of other male groups right now; they just seem to be getting weirder and
weirder. Even so there were a lot of unique details, some I liked and some I
didn't. But I think the biggest complement I can pay exo is this: I watch a
video probably 10-15 times throughout the process. Normally I am frustrated or
bored by the fashion by the end of that, but even now, at the end of the
review, I keep finding cool pieces I’d missed and small, impressive details.
You make watching the same 4 minutes 20 times fun exo, and that's hard.
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| with all this chaos, too many details would have been even more distracting. |
Em: I thought it was cool. I think Exo has been fighting the
cheesy a little bit, and they walk a fine line between dramatic and silly.
Here, the clothing walked on the right side of the line, and I thought they
really pulled it together. (The wolf ‘claws’ were another story) I like that
Exo hasn’t gone for a cutesy image yet, even though some of the bandmembers
could easily pull of aegyo, and they’re slowly finding their niche. I hope they
keep up the consistency and interest.
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| WOLF HANDS, rawr..... |
Daily Dose of Daebak:
Kai was raised by wolves. Sure sweetie.
The giant claw thing on the ceiling was awesome. I want one.
Please leave us some love in the comments and let us know what you want to happen in the drama version!
Or anything that comes to mind!!!!!
Thanks for reading....
Love,
Ruby and Em <3
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