Fashionable Sleeping Habits with Nu'est

It's always great to see last year's rookie bands making come backs and establishing identities. We've had EXO and BAP and most recently Nu'est!
This week we're reviewing
Sleeping Talking - Nu'est

The video was posted on both Loen and Pledis's channels, for english subs, watch on loen! It was released on August 21st 2013, and on August 27th, had a combined view count of 544,749.


Overall impression:

Ruby: I think this is an absolutely brilliant video. HOWEVER, I definitely did not feel that way when I first watched it. No, my first reaction was more along the lines of mother of god above what in the world are these boys wearing and where did they even find it? And then it occurred to me. THE PAJAMA SECTION! The whole video is about sleeping and sleep habits, so of course they wear pajama inspired clothing which just makes it rather awesome. I need me a pair of sunflower harem pants and kissy print leggings. Yeah, it was stylized pjs, with sneakers and hats and sport coats, but I think it was really cool and different.

Sunflower pants, I WANT THEM. 

Kissy leggings are really cute.

Em: AGREED. As soon as Ruby pointed out the whole pajama thing everything made sense. I mean, mismatched clothing SHOULD be pjs…I mean, when else could you get away with wearing baggy mismatched neon everything? While it was stylized, they allowed themselves some freedom because of the unusual scenario and it enabled them to really have fun with it. I wouldn’t say it was all cute or sexy or whatever, but that wasn’t the point…and it worked because that wasn’t the point. Cool.

A jersey and some pokaspotted pants? Sounds like perfect bed wear to me.

Some of that sexy tattooed belly showing.

Other promotional Materials:

Ruby: Nu’est put out a music video teaser with your typical scenes from the mv. It was well put together and I really really like the parts they chose. It demonstrated the dance highlight, vocals, handsome men (and ren) and concept well. They also put out teaser photos for their mini album that this is off of which included color tinted photos in clothes a lot like the music video. They also did longer individual sets.

Nu'est concept shots, this time in teal 

Ren's teaser. Because we wanted to make you want him
and then remind you he's still a teenager.

Em: Their album photos were cool, I think they worked well with the concept. They had one that essentially looked like a sleepover, highlighting the stylistic concept with well-chosen pieces. The stages matched very closely with the MV as well, making the concept seem even more cohesive as a whole. While the outfits looked crazy in themselves, at least it was consistent craziness.

The bedhead look... sure boys.

Stage performance, with mv outfits.

Continuity:

Ruby: I will admit that this video is really overwhelming at parts. There is a lot of bright colors and flashing lights and changing scenes and shiny things. (NOT THAT KIND OF SHINEE) I mean there are clothing pieces that are really very out of place in a pajama concept, like fitted jackets, heavy jewelry, sneakers and hats. I guess I’m willing to accept these sort of off topic pieces because its such an interesting concept. Its like stylized pjs. I think I really appreciate that its not sexy cute aegyo or manly man man concept.

But he looks so dapper in his bowtie and jacket.... 

Now I kind of wish I could wear shoes to bed...

Em: The first time I watched it, I didn’t even know where to look first, this is true. But that doesn’t take away from the continuity. I think that the level of busyness in the outfits stayed the same and the style was clear throughout the mess of outfit changes. I’ll agree that the hats and necklaces were frustrating, but they had multiple hats and multiple pieces of jewelry…nothing stood out as weird amid the weird, so it almost made sense. If I looked at any one outfit from this, I could see why they chose it within the larger set.

I mean, I wouldn't recommend sleeping in a spikey shirt with a spikey necklace....
but maybe that's just me.

Ren rocking some heavy jewelry too!

Band’s Overall Image:

Ruby: Is this where I acknowledge that I really like Nu’est. Guess it is now. They’ve always been a bit different and mostly it’s related to their image. The band has a wider age range and all look very different. Their concepts have changed a lot in their short career but they always do something rather unexpected. They’ve done futuristic, sleek and dark winter look, school uniforms and now crazy pajamas. They’re still young and I think they’ll settle into a concept as they go but the bizarre works for them… I mean Ren is in their band. So, its bound to be interesting. 

Last year they had a snappy futuristic concept for Action...

and then they had a serious manly concept for Hello.

Em: Mmmm and this is where I get repetitive and repeat what Ruby said. Nu’est seems to have so far escaped the trap of producing as much as possible in as short a time as possible, and as a result the songs they’ve focused on have been really freaking good, especially for a rookie group. They’re not trying too hard to match what kpop already has in an effort to be famous, they’re trying to make a name for themselves as a band, and the results have been impressive.

Their debut concept for Face.  

See Ren and his pretty hair? And this was just some random photo shoot.

Trends in K-POP:

Ruby: Harem pants are nifty and have been around forever in kpop. I mean this video is hard to define easily and pick out like oh look at this trend. A lot of the ones I can think of are really really general, like Ren is a flower boy or they wear colorful sneakers. There is a fun feature I guess, where they wear leggings or tights under shorts. We saw SHINee do this earlier in the year so that's something that is continuing… Sorry guys this video is just a little too weird.

Some awesome tights to keep your legs warm under awesome shorts

SHINee stage performance of Beautiful.

Em: I see your harem pants and raise you…FUN SOCKS. Seriously. A lot of less serious but still fashion-y bands experiment with, you guessed it, fun socks and shorts. I don’t…really…understand…but it’s a thing! If there’s one thing I can say about kpop fashion it’s that they leave no item of clothing left unfashioned.

I sense... COOL SOCKS.

Taemin of SHINee wears lovely stripey socks at a press event

Conclusion:

Ruby: I always give a lot of credit to originality but I also think that wear-ability and desirability are really important. This video really excels at originality, I mean they’re pajamas! But I also think that they’re really desirable. Pajamas are so often boring but I mean these are fun and expressive and young. They make a statement and honestly I would buy some of that for sleepwear. Some of it misses in wear-ability tight fight button downs and flap front shirts without backs… maybe aren’t quite right but there is so much good here I just can’t bring myself to care.

I want so many things. Like your pants.

I mean, i don't sleep in backless jackets, but maybe its a new thing....

Em: At first glance some of the outfits seem like they could be part of the ‘I’m at a club and partying look I’m so different’ but a closer glance reveals that they’re much cooler and more original than usual. Usually neon craziness is relatively unjustified (see: I Got A Boy) but they managed to give it a context that allowed the creativity to make sense. SLEEPOVER TIME.

I mean at first I was like, jeeze i wish i looked this good asleep 

And then there was a creepy mask.... 

Daily Dose of Daebak:

THE ROOM WITH THE WORDS FOR FURNITURE…. So cooooool

Ren’s bead curtain hair!

Thanks so much for reading! Please leave us a comment, we'd really really love to hear from you!
What is your favorite pajamas? Ours are super comfy and brightly colored!
See ya soon,
Ruby and Em <3