Fashion, my love

There are always times in life when I can't help but feeling that I'm way too ambitious and that I dream too high. I'm always self conscious about the way people see me because probably I tend to fall into the 'frivolous' category in everybody's eyes, having so many goals and promises kept to myself others misunderstand me easily, so I'm aware that most of my friends believe I've tried too hard in life; even my best friend keeps repeating 'jokingly' that I should go back to my 'homeland' once I'm done with school next year. Of course I know she has no bad intentions telling me so but honestly I can't help but feeling a little bit uneasy whenever she mentions it in a playful way -don't blame me, after all, people say that there's some truth behind every 'innocent' joke-, usually my only reaction is brushing her off with a 'nice weather today' kind of remark but I've noticed that lately I've started to worry about my friends avoiding me deliberately. Sometimes I hate myself for thinking in such a way about the people 'who cares about me' but they seem to believe I have the stereotypical kind of Parisian life -which is definitely not the case- and they tend to consider my problems less important or just pointless.

My friends believe that my biggest concerns fall into banality, one of them made fun of me the other day saying -and I quote it- "What kind of problem would you have living in Paris? being unable to decide if you'll have mint or burgundy as main color in your collection? Not having idea if you'll buy a Phillip Lim bag or a Carven coat instead?" To be honest I feel bad knowing that my friends are convinced that I hate my country and that's why I've decided to pursue my studies elsewhere. I love them just as if they were my family so I don't get really hurt by such comments but there's an obnoxious incomprensible feeling about this, I also miss home and although this entry has taken the 'complain' direction the real reason why I'm writing this is because they seem to forget I'm here studying and not in some kind of vacation. I'm probably venting my frustrations in the wrong place but I wanted to make some remarks so my brothers and sisters -as I always address to my friends- remember that we're both creating our own paths and that living in Paris is not as different than living in Quito -which for me after all these years wandering around various places is still the best city- or just in general, any other city.

I'd  even dare to say that Quito is just as beautiful as Paris -I don't forget  that my city was in fact the first city declared as World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO-.

My city is beautiful, isn't it?

Unluckily, fashion is the love of my life and... unfortunately and pitifully while fashion shows in Paris look like this...

Fashion shows in Ecuador are -I can't even look at this more than 10 seconds, it's just so embarrassing!-...

 And while models in Paris look like...

Models in Ecuador be like...

& Lastly, people attending Paris Fashion Week...

People attending to Ecuador Fashion Week...

I'm totally sure I go to school better dressed after waking up 30 minutes before my class starts.

So guys, do you understand me now?

Mister Print and Miss Zadig & Voltaire

By this time of the school year I’m usually stressed out and extremely worried, this year however, -being my last- I promised myself I’d have a more relaxed and calm attitude  which is not exactly easy, being the perfectionist I am. However I recently re-found the pleasure of watching dramas. Of course KOREAN dramas. To put it understandable for those of you who are not  familiar with Korean stuff, they are the Korean counterpart of the Latin American telenovela. Some clichés, typical plots, handsome chaebols –conglomerates owners- and in most cases some comedic relief through silly characters. Well I was first introduced to Korean culture around 12 years ago through a hit drama of that time so I’m quite used to the repetitive ideas, but surprisingly I keep watching them because although there are clear formulas producers seem to follow devoutly, the final product is always different.

To be honest the only reason why I decided to watch the drama I'm currently following was the cast -filled with well known names in the Korean scene- including one my favorite actors –a former model- and the best drummer in the Korean Idol factory –ok, forget that last part, it's a lie, I’m just being biased-. Sincerely, I wasn't expecting much of it and that’s probably the reason why I’m liking it so far. My best friend described it as a ‘Gossip Girl’ kind of drama after reading the synopsis, of course that's not entirely correct but at some point she’s right. Heirs –the title of the drama- revolves around a group of young heirs and heiresses of powerful families; the story depicts their love lives, friendship, enmities and the pressure they endure being always forced to behave as society expects from the next generation of chaebols.

I’m unsure whether I’d recommend it or not /to my picky friends/ but it’s overall good, not brilliant, just a light drama I enjoy watching weekly to pour away my frustrations and most importantly -and the main reason why I stop my tight schedule 2 hours per week- an awesome styling work worthy of my praises!

Commonly the peak of this kind of productions –in any other part of the world- would be the pretty young heiresses' style and stylists would devote their efforts to enhance them, however Korean dramas are quite distinct and they tend put emphasis on the male characters’ appearance 'cause well, who are the main target of these dramas? Right! WOMEN! 

I have to remind people that the characters are supposed to be still in high school so they commonly go for a preppy clean style -that I simply adore- everything it's quite basic but yet so fashionable and trendy -although I wouldn't mind if they stopped wearing shirts+sweaters all the time!-.
Since the drama has a wide variety of characters I might end by dedicating one entry to each of them cause it's impossible to put it all together without killing you of boredom. 

I'll start with Kim Tan, the main character, who clearly -as you'll see- has a thing for patterns and prints, he's stuck being casually trendy -I mean, the guy even wears Kenzo to chill at home!-. His wardrobe is basically filled up with slim trousers, a thousand of shirts, his good share of sweatshirts and the occasional suits. I like his style, just look at him! he's '18' years old and the modern version of Prince Charming, we'd still look fine wearing a 5 euros t-shirt with an old pair of jeans, which hopefully he won't do -because patterns and prints fit him quite well- or that's my guess based on the style he's been pursuing:

Kim Tan, the main character has a thing for patterns, he's usually spotted wearing brands like Kenzo, Marc Jacobs, Alexander Mc Queen and why not? he even chills at home wearing brand clothing worthy of 600 euros... but well, what else can be expected from the son of the president of a large conglomerate? 

If I had to choose my favorite outfit, though,  I'd totally choose the one Tan wore for his awaited comeback to Korea -keep in mind this story is truly a huge mess-. 
Dries Van Noten coat + Viktor & Rolf shirt + Philipp Plein pants and Gucci bag just to keep it 'simple' and 'classy'? This is what Koreans call 'a great airport fashion'.

Ugh, no, I had almost forgotten the 'beautiful' sneakers complementing such a perfect set! This is what I call 'the most ridiculous way to ruin the mood'. Let's keep this one as the biggest fashion fail in the drama! 

Next it's the simple and poor -but not so simple and poor- damsel in distress also known as Cha Eun Sang, the female lead who happens to be the daughter of the housekeeper of Tan's mansion -ugh, complicated storyline here!-. The girl is supposed to be plain, simple and regular because well she's poor but I don't think we'll ever see our housekeeper's family wearing Zadig and Voltaire sweaters 300 euros worth. Anyhow the girl seems to be the embassador of