Hate You Love Fashion

SO this week's review was on Hate You by Ladies' Code, a delightfully twisted MV that had 1,133,137 views as of August 19th, 2013. You can watch it HERE

Overall impression:

Em: This MV had a horror movie-esque feeling to it, with plenty of creepy dolls and haunting video editing paired with some quirky avant garde fashion. The girls were in a palette of black and white with blue to make it much more interesting than the usual B&W combination. There was a little Victorian influence in details such as lacy gloves, but it was seamlessly incorporated with a modern flair involving leather and bondage-y pants and shoes. There was also a kickass suit jacket outfit that made me immediately want to review the MV.

Note the doll strapped to the antlers. Creepy? Yes. Awesome? Also yes.

Leather and lace

Ruby: I agree completely, but I would take it a step further. I think they’ve done something really interesting here. And, yes, this is going to seem really really obvious but just bear with me. They are dressed as dolls. Like they’ve literally dressed them up the way that you would traditional dress a doll: the Victorian details, the frills and strange details. They’ve added to it though where this concept became one of sort of dark power, dolls but with that edgy twist to make them not soft and easily manipulated as they first appear. I like this. Muchly.

Tradition Victorian Doll, only alive this time

Sometimes a girl just needs a pretty coat of nail polish.

Other promotional Materials:

Em: They had shots from the mv for teaser photos, and the videos also appeared to be compilations of clips from the mv, including a cake made of dismembered dolls. Yum yum. I would certainly be intrigued by the  video if I saw these teasers, even if they weren’t particularly creative after the video itself.

Probably an exact shot from the MV...but hey it's cool!

Ruby: They really haven’t done very much outside promotion for this song. It’s the first single released off an album that will be coming out soon. Unfortunately for us that means: no stage performances yet and no interesting album teasers or anything. So that's really all for now. Uh funfact I guess, one of their members, Rise, just had her birthday. So lets wish Rise a happy birthday not filled with creepy dolls!

*SING LOUDLY*

Continuity:

Em: One of the things I really liked about this MV was the continuity. While the style was surprising and different from other things I’ve seen, it also kept the same sort of flavor throughout the whole video. While Victorian-style puffy sleeves and white lace aren’t always paired with leather and bondage, and those things aren’t always paired with suit jackets, the combination worked because the aesthetic was clearly defined from the start and the designers stuck to their vision for the MV. I was impressed. Also, since it wasn’t a dance video, it didn’t have the repetitiveness that some videos fall into with dance costumes.

 

Every outfit incorporates similar elements in a unique way

Ruby: I thought the continuity was really impressive as well. I really stand by the fact the outfits incorporated a doll like quality and dominatrix like quality. That can be hard to do and I’m pleased that they really limited themselves in number of outfits. It was really nice to see the same things a few times and not feel overwhelmed by the details. I think it's a common idea that a little girl wants to look like a fairy-princess-dolly and I like that they mixed that in with those harsher, leather and bondage elements.

It takes a fantastic designer to make this look right
(and in our opinion they managed it)

Band’s Overall Image:

Em: Ladies Code has done the 'sexy' concepts, with black and white even, and this was continued a bit in the leather and short skirts. However, they didn’t seem limited by it, and they explored the creepiness factor as well. Their album Bad Girl seemed limited in comparison, and I think they’re growing as a group.

 

This was supposed to be the 'bad girls'....

but I personally think burning your doll's eyes out is a little more intimidating

Ruby: Ladies Code is still really settling into a concept I think. And I’m not sure that this was a firm statement. I like that they’re not styling them in the traditional rookie girl group LETS MAKE THEM ALL 16! trend, but I guess in way the overly sexy is all kind of a debut trend these days. They’ve taken a few detours for photoshoots and other items, I guess I would like to see them explore some more alternative concepts before settling.

Military-inspired photoshoot

Trends in K-POP:

Em: The bondage leather thing is something we end up mentioning a lot, for a good reason—it shows up all the time. I feel like every other video has corset-y laces or skintight leather pants, for boys and girls. Another thing I’ve noticed more of lately is creative suit jackets, on both genders. Maybe I’ve noticed them more because I like them a lot, but since suits are such a staple in kpop eventually stylists start to make them interesting. I personally really like when it’s a snazzy jacket over something more unexpected, rather than just the rest of a suit.

