This week we reviewed enough coats to make us swoon, with BAP's 1004(Angel). It had 1,916,917 views on February 15th, 2014, plus our love!
Em: Yes, yes, 1004 times yes. This video was full of spectacular coats and dark, sexy clothing, topped off with some classy masculine jewelry. It was a mix between "I'm walking angstily around in February thinking about love" and "I'm going to a business meeting in the fashion industry" and "I'm on an adorable Carnival date." Somehow, those all worked together to create a unified band concept characterized by a mainly black and white palette with well-crafted additions of personality.
ANGST
cute carnival date, right? ignore the ominous wings
Ruby: I think that BAP's team chose a very difficult type of music video for a band this large to pull off. When you make a video with a bunch of different symbolic scenes and a plot line, it's easy for the sheer amount of outfits to become cluttered and distracting. While BAP uses a wide variety of clothing, the tonality and color choices were really what pulled this mv together. By keeping the tonality darker with small pops of color, like the purple shirt, the music video felt really cohesive. Not to mention it felt like pretty much every outfit was spot on. They all fit well and made sense but had a fashion edge.
The edge
that FANTASTIC purple shirt
Just a hint of purple in the pants
WHAT TO WEAR
Picture this: your day starts out as a chilly Febraury (yes, it is snowing where I am) and you need a jacket to get you around. But wait, tonight you've got a Valentine's Day date. What do you wear? Well, lets take some hints from BAP!
A classic furry coat will be warm and stylish, especially with a military-inspired line of buttons bringing it all together. It's also useful for digging holes in the ground!
You'll look like this guy, I swear.
Once you get to work though, you're going to need a smooth, versatile outfit that will be adaptable to whatever your boss needs you to do. Keep it sexy yet conservative. And roll those sleeves up...you can't go wrong with forearms.
Also be sure to look like you know what you're doing.
Got a date after work? Try an eye-catching pinstriped suit, especially if your date plans to dress cute and vintage too. You'll look adorable riding around on a carnival horse or giggling through a house of mirrors.
cuties.
Just be careful though...don't get lost in the house of mirrors, and DEFINITELY don't resort to this to find your way out:
Not recommended
You think a boy bands shoes are all the same? Men's shoes are more interesting than that! BAP explores a bunch of different snazzy options ranging from the classic to the modern!
The classic oxford is always a good choice. It will never fail to look classy, put together and chic. Excellent for creeping around pseudo victorian mansion sets.
Simple black loafers can also be a great way to go. If you're wearing busy clothes and just want something simple, these are a totally great option. You can easily chase women around fun houses and walk over broken glass without a care in the world.
Want something younger and trendier? Try some lace up doc martin boots. Simple, but they'll stay on during aggressive dancing!
Still lookin'? What about some snake skin converse? They're an awesome detail piece for a simple outfit; simple and sleek. They are also great for setting the mood while running around giant corpses digging holes.
Some heavy brown work boots can totally the best choice to pull a look together. They can add a nice balance if you're wearing a bulky top or coat. They're also great for exploring abandoned carnivals.
There's even a pair of women's shoes. Sure you might break your ankle getting on or off of a carnival ride, but it sure makes hugging less awkward.
#leatherinanyweather
#houndstooth
#sheerpleasure
#leatherinanyweather because is there's anything kpop is good at its putting leather into almost any outfit set. We've seen it in everything from Rumble Fish's Virulent Song to Eunhyuk and Donghae's Still You.
Leather and and the ever-present kpop wings of justice
leather in the Virulent Song
leather shoe close-up from Still You
#houndstooth for the classic pattern we keep seeing in kpop. It wasn't too bad in this MV, but it can get a little overwhelming. We saw a lot in Spica's You Don't Love Me.
