Why we are serious about SHINee's fashion

Why so serious? Finals got ya down? (OH OH OH ME ME ME! hence why we're late.... ) Summer not coming fast enough? Well then let's cheer you up!
With Why so Serious? - SHINee
The video was released on April 25th 2013 and has 2,705,361 views as of Tuesday May 7th.

You can find the video (and i recommend you do) here! ITS NOT BATMAN I SWEAR.

Overall impression:

Ruby: I’m actually super excited to talk about this video. We’ve been really focused on crazy and really out there fashion. BUT THIS VIDEO IS SO WONDERFUL. There are four main outfit sets: black and white suits, gray tone suits with overcoats, funky leather jackets and the black and red punk-inspired set. The four sets draw heavily from British fashion and present a very modern aesthetic over all.  SHINee looks fantastic in all of the outfits and each outfit really is composed of usable, real pieces. The styling in this video really brought out a very mature and subtly sexy side of the band, which I for one VERY MUCH enjoyed.  

subtle and sexy, our flaming charisma

Em: The four main outfits sets were different enough from each other to be interesting, yet the sets themselves were very cohesive in terms of general aesthetic. Being a big fan of British punk fashion, I was especially a fan of those. Lots of glorious details that were clearly well-considered and made everything that much better.  Some crazy patterns, but they were well-integrated so the viewer wasn’t completely overwhelmed, and the neutrals were well-balanced so they weren’t boring.  It was all just generally REALLY well done.

Minho in checkered pants, but still fitting in with the theme

Other promotional Materials:

Ruby: The teasers for why so serious were very similar to the teasers from dream girl, honestly. They used more of the crazy patterns and odd accessories that dream girl featured. But they were cute and informal and worked well enough. Since this album followed so close on the heels of the previous, the teasers were kind of irrelevant, though there were some fun shots.

Teaser for Why so Serious. Still a little nutty.

Em: Comeback stages had similar sexy British aesthetic (YAY) that kept the usual cohesion of SHINee outfits. They dispersed the four main styles between their comeback songs, using the music video outfits for Why So Serious. And they continued their awesome hats, especially in the Medusa stages.

Medusa stage with hats. OH CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN.

Continuity:

Ruby: As I mentioned, the video has four main outfit sets. They stylistic tone in the video matches well across the board. Interestingly, the four reference British fashion heavily, taking on a very European feel in this video. The black and white suits were the most graphic representation, following in early development in the punk scene. Minho’s shirt is a direct reference to Malcom McLaren and his shop ‘Sex’. The overcoats were brilliant, taking a very normal set of suits and changing the shape with layering. The Burberry aesthetic definitely came through for me. It looked modern and clean and innovative. I think the weird leather jackets were kind of inspired. I mean, they were super cute and a nice playful distraction from an overall very serious video in terms of the clothing.  Then there were the punk inspired outfits with tartan and the anarchy lable on Taemin’s legs. These outfits were closer to previous styles worn by SHINee. The whole video really carried themes well and appeared a continuous whole.

Minho's shirt that reads: Be Reasonable Demand the Impossible

A photograph from Malcom Mclaren's shop, Sex. 

Burberry-esque coats. 

Em: They did indeed go very European-inspired for this, with a different flavor for every set of outfits. Within this overarching theme, they played a lot with the color and intensity of the aesthetics. There was one very light one—black and white, though mostly white—that referenced dream girl but with less hypnotism. There was a neutral set with a lot of gray-green and just gray that was super cool, then a super colorful one in contrast to it. My favorite was the darkest one: red, black, and white, harkening back to Ring Ding Dong era (but sexier).

Punk inspired clothing items 

SHINee Ring Ding Dong era. (THEY'RE SO LITTLE AND ADORABLE.)

Band’s Overall Image:

Ruby: Each outfit was very simple for SHINee. Coming from Dream Girl with its extreme patterns and bright, acid-trip colors, this video was refreshingly simple and clean. SHINee are fit and beautiful and I think this image really accentuates how much they have all grown and the handsome young men they have become.

Oh don't act so surprised. 

Em: There were references to past albums while still having something a little bit different. Each new album develops their image further, just like this one, and refines the style a bit further. Props to the stylists for staying with the band’s image while still giving us something to talk about.

Key, will always be Key. That is true.

FLAMING CHARISMA FLAME ON.