THAT SUIT GODDAMN

suits that are not as awesome but getting there 

Ruby: I mentioned this a bit but I’d like to harp some more. I really appreciate that they didn’t go for a cutie girl concept. Don’t get me wrong. I adore SNSD and Girl’s Day and all of that but its nice to see women being portrayed as adults. And not the like ‘adult entertainment’ kind of adult (cough cough Rania Dr. Feelgood cough). I think alternative concepts that fit the music well or are just different make really interesting fashion. So I’m glad to see that come through here.

 

Adult entertainment. Oh no wait just kpop. Thanks Rania.

Girl's Generation...but how old ARE they? Hint: way older than ALL OF RANIA

Conclusion:

Em: I really liked this. It didn’t have the same street fashion appeal as I’ve seen in others (a lot of things wouldn’t be too wearable elsewhere) but as an artsy conceptual series it worked. Some things were great, some were questionable (like the weird fringey blue shoulder things) but all in all I appreciated the creativity. Even wearing a marshmallow.

 

Poofy yet still fantastic

Even the blue fringey bird feathers weren't too bad in context.

Because this had to be included somewhere

Ruby: I was really creeped out by the dolls, not gonna lie. But the concept itself was really brilliant. The way they mirrored their dolls and how their clothing was deceptive in itself. The pairing of hard and soft is really beautiful and I think gave the video a real edge. And that's hard to accomplish these days. Yeah not every dress was super attractive but I didn’t notice as much because I was enjoying the ambiance.

Juxtaposition is THE COOLEST THING EVER when its done right

Aaaaahhhhhhmbiance

Look I'm a fairy princess

Daily Dose of Daebak:

Eyepatch LIKE A PIRATE

You’re coming your dolls hair with a fork…. I just… Guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

So what did you think? Was it too creepy for you or did you adore it as much as we did? Leave a comment and join us in our appreciation of their awesomeness!

-Ruby & Em <3

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

Rum Pum Pum Pumped Up Fashion

When we heard that the craziest fashionistas in kpop were coming out with a new mv, we couldn't resist the opportunity to take them on!

So OF COURSE this week, we're reviewing

Rum Pum Pum Pum - F(X) from their new album Pink Tape! 

Overall impression:

Ruby: Can I just say before I start that FINALLLLLY F(X) has another album out. And it really stayed true to their roots I think. For me, f(x) was really the original mismatched harajuku girls band. Their image is crazy, wacky, with endless accessories, colors and shapes. I thought this video stayed within that vein. There are less accessories this time (I demand the return of the cactus earring!) but more outfits (coming in with 5 different sets). There is definitely a lot going on, and this time some of it works and some doesn’t.

Less accessories but authorities are still investigating the color explosion

Matt: Agreed … for the most part. I hadn’t really noticed what Ruby pointed out about f(x)’s lack of accessories and excess of different outfits, but it really threw me off at first. Their new video, while definitely in keeping with the whole eclectic, retro, all-over-the-place fashion that we love about f(x), still seems fresh and surprisingly different. Maybe it’s the fashion choices, maybe it’s Krystal’s bright red hair, or maybe it’s the crazy videography, but the girls definitely have a new twist in this video when compared to their older singles.

 

Is Krystal's hair pink? or red? 

Other promotional Materials:

Ruby: The teaser for the mv was shots taken from the music video in the end. But since this is the lead single from a full album, there were also teasers released for the whole album, called Pink Tape. The teasers feature soft lighting and school uniforms while f(x) poses in weird spots. They don’t match well with the video but they are really cool photographs.

 

the end of the teaser featuring the tartan tragedy

meanwhile this gorgeous photo is from the same concept.

Matt: Yeah. The photographs are really interesting, and while they don’t necessarily correspond to the video at all, they pair up nicely with the song. Anyways, additional promotional materials include their Music Bank live performance, which channels the classic f(x) vibe much more than the actual music video. Perhaps it’s because of the lack of an overwhelming amount of wardrobe changes, but the live performance seems more casual, more energetic, and not as dressed-up.