At least the rest of the outfit is simple
Spica's You Don't Love Me with all-houndstooth outfits
#sheerpleasure is gaining popularity with girl groups. Sheer tops are a great way to introduce a bit of sex appeal while remaining modest. They leave just enough to the imagination to make you wonder... BAP's lady had a dress with a sheer polka dot top, Ladies' Code's So Wonderful featured a lace pattern see through dress and Rainbow Blaxx used simple see through fabric in their mv Cha Cha!
lovely
a wonderful sheer piece from So Wonderful
Rainbow Blaxx with one of many sheer pieces in Cha Cha
Em: All in all, this was pretty great! Granted, it didn't exactly break every rule in the fashion handbook, but that's okay. The details were lovely (I do love lovely details). From the guyliner to the jewelry, it was all well-thought-out. There was a pair of classic leather shoes in one of the shots that I want to see everywhere from now on. I know the coat and jacket-centric concepts can get overdone in kpop, but this is also men's fashion...if they have more than one interesting outfits I'm impressed. Sexy, clean, and masculine, this one wins my vote.
close-up of a decent amount of eyeliner. luckily for him its waterproof.
cool rings
Ruby: I mean there were small little things I might have changed, too much eyeliner here, not enough hair gel there, but overall this video was really a standout. Men's fashion this year has really taken classy up another notch, and this video was no exception! It kept it interesting while still maintaining a really clean-cut, masculine concept. As Em points out, its all in the detail at the end of the day. The leather pieces really brought consistency throughout the video. Even a something as small as a leather collar on a button down can really make a big difference.
leather collar
isolated accessories make more of an impact and seem more masculine
First off, hi from Em! I’m finally back. Matt did an awesome
job of filling in while I was gone, he gets points.
Now,we've spent the last few weeks celebrating summer with beachy, bright and funny videos. So this week we decided it was time to mix it up a bit and go for something entirely different! What's the best thing to interrupt a breezy summer beach-fest? Violent rebellion of course.
This week we're reviewing Badman by BAP
The music video came out on August 5th 2013 and as of August 12th had 1,213,313 views.
Overall impression:
Ruby: Let's begin the descent into morbidity shall we? In the
face of all that is bright and cheerful this summer, this video is a resounding
salute to the end of the world and mass destruction. There is nothing light and
airy here, just smokey, heavy and dark. Happily for us, the clothing matches
that well. It centers on rebel fashion mostly, playing with leather and fishnet
for texture and often using face covers. The face paint was absolutely
brilliant as a ‘dirtying’ of the members without actually smearing them with
dirt. Then there was the brief bananas in pajamas cameo, but we’ll get to that
in a bit.
I am artfully dirty. Look at my angsty eyeliner paired with my devil may care black paint application...
All in all a very simple stylistic choice
Em: Hey, it wasn’t ALL gloom and doom…there was a random
girl smiling and even a kiss for a second. You just have to look past the
other 3 minutes 56 seconds of explosions and death. Aside from the irrelevant girl, there were
two(ish) sets of clothing; one for the riot scenes, and one for the dance
scenes. The riot clothes fit in nicely, with chains and tigers (and bears, oh
my). The dance scenes were a little less serious and a little more
fashion-y…think checkerboard explosion.
THIS WASN'T CREEPY AT ALL GUYS. why not film random people kissing? sure....
This kiddies, is called a Molotov cocktail, not to drink...
Other promotional Materials:
Ruby: The video teaser was scenes from the mv, smashed
together. The photo teasers were done in the style of wanted posters, fancy
that. They’re actually really cool using posterization and a limited color
palette. Really different from most
teasers which aim to highlight how attractive the members are, this hid
a lot of their faces and played up that mysterious, criminal vibe.
rebel prisoners... what a tease....
Em: I really liked the addition of the red in the teasers…it
made me wonder what the MV would’ve looked like if red had played a more
prominent role in the palette (which was really mostly black and white). It
still fit with the concept of the MV, with blood and all, so I wonder why they
DIDN’T have red featured anywhere. It could’ve easily looked cheesy though, so
maybe it’s better that they didn’t. Either way, the teasers were cool.