Trends in K-POP:

Ruby: Recently as videos have been getting crazier and crazier, I have started to assume that the fashion in a video will be overstated, overdone and overblown. I thought this video was really tasteful and stunning even without the craziness I’ve become accustomed to.

But still some craziness

Em: It definitely wasn’t the visual overload that some recent videos have been (see I Got a Boy (Ruby: MY EYES)), which can be a nice change. It had some of the softness of a much slower song, but it was more like the energy was contained rather than gone. Somehow it worked!

I Got a Boy (Girl's Generation) Promotion. There's just so much going on.

Conclusion:

Ruby: Great. Fantastic. Brilliant. I see clothing in here that I want to catch on. Its not just cool because its weird, its cool because its doable. I love applicable fashion. This whole video was just wonderful. The styling was perfect. Lots of eyeliner and clean faces. Key’s blonde hair. The whole video felt clean, put together and well conceived. Seriously. It just felt mature and forward thinking in its simplicity. I am in love.

And I quote "mature and forward thinking"

Em: Agreed. Grabby hands for all of it. I could imagine seeing someone walking down the street wearing this and loving it, which doesn’t always happen, even in good music videos. I love that they explore European fashion, and I hope they continue to bring in outside influences to keep things interesting.

walking down the street, with the dogs, looking fab

Daily Dose of Daebak:

Taemin. That's a bunny. Not a microphone. Taeminnnnnnnn.

Key’s hats. I mean, just look at them. Thos are some sexy hats. And his earrings. Damn. Key in general IS the daily dose of daebak.

thanks for visiting with us!!!! we are quite fond of this music video clothing wise.
but what to review next?
hmmmmm?
let us know please!

Ruby and Em

(Lee) Hi Fashion

Our subject for today has caused quite the stir in the kpop world. I present, 16 year old singing sensation, LEE HI! And her TWO singles this year, It's Over and Rose.

Here are the videos!

It's Over 
At 4,036,805 views as of April 24th 2012.
Rose
At 3,366,324 views as of April 24th 2012.
That's over 7,000,000 views together! Not bad for your first album ;)

Overall impression:

Ruby: Wow! Two extremely different videos from YG’s baby, Lee Hayi. It’s Over went for a super-kawaii-aegyo style using clothing cuts usually saved for kids, bright colors and even toys in the accessories. It’s all fairly wearable clothing, daytime dresses, skirts, and t-shirts. They’re paired with accessories that would be very much at home in harajuku and all together the effect is a high energy and super fun statement. For Rose, Lee Hi goes avant guarde. The Rose is very prominently featured in pattern, color, cut and accessories. The video is super jumpy though, so the clothing often got lost in the transitions. Also, the men in Rose are wearing white pants and body glitter. Not what I usually associate with soldiers. (IT’S A SUPER SECRET MILITARY ATTACK STRATEGY.)

Don't you look adorable in your overall-dress and graphic tee!

LIEUTENANT SPARKLES REPORTING FOR DUTY, ATTEN-HUT.  

Em: The designers were definitely going for extremes here, since they’re still playing around with her image. You would expect such different styles not to work for the same artist, but it seems like both styles matched the songs they were paired with, so it wasn’t too disconcerting. For Rose, the outfits were a range of wearable, from almost street clothes to very strange things, but they all matched the aesthetic of the ‘rose’ in different contexts.

I found roses....

Other promotional Materials:

Ruby: There wasn’t a ton of promotion done for either release, just some simple photos. The stages for both included mostly clothing from the video itself, including that giant fluffy blue bear. The back up dancers for It’s Over are dressed similarly, but being much older, the young styles look out of place on them. The bear makes an appearance, dressed in various outfits, adding to the playful effect of the stage. For Rose, the dancers are covered in white see-through fabric, perfectly in sync with the feel from the video. They even covered her microphone in roses and use the colored contacts from the mv.

I'm very sorry to this poor dancer. But she handled it like a champ. Not even a flinch. Bravery in the line of fashion crisis. Bravo. 

Dancers from Rose Stage.... or next years halloween costume.

Em: They did do teasers, which were fairly typical. What I really liked was the making-of film for Rose, since we got to see details of the clothing and makeup that weren’t that obvious in the film. Much more appreciation for the red rose-patterned shirt now. Actually all of the rose things. YG WHY U NO PUT CLOSE-UPS IN MV THEY WERE FULL OF PRETTY….. :|

Ruffle Roses. 