 

a stage featuring the pink tape album concept

but then some stages also feature music video concept outfits

Continuity:

Ruby: So this is where f(x) is always going to struggle. For this video, I really feel like there was a great range of fashion. There was a fantastic continuum that is totally interrupted by the tartan mess. The other outfits are brightly colored and range from breezy beachy lounge clothes to sleek city party gear. And then from left field we have somewhat punkish, heavy, overwhelming tartan, wool, and leather. For me it just distracted from the rest of the video which is crisp, clean and bright. I mean who wears heavy wool clothes in a summer mv?

 

BEACH DAYYYYYY, lemme get my tyedye too!

Look at that snazzy clear raincoat with black detailing.

Matt: Krystal’s Scottish kilt themed hat definitely needed to go, but I also thought that the strange scene where the camera circled around the girls (and under their legs) didn’t add much to the video. Not only did the scene chop up the amazing choreography, but it also confused and distracted me. I love f(x), but the cinematography definitely seemed a little bit off in this video. Disoriented viewers and interrupted the video in a way that certainly didn’t help its continuity.

im running out of t words that mean disaster. tartan.... tumult.

Band’s Overall Image:

Ruby: f(x) has always been off the wall, crazy fashion. They pull from harajuku and avant guarde to create something that is really unique in kpop. I think that they have shifted in recent videos to brighter colors and cleaner backdrops, which work together nicely. One thing I’ve always appreciated is their affinity for sneaker, platforms, creepers and wedges. No stilettos here folks!

 

teaser photo for f(x)'s electric shock, look at all those semipractical shoes

Matt: The individual components of the video are definitely in keeping with f(x)’s overall image, but in Rum Pum Pum Pum, those components don’t quite add up in the same way that they usually do. Some of the fashion seems at odds with other pieces… think of the tartan incident. The overall videography of the band’s latest music video is also more experimental than usual. I’m not saying it’s bad. I’m just noting that it’s definitely different.

 

FOLLOW SULLI SHE WILL LEAD YOU TO BETTER FASHION

Trends in K-POP:

Ruby: F(x) is one of the first bands to really go for the all-out mismatched, harajuku, crazy cat lady fashion. Others have followed this up in various ways, from 4minute to SHINee. I think it’s hard other than that to pin point trends exactly since there is so much in this video. I did notice that Amber looks a bit like the 15^th member of exo in this video…. But that's another discussion all together.

Amber in Rum pum pum pum

She just wants to play with the boys of Exo in their wolf teaser

Thats a bit random, from 4minute's Whats Your Name

Matt: Speaking of Amber, the black and white “LOVE” text-print shirt that she sports in the video is similar to Taemin’s “STOP MAKING SENSE” shirt, which can be seen in SHINee’s “Why So Serious?” video. Graphic text prints are becoming a thing……. apparently =_=; Haha in all seriousness, though, I think it works for the both of them.

 

Amber spreading love

Taemin spreading... stop. I guess. In SHINee's Why So Serious

Conclusion:

Ruby:   It was a strong showing for f(x). Personally I’m slightly disappointed because Pink Tape has a cool retro feel album cover and the teaser photos were soft and intriguing. Despite the difference there most of the video was creative, colorful and very trendy. Pop colors paired together and bold patterns made f(x) pop against the clean sets. Of course, I dispute the tartan choice, but really that's about it for me.

Luna looking very pretty and quite trendy in her
pastel shirt, high waisted shorts and spikey headband.

Matt: It was a good video. Because f(x) is so fun and creative, my expectations were incredibly high for this video. For the most part, they sure didn’t disappoint.

Look how happy Sulli is! She is very glad to not disappoint Matt.

Daily Dose of Daebak:

Vicotria would just like everyone to know that she is going to the University of College.

Krystal would just like everyone know that she is going to the University of Edinburgh… Scotland. 

(Don’t hate me because I always satirize Ruby’s material. I’m not creative L… ) (shush mattmatt)

Well! We've sincerely enjoyed having matt guest on the blog for the last few weeks!

Leave us a comment below and tell us where you would wear the tartan terror!

Pleaseee leave us some love!

Ruby and Matt (and Em from somewhere above the middle of the country)