Much Fashion, So Wonderful, Wow

This year we've featured everything from modern sexy looks to frumpy retro styling. This week we found a video that sits right in between the two and damn, do the ladies look good! That's right, this week we're reviewing

So Wonderful- Ladies' Code

This video came out on February 12th, 2014 and as of February 25th had 255,529 views.


What was wonderful...

Ruby: I have to say that seeing the trends in girl groups this year, I was convinced that we were in for another super sexy video. I mean the mannequin concept just kind of screams objectification. However, I was actually really impressed with this. I really think that Ladies' Code is fast becoming one of my favorite girl groups to watch for kickass videos with unique but flattering fashion. This video is not only super on trend fashion-wise but it manages to keep it classy too. It's sexy and elegant and really sleek. I mean cute little retro dresses? Count me in.

I think that mannequin is looking at me...

LENS FLARE 

Em: Indeeeed, Ladies Code is quite noteworthy...and in a good way! The dresses were cute, and there were a lot of different things they experimented with in this. Some of it felt a little Christmas-party-ish, particularly the maroon dresses, (come on guys, its February) but it wasn't too bad, and the details they added like in the Ladies Code belt made it eye-catching. I really liked the detached collars too. And I mean, who doesn't love suspenders over pinstripes?

Nothing like shameless self promotion

Don't bag your babies... or your bandmates

To my dear young ladies...

Now when I first saw this dears I was quite concerned. This year has been so difficult for me. I can't even count how many times I've nearly witnessed wardrobe malfunctions! The young ladies have been so scantily clad! I do love a good corset... but sometimes I want a break from all these pheromones!
Now my dears, the men of this year have been completely scrumptious (don't you agree)? Dressed in dapper clothing that reflects fashion and personality! Some of them have been sexy and others more reserved but it was nice to see a range. It does my heart good to see a girls group embracing the same! You and a few other groups have taken their fashion back to the good old days and I am just so pleased...
Now you run along in your circle skirts and go tease the boys a bit, mkay?

- I'm sending you cookies next week, Love, Granny Kimchi

Let's say you've only got like 5 members, but you've seen one too many SNSD videos and now you want enough fashion for 9. What do you do? Now there's an answer, with:
How to Include More Fashion in an MV than You Have Bandmembers!

Step 1: Find a love interest. It could be any old love interest, male, female, or otherwise. Now, you may be thinking, "a love interest isn't fashion!" well, young grasshopper, a love interest isn't fashion, but unless you want to get BANNED, they're probably going to be wearing clothes (unless you're CL...). And yes, these clothes can be fashionable.

Step 2: Have a shoe display! Unless you're in a Super Junior MV where the only set is a weirdly futuristic room, you might have an opportunity for a subtle display of other fashion-y items. You could even go shopping in the video, like in Step by Step by ZE:A.

Step 3: Put in a mannequin or 3! The nice thing about mannequins is that they can wear whatever you want them to, and they're not even dancing so you don't have to worry about practicality! They ARE harder to put makeup on though.

#lacemeup
#motownmoproblems
#feelingformal

#lacemeup is sexy and sweet. Lace has always been a great way to add some sex appeal to an MV and really give an outfit a pop. One of our favorite lace pieces from this year came from Rumble Fish's Virulent Song. There's something sassy and classy about lace that we enjoy.

From Rumble Fish's Virulent Song (we reviewed this one)

#motownmoproblems... This year the mo-town feel has been big. Stand microphones and s curls have been all the rage. It's a really cute era to pull style from and gives off a hispter/indie vibe. It can really set mv's apart. TVXQ's Something comes to mind, as does SPICA's You Don't Love Me.

From TVXQ's Something 

From SPICA's You Don't Love Me

#feelingformal because lately we've seen a few MVs that emphasized special occasion dresses and gowns  rather than casual streetwear. While its less wearable, it can be an interesting exploration of materials, and is often classier. We saw this in Park Ji Yoon's Inner Space and in Royal Pirate's Drawing the Line.