Continuity:

Ruby: With It’s over, the video incorporates pastels and neons creating a playful, child like mismatched quality. Toys are used in accessories and many of the cuts are reminiscent of young girl’s clothing. Even the bear gets dressed in the latest fashion. I saw you GD-bear and Taeyang-Bear.  Throughout Rose there is a gentle and delicate feel to the clothing and coloring. Her makeup is kept very minimal and her hair is kept back or at least off her face. The entire video takes on a clean and sterile quality that is only interrupted by deep blood reds and soft pinks, very sensual colors. This trace links the entire video together very well….

Hmmmm G-Dragon.... Yeah I can see the similarities. 

Super simple peach makeup. Clean and very pretty.

Though there was the one completely random leopard print top. Why.

I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND.

Em: They do seem to be pretty good about continuity. Even though the themes are different, the same symbols and colors are continued through both videos. Not sure what they were going for with the leopard print, but I’ll forgive it I guess. (Ruby: NO. NOT ALLOWED.) They do very well with keeping the intensity of the color consistent too in each video. All the clothing for each definitely seems like it was made as a set.

Look! We both have oddly shaped lumpy headbands! We should be best friends.

Band’s Overall Image:

Ruby: Interestingly both videos put very different spins on the delicate and girly style they seem to be portraying. I.2.3.4. went for a grungy vibe, harkening to 2ne1 but in her stages her clothing seemed to be a massive mixture of stylistic contrasts. Really these videos are beginning to establish her image. Looks like Lee Hi will be marketed as a sweet, soulful and soft artist. It seems like they’re keeping it age appropriate without limiting her subject matter to “OPPA WHY DON'T YOU LIKE ME.” Thanks YG.

Capture from 1.2.3.4., Lee Hi's first single.

Em: They’re still playing around a bit with her style, and I think they’ll keep messing with it since she’s such a new artist, but they’ve got a lot of good things going with her first three mvs. Hopefully they keep experimenting and don’t just pick one and stick with it, because I like the different takes on one artist. She seems like she can wear a lot of different styles right now, which is good.

So cute and yet so elegant. 

Trends in K-POP:

Ruby: Lee hi is the black horse of Kpop, coming out of a reality program and giving the industry a knock to the back of the knees. She relies entirely on soul and passion in vocal excellence, no flashy gimmicks. She is not marketed based on her physical appearance that makes her somewhat of an oddity. YG has promoted artists like Psy without focus on the physical. She doesn’t fit with current trends, but maybe she could be the start of something new.

Psy and Lee Hi, oddballs from the YG family, together on stage.

Em: In a word, badass.

Oh yes. Badass indeed.

Conclusion:

Ruby: Honestly, for me, these were two really phenomenal choices for Lee Hi. She is quite young and they opted for a cutsey image and then a very avante guarde image rather than leaning too much on the oppa~oppa~ style or sexy, gangster style. She is a very unique artist and deserves a unique concept. Plus super cool fashion and super kawaii-aegyo silliness? It's a good kind of concept. Me gusta.

YES THAT IS A MY LITTLE PONY.

Em: I loved both of these songs, especially Rose. They seem to be capitalizing on the opportunity to experiment with her and avoid the clichés, since she’s so different from most kpop idols. I personally liked the avant guarde image better for her, I thought it was a little more artsy and mysterious and fit her voice better, but I though they did a good job with the cutesy too. Two wins in a row.

Daily Dose of Daebak:

TWO FOR ONE

GD’s wonderfully skanky flight attendant dancers make their reappearance. Thank you YG. Thank you.

these dancers might be my favorite part of kpop. 

CL on stage with Lee Hi. God damn, could she be any more badass? But I mean really now.

I GO BY THE NAME CL OF 2NE1. BADDEST FEMALE SEOUL CITY EVER HAD.

YG managed to sneak cannibalism into a video  and it wasn't banned. How, you ask? Watch the blue bear veryyyyy carefully.

cannibalism noun:1. the eating of the flesh of an animal by another animal of the same kind. 

Blue and violet contact lenses make everything SO MUCH COOLER!

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Let us know what you want to see reviewed next!!!! 

Comment, complain, commiserate or congratulate. We'd LOVE to hear from you.

See ya soon!

Ruby & Em <3