I FOUND RED IN THE MV
Continuity:
Ruby:(they’re bananas in
pajamas)…. I’m being harsh and I know it. The video was overall fantastically well coordinated, they used real riot gear
for the extras and the band played with the shapes of armor and street wear in
their outfits. However then we have these weird and out of place stripes. I
guess one theory is that they’re trying to portray the rich and opulent side of
revolution, like the disgraced aristocracy? (STRETCH FOR ITTTTT) but lets be
real, if that's what they were going for then they missed the mark and if its
not what they were going for then I’m lost. Anyone got other ideas?
ALL THE STRIPES AT ONCE
WE'RE BANANAS IN PAJAMAS.... or bap.
Em: My initial guess as to why they did stripy fun time is
that they were playing off the black face paint on white faces. The contrast is
always striking, so I guess they wanted to continue it but with something more
dance-costumey than the other outfits, which were better suited to the plot
itself. OOH or maybe they were thinking like convicts. Yeah actually. That
makes sense. It just came across as bananas in pajamas. You can’t make convicts
fashion forward.
ANGST AND FACEPAINT....
prison line up... or mv.
Band’s Overall Image:
Ruby:Em and I love to talk
about BAP’s image over time. We really like consistency and progression. Thus,
things like Stop It and to some extent Rain Sound, really confuse us. At least
for me, I loved the style they took on for Warrior, Power and even No Mercy and
I was so happy to see that come back in One Shot. This is more in that vein, so
it pleases me, but I know that some Baby’s really love the variety. So I guess
I'm happy but I could see that it might be frustratingly consistent.
One Shot outfits from BAP
They're so.... cute?
Em: I will admit, the second time I watched the video I had
the sound muted and No Mercy was literally playing in my head. This works for
BAP. It even references their debut. I am glad. There’s variety and then
there’s chaos…one is good, the other is just confusing. Maybe this should’ve
been weirder for them, but meh. I’m okay with it.
No Mercy style... very similar
Trends in K-POP:
Ruby: IT'S THE END OF THE WORRRLLLDDDDDD. This is a theme
from forever. Angsty apocalypse videos have been around for years. The
facemasks are also ever popular, although I loved the fishnet one in this
video. Totally on point. They really are one of the fixtures in the sports wear
world as well. Men’s videos tend to take on one of (I think) four big themes.
They go sportswear, suits and more formal, off the wall or AEGYO-MONSTERS. Each
of those styles has staple groups and I think BAP is really becoming one in the
sportswear category.
T-ARA's butt kicking style in Day by Day
mesh facemask.... cooooool dude.
Em: I’ve noticed the odd half-skirt things in men’s fashion
before in EXO videos and suchlike. There will be either a
piece of swooshy fabric on one side (a half skirt) or pants that are baggy in
such a way that it looks like a skirt from a distance. I guess its supposed to
be swoopy and dramatic? Anyway. Black in white also come back again and again
just because it’s so effective for creating drama, also like in Exo’s Wolf.
skirty thing on men!
More of them! In Exo's Wolf
Conclusion:
Ruby: I think in the realm of war, fighting videos this one
really stood out to me. The face paint and the restraint (everywhere but the
stripe-y suits) really gives this video a dark and dangerous feeling without
just dressing the band up as soliders and covering them in dirt. They melded
fashion and statement well, which is something I really respect stylists for.
From the skull flags to the leather briefcase there was something really classy
about this apocalypse.
The simplicity of this is really the best part of this mv
Points to this revolution's graphic designer!
Em: Yeah this was pretty cool, all things considered. Especially
with the badass face paint. It was almost movie-esque at times, and the fashion
was interesting yet almost entirely believable in the scene they constructed…a
tough balance to strike. My only wish is that we could’ve seen some of the
outfits more clearly cause they were worth seeing. Good job BAP.
Many interesting fashion choices indeed.
I want to see moreeeeeeee
Daily Dose of Daebak:
We shall leave this carebear here as a warning to those who
follow!!!!!
Apparently even dad’s gone. The flag said said so.The only
written words in the whole MV. Deeply symbolic? Probably.
What do you think BAP stripey suits were meant to symbolize? The more of a stretch, the better ;)
Want something for next week? Leave us a comment!
Also, we're about to redo a bunch of the sections on the blog, PLEASE tell us what you want to stay and any suggestions you have!!!!