From Park Ji Yoon's Inner Space

From Royal Pirates, Drawing the Line

Wonderful way to end...

Ruby: The mv kept the ladies in character, even the man with his funky little golden glasses fit right in with the concept. But not only did they manage to stay cohesive, but they also threw in super trendy outfits. Some parts of the styling felt off to me, the hair wasn't my favorite, some of the accessories were a bit chunky... But overall I think this video is really an all-kill for women's mv's so far this year. It's just really unexpected, sexy and all around charming.

Strike a pose

There's just a bit too much going on in this shot

Em: Yeah, I hope we see more of this and less of, say, Stellar's Marionette. It felt more like the fashion came before the sexy rather than the other way around. They also looked good as a group, which is always a nice touch...its hard to notice the good parts of each outfit when the group idea is done wrong. I actually didn't mind the hair. Some of the pieces were surprisingly simple for being so striking, like the red dress, yet it didn't seem underdone. Its great to see a group that's only been out for a year (as of Feb 24th) having such a distinctive style. All in all, yay Ladies Code!

The famous red dress 

They look so uniform

THIS PAINTERS PALETTE IS THE PERFECT DISGUISE I BLEND IN SO WELLLLL

INTENSE PICTURES OF AWESOME SHOES

Thanks so much for reading the review! What do you think about the creepy mannequin concept mixed with super cool styling? 

Let us know or leave us some love below...

See ya next week, 

Ruby and Em

The Fashion of History (Germany Edition)

Continuing with the theme of cold and depressing videos, this week he head off to Berlin with the rookie group History!

Their new music video is called What am I to you? Check it out!

The video was released on November 25, 2013 and had 2,161,792 views by December 10th. 

For added fun, watch the video with Air- Sexy Boy playing in the back. They make some exceptional faces. 

What is the point of this review?

Ruby: So this video sits comfortably within the grunge category. It spans scenes filmed in Berlin, which tend to be more street and everyday clothes and a dance section which has a more fashion take on some of the outfits from the video. The color palette is muted and dark, which fits nicely in the setting and song. There was nothing ground-breaking but its a clean video with a good mix of street and fashion represented. And it’s nice to see history go back toward their cleaner, darker concepts, which have always suited them well.

Dance Sihyung, sleek and classy 

Grunge Sihyung and their filming location in Berlin

Em: There were some fairly simple, black-and-white dance costumes, which were nice and full of contrast, and then some fairly every-day clothes for the angst scenes. Aside from one rather distinctive orange jacket, there wasn’t a ton of color, adding to the somewhat darker theme of the video. There wasn’t as much detail as we tend to see in women’s fashion, but the details we did get had the advantage of being nice and clean, such as the silver earrings paired with the red hat.

Add a dash of color, for the christmas spirit 

Going on vacation? If you’re a college kid, going home for winter break? Wondering what to pack? Don’t worry, History packed up and headed for Berlin and they’re here to offer advice on what to bring in that suitcase! (And some tips from the writers might sneak in there too…)

Kyungil - That cover all black leather jacket. It’s warm. It’s versatile and it never goes out of fashion. It’s great for any occasion, like breaking up with your girlfriend, getting drunk alone at a bar and dancing in odd places! Definitely pack multipurpose pieces, less space for more use!

Kyung-Il looking appropriate for all occasions in his spiffy leather jacket. 

Dokyun: Neutral accessories. Committing to different shoes and jewelry every day is way too much for the savvy travel packer. Little bits everywhere are easy to lose. Pack a pair of simple, sleek black shoes and pick some great neutral jewelry, like diamond studs and wear those. You will only have to keep track of one set of earrings and they’ll look great with everything. Never know when an impromptu angsty photo shoot will come up. Gotta look good.

Simple jewelry that still looks really classy 

Sihyung: Don’t forget to pack some workout clothes! They’re great for working out on the go (like in old warehouses) or just chilling with your friends. Make sure you include appropriate accessories, like a good knit hat,  if you’re headed somewhere cold! (This includes a good pair of sneakers for walking/exercising!)

