So this week we went with something that, while not quite as high-fashion as we sometimes see, is nevertheless ridiculously common...schoolgirl uniforms. You heard me. Mostly in the recent video 칠학년일반 by 오빠 바이러스, most closely translated to Oppa Virus by Seventh Grade Class 1.
Em: We see this kind of thing a lot in kpop. Girl groups dress up like they're younger than they are so that the cutesy image is more believable. I have my doubts that all of these girls are in seventh grade, but luckily schoolgirl uniforms aren't the most unrealistic things for teenage(ish) girls to be wearing. They have a lot of cute outfits, and the matching thing makes them look good as a group. The sports-inspired t-shirts were kinda cool, and I do like the blazers.
YAY SCHOOL YAY CHEERLEADING
an interesting twist
Ruby: While I agree that they were probably dressed a bit younger than they are, it still feels relatively age appropriate. And it was cute. It was a silly, fun, debut video for a girl group. I really really had my doubts at first (school uniforms get kinky fast) but this stayed really light and fun even when the guys were introduced. Sure it was kinda weird but it brought me back to kpop from a few years ago which was fun and strange and completely ridiculous. Think 4minute's What A Girl Wants.
pretty spectacular
4minute's what a girl wants
Team Schedule for the Week:
Monday 2:30 pm - Yearbook pictures taken in gym...wear your nicest blazer!
Tuesday 3:00 pm - Practice, wear your tan practice uniforms
Wednesday 9:00am - Wear spirited shirts to school in support of tomorrow's game
Wednesday 2:30 pm - Team study hall, make sure to get your homework done!
Thursday 6:00 pm - Home Game, wear your green uniforms!
Friday 5:00 pm - Away game, wear your pink uniforms! Show your spirit!
Concept Blender
Since this is a debut group, it's only appropriate that we explore the possible future for these girls. Let's peer into our crystal ball.....
If we take apart this video, it seems like this group is a mix of:
Innocence! They're young and sweet and full of energy! They wear conservative, uniforms that keep them covered up but still cute! Some groups stick with this image for years and years, while others launch off in a completely different direction! They could take the 4minute path and go from cutesy school girls to sexy zombies in no time!
Fun! This group is clearly in it for the laughs. Sure they use their faces and dances to make us laugh, but they also use whimsical clothing to set the mood. Sneakers and bright colors move the concept away from sexy and towards happy. Watching it is fun and it makes them memorable. Maybe they'll follow in Crayon Pop's step and become the next comedy-musician craze!
Consistency! They call on an old kpop favorite and dress everyone in the same clothes. This keeps dance scenes consistent and makes them look more cohesive. There were several group outfits in this music video. If they stick with this concept they could follow in the footsteps of some big names, like SNSD. (Who didn't love genie, I mean really.)
I foresee... a put together comedy group with a flair for fun and hilarious antics.
#schoolgirl
#sidecharacter
#jerseygirl
#schoolgirl for the plethora of school uniforms we see in kpop. Everyone seems to have done this concept, from Girl's Day's Twinkle Twinkle to GOT7's Girls Girls Girls. SO many uniforms. Its particularly surprising for us as Americans because most school don't have uniforms here.
Girl's Day album cover for Twinkle Twinkle...ah the plaid
GOT7 demonstrating what goes on in the average high school...
#sidecharacter you know that person that isn't a band member and isn't singing at all but still manages to be dressed pretty snazzily? Well that happened a lot in this MV, with all the oppas. This can happen with both the backup dancers, like in Donghae and Eunhyuk's Motorcycle, or with the supporting characters, like the maids in Rainbow Blaxx's Cha Cha last week.
snazziness
Backup Dancers in Motorcycle...vroom vroom
Well-dressed maids in Rainbow Blaxx
#jerseygirl seems to be something that comes up a lot in videos with a younger concept. The tom-boy concept works well as a way to break up the super cutesy little girl style. I always enjoy the contrast between the fluffy pink sugar puff overload and a sporty look. Rainbow worse basketball jerseys and tutus in their Sunshine comeback and Glam wore stylized jerseys in their mv for In front of the mirror.
go team!
yay jerseys!
Em: There was a surprising amount of outfits for one MV. For a video that was supposed to show a bunch of cheerleaders, they actually did a pretty good job. While it didn't have the weird factor that we tend to love, it did have a lot of nicely put-together outfits that made them look good and like a group. They also didn't cross the line into revealing too much for the aegyo to be believable, which was appreciated. At least they didn't overly sexualize the uniforms, any more than they already are. And hey, they were super cute!
SPIRIT
AYYYYYYYY
Ruby: I thought this was a fun break from this year's really sexual start. I always appreciate girl groups dancing in sneakers rather than heels. I can't find the ages of the girls in the group anywhere (if you do, let us know down below) but they look pretty young. Fashion-wise, it's a very safe concept for a debut, but at the same time it leaves them a pretty blank canvas to work from in the future. They could grow up and take sexier concepts or stick with weirder outfits for comedic effect
. It was cute, it was fun and the ending was hilarious with all the different guys dancing with them. You go business man, just go for it.
POM POMS EVERYWHERE
WE ALWAYS PRACTICE CHEERLEADING IN THE CREEPY PANTRY WITH THE SPARE INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE POSTERS.
This year is really starting off with a bang for girl groups. It's clear that the era of ultra-conservative kpop videos is coming to an end. Straight from the world of super sexualized MVs, this week we're talking about
Rainbow Blaxx - Cha Cha
This subunit's video was released on both Rainbow's official channel and on Loen's channel. Between the two of them there are over 1,600,000 views.
