Badman, Good Fashion

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!!!!

See ya later

Ruby and Em <3

MBLAQ Goes Dapper

This week we're drooling over MBLAQ's classiness in Smoky Girl!

The marvelousness can be found HERE

It came out on June 3rd, 2013, and as of June 30th, 2013 it had 1,594,522 views.

Overall impression:

Em: So this MV, at first glance, seems like a bunch of guys in suits. Sexy, sure, but is it interesting enough to do a review on? WELL. Just wait until 2:30, when this random girl drops her drink and everything is an explosion of happiness and rainbows (okay what was actually in her drink guys? Guys?) In all seriousness though, MBLAQ’s Smoky Girl was a well-put-together MV with a variety of interesting styles. They started with sleek black suits, then smooth white suits, then they got neon rainbows on their white suits (which glowed fantastically under a blacklight) and then finally more colorful outfits at the end. Plenty of dapper details to keep it interesting like snazzy hats and sunglasses.

 

Dapper as all @#%& in black suits

Acid is bad, folks.

White suits + blacklight + neon paint = this awesomeness

Ruby: I really think that this mv was all in the detailing. I mean, normally we see mv’s of suits and are like, well don't you guys look dapper and snazzy… and I’m bored. So for us I think this mv was really refreshing. Yes, it was suits, but it fit the cool and suave concept for the dance and song. And they were sooo well done. And I’ve seen the neon paint thing a few times recently, but this worked really well under the blacklights and I think added that unique spark to the mv. Unique is the wrong word here, but standout definitely still applies.

Corset detailing...file under sexy

Sneaky bits of color that made outfits much more than just boring suits

Glowing suits. Yes.

Other promotional Materials:

Em: MBLAQ did an oddly beige teaser photo where they wore tan and off white. The only color was their hair, which was rather distinctive in the MV itself too. It’s interesting how these vague, noncommittal colors play off of the stark black and white contrast and bold colors throughout the actual video. The video teaser was just clips from the MV.

Looking at the MV, I'm kind of confused

Ruby: Honestly, as much as the suits were amazing in the mv, something got miscommunicated to the stages. Don't get me wrong, some of their suit sets were really clean and quite dapper…. Others edged on just a bad idea. I mean, I understand, you had the altered suits in the mv, but those already walk a thin line of being stripperish or looking like a mistake. They seem to have driven an army tank over the line and declared war against modesty with the comeback stages. I understand where they were coming from, but come on guys…..

Sure this is fine, nice and clean, they look like a group

Wait is that a slit in your shirt?

They appear to have run out of fabric

Continuity:

Em: Smoky Girl was unique in that usually kpop bands have a few different outfit sets to switch between throughout the video, but in this one there were two sets for the first half and then two sets for the second half after the drink spilled, which marked the transition from black and white to Wonderland. Despite this jump in the middle, the level of dapper stayed pretty consistent throughout the MV. The white suits were essentially carried over, but transformed, and the other outfits tied in with each other nicely. The band ALWAYS looks like a cohesive band.

 

Sunglasses in black

Sunglasses in white

Ruby: I agree, I think the suits themselves really acted to keep the band consistent. I guess I would have liked to not have the street clothes set. It wasn’t bad but it lost a lot of its appeal when placed next to these extremely clean, sexy and classy suits. Also, for me, colored hair is great. I adore brightly died hair but it has to match the concept. That pink is just to much for this mv, its like, all I can look at…. Can’t…. look… away….

Street clothes--acceptable, but just not the same

What is the first thing you see in this picture?

Band’s Overall Image:

Em: MBLAQ has definitely done the sexy men in black and white thing in the past, and they do it well. They’ve also done colorful patterns before…it always makes a statement visually, so they’re using what’s worked for them in the past. It’s not that they can’t be cute, they just usually focus on sexy concepts.

Sexy, b&w concept from their album Y

Some colorful patterns like in the street clothes

CUTE WORKS TOO OKAY

Ruby: MBLAQ does sexy well. I mean they do the whole like black, sexy manly man man concept pretty much all the time. Although they’ve got cuddly and silly personalities they definitely pull it off well. Usually I think they’re a little wilder including elements of punk style or maybe color accents, but this comeback I think the new buzzword was classy. Not that they were not-classy before, but that this reaches new levels of classy for not only kpop but male pop star fashion in general. They just look good, okay?

Shot from the MV This Is War

Classy.

Trends in K-POP:

Em: Suits have always been a thing, and hopefully always will be a thing. They’re classic. In fact, even Lee Hyori wears them when she’s crossdressing, and looks just as dapper. Not actually kidding. Kpop fashion also has a liiiiitle bit of kink thrown into it. MBLAQ did it with a corset shirt thing. Ukiss did it with rope in a photoshoot. It gets snuck in.

Lee Hyori in Going Crazy

U kiss and their rope thing. Yeah the whole band did this too.

Ruby: Please let suits never go out of fashion. Like well fitted, black, non patterned suits. ON AN UNRELATED NOTE the paint thing has been in kpop-yester-comebacks. You can go back to 2ne1’s Ugly in 2011 or look at 4Minute’s What’s Your Name from this year. MBLAQ uses the trend well here and I think it can be really fun if done right. Also, when setting MVs in night clubs I think they tend to struggle with the background clothing, but I liked the really stark, fairly conservative approach with the white. I think it worked and really reduced the visual noise in those scenes. This SHOULD be a trend….. ;) 

2NE1's Ugly MV with neon paint

What's Your Name by 4Minute

Simple white nightclub outfit fits the MV

Conclusion:

Em: This was a good showing from MBLAQ. The suits were sleek, well fitting, and were interesting without being too ‘creative’ to the point of trying too hard. They managed the tough balance in men’s clothing between color and manliness by keeping the details subtle and countering the color with an overall classic appearance. Partly dapper and partly good for clubbing too.

This is not MBLAQ. This is SHINee, after being attacked by their stylists.
Don't do suits like this. Just don't.

Better.

Ruby: MBLAQ nailed it. This song and dance and clothes match really well. This isn’t a concept to use all the time. It wasn’t super exciting in some ways, I’ll admit it. But the song was really asking for that classy with a twist attitude. Plus we got the fun parts later with the paint and the black lights and our hints of sexy with the eyeliner, hats and shades. I could have done with different hairdos in some cases, but there was just so much yes in this video, I can’t really complain.

Guyliner and is that lipstick too? but he still looks good, maybe it's the hair

Hellooooooooo

Daily Dose of Daebak:

Sometimes stylists go crazy with scissors. Sometimes we let them.

Mir, glasses, hair back, eyeliner…. We don't have a like, SEXXYYYYYY category. But this can go in that category….. on top…. Of the list…. Drools

So what did you think?  Were they as classy as we thought or did they miss the dapper boat? Let us know in a comment!

Love,

Ruby & Em <3