Exercise clothes for keeping in shape 

Jaeho- Bold graphic tees are Jaeho’s recommendation! They’re great for layering (even underneath that snappy leather jacket) and can be used for sightseeing or chilling. Graphics are especially nice since they’re bright and eye catching. Which is great for spray painting in fields and other tourist activities. No checked baggage is no excuse for no fashion statements.

Jaeho, making a lovely face, in his graphic tee

Yijeong- Even if its the only thing you pack, pack underwear. NEVER FORGET THOSE WHITEY TIGHTIES.

but I might recommend bringing other clothes next time Yijeong

Can someones KINDLY take the time to tell me why NO ONE CONSULTED ME ON THE MAKEUP?! I spend hours, no, days, WEEKS on outfits and you just take acryclic paint and SMOOSH IT ON HISTORY’S FACES?!?! HOW IS THIS MAKEUP?!?!?! All my hard work, RUINED! I cannot believe this was allowed to happen. I was all excited to see the finished mv and then THIS. It’s distracted and uncalled for. Its not even makeup. This is not performance art. MY CAREER IS STAINED LIKE HIS FACE WAS.

#sogrungyiwantabath

#birthdaysuit

#siryourpantsareTHEPANTS

#sogrungyiwantabath both this week and last week we talked about grungy fashion. It’s usually very urban, with cool jackets and tight jeans. What Am I To You was cleaner than Tasty’s Day’n Night, but they appealed to a similar aesthetic preference. It’s not grunge in the purest sense, but rather grunge inspired, and its nice to get a variety of influences like this. One interesting choice that channelled the mismatch aspect of grunge was the sweatshirt under leather jacket look [2:20] At least he probably wasn’t cold during filming.

#birthdaysuit well one person WAS probably cold during filming...you guessed it, that was the naked one. Yijeong did the same thing CL did two weeks ago (well, CL was even more naked, but still). Apparently its a trend to look really cold in the winter, or maybe to just expose a whole lot of skin. I will say that it had a somewhat different effect when Yijeong wore whitey tighties and angsted around an apartment as opposed to when CL sat dramatically in a steaming bath (also angsty) and then sat on freezing cold stone. These poor idols.

#siryourpantsareTHEPANTS and that’s okay with us. The pants, referring to ripped black skinny jeans are a staple in the kpop world of mens fashion. It was one of the first things we ever noticed and they just never seem to go out of fashion. Everyone is wearing them, there are a million variations. Sometimes there are zippers and chains, sometimes you can see the whole leg and sometimes just a few patches of skin. At any rate, Yijeong and History, welcome to the club. Now you’re the cool kids too.

Taemin of SHINee stage performance, Juilette Era

Dara from 2ne1 during Fire (Space Version) MV

What am I trying to get at?

Ruby: Finals are right around the corner and this week I really wanted to write a happy review. We had the chance to review some REALLY INTERESTING fashion choices this week, but decided to go with something simpler. The clothing in this video is on trend and wearable, but still takes risks. Some of them work while others don’t. That orange suede jacket was cool (that leopard print shirt not so much). Aside from a few of these little details, the video was really well put together.

It's simple and clean, but nice, which is kind of a change.

Leopard print button downs are not going to happen.
Stop trying to make it happen.

Em: Yup, this video is about as simple as I wish my life was right now. YAY FINALS WEEK. For all its lack of decoration, it still looked pretty good, and as far as everyday fashion goes it was definitely wearable. I wasn’t exactly enthralled by it, but I also wasn’t deeply and personally offended...YAY. Hope to see more from History soon….go rookie (ish) bands!

That is a dang cool jacket, and someone could ACTUALLY wear it

Simple and clean 

You okay kyungil? Absinthe is a bit bad for you.

Everyone wearing matching white socks. Because what stylist goes MAKE SURE ALL THEIR SOCKS ARE WHITE?

Let us know what you think about the dark grunge trend? Where are the christmas videos? do you miss them?

Leave us some love!

Ruby and Em <3