Let's dance...
Ruby: There are so many things about this video that i really love the color saturation is gorgeous. I was hooked from that first teal macaroon against pink lipstick, and that continued through the video. The video had a luxury feel to it, but rather than going for the typical chrome and leather cliche they opted for an almost Marie Antoinette, colorful opulence style. My biggest question is why that wasn't translated into the clothing! The whole video felt like they bought out a stripper store! The set is detailed, luxurious and feminine but the clothing looks cheap in comparison. They had an opportunity to really go outside of the box and do something sexy and fabulous but instead ended up choosing clothing that down-graded the whole concept.
The color combinations are rich and lovely
Her clothing disappears among the other details
Em: Yeah, it did feel a bit like the budget went into everything else BESIDES the clothing, so it was a bit disappointing that way, but at least they stuck to their concept. If the goal was to be sexy they certainly accomplished that! Everything was very...erm...flattering, which can sometimes be hard to do. We sometimes see videos where they try to be sexy but end up with questionable outfit combinations that do the opposite, so at least they did that much right. I liked the sheer elements throughout, from the shirts to the nearly invisible tights. I'm also a fan of the garters.
One example of a garter in the video...
And another. But neither have tights.... interesting.
Teasers really set the tone for the whole comeback, not just the mv itself. For the debut of the Blaxx subunit Rainbow put out a ton of teasers, and boy... did they set a tone.
There were some more traditional teasers which featured clips from the MV itself.
This macaroon scene is in both the mv and the teasers.
They were pretty typical and features some of the more memorable scenes. This type of teaser is always hard to talk about once the video is out, because you've seen the whole thing....
Moving on, they also released whole body scans of each member.
Creepy full body shots
Delicious looking cakes
Talk about establishing their concept for this mv. They were super sexy full body video clips that included pretty sensual movements as well. It was my first taste of the wasteful opulence concept and I immediately loved the saturated colors and messiness of it, but it was also the first taste of the less then inspiring fashion.
The last real teaser that they used was something called a "Style Film".
This was every bit as sexy conceptually as the main mv, in fact even more risque at parts. The biggest difference was the quality of the clothing they wore (in some cases) and the staging. In this video (which is 19+) there are gorgeous details like patterned tights seamed high waisted panties and embroidered bustiers. Some pieces still lacked the workmanship, but generally it felt much more refined and classy. I enjoyed it. It also helped that it was staged as a photoshoot. With the limited movement it allowed for more conscious body placement, which made it feel more mature as well. Although still a little sexy for my tastes, it was really well done.
Pretty lighting makes everything classier
Details like lace tights add a feminine touch
Oh MY! Young ladies these days seem to be dressing in little to no clothing...aren't you chilly dears? It would be fine, I guess, if just Rainbow Blaxx was doing it, but I keep seeing groups of girls dressed so skimpily their heating bills must be through the roof! AOA was a bit better in terms of converage in Miniskirt but I mean...just like at the title! Girls would never dress like this in my day. I'm not saying its a bad thing to experiment and all...just don't get frostbite dearies!
oh my....
Brrrrrr!
#dew-yourownmakeup
#maidmyday
#onthefringe
dew-yourownmakeup... or get your stylist to do it. This year we've seen quite a few scantily clad ladies, but we've noticed that their makeup has been pretty light and dewy. This dewy look is achieved with some gold/skin tone shimmery eyeshadow, a kick of eyeliner and some pink, shiny lips. TVXQ's Something and AOA's Miniskirt just this year.
Female actor from TVXQ!'s Something
maidmyday isn't really a trend but I just think it's funny that we've seen maid costumes within the last few months more than once. I mean they were very different main costumes, but still. See Bestie's Love Option for another example. How much demand can there be in korean music video for french maid outfits. I guess more than expected.
Bestie's Love Options....
onthefringe because we can never really escape giant hairy-looking monstrosities, can we? okay they're not that bad, but I still am not really a big fan of fringe-inspired pieces or anything that has particularly long strings or hairs all over the place. Just a personal preference. Dal Shabet had their fair share of this phenomenon in BBB.
Hairy blue sleeves...doesn't that sound attractive?
... at the end of the Rainbow
Ruby: If nothing else this video is certainly within rainbow's sexier concepts. I am quite happy to see them out of the tutus and into something more age appropriate. I guess my biggest complaint is not that the video is super sexy, I love a good sexy concept, but that rather than going for classier styles of sexy, like a pinup concept or even a rococo concept with a sexy twist, they opted for clothing that looked inexpensive and didn't have a lot of character. The shiny satin and cheap lace left a bad taste in my mouth.
Rich colors create a gorgeous background
She certainly gives off a certain look...
Em: While it could've been more interesting, the clothing definitely did its job to make Rainbow Blaxx look good. I liked the hints of red (and pink) on the shoesand the lace everywhere. We saw lace used very differently in the last video we reviewed, but this had some different pieces including the large flowery prints on the lace shirt. Very pretty and feminine. If you're looking for lingerie inspiration, this might just be your video.
Soft lines make for a more feminine concept
Hot pink shoes with a hot pink carpet.
i mean yeah the video was basically people porn but....
some of those cakes are basically food porn too...
The jewelry was the closest parts of the outfits to the set--the crosses were particularly elaborate and cool.
What did you think about this super sexy concept? Do you think 2014 is going to continue to bring out sexy concepts for girl groups?
Stick around and find out with us!
Leave us some love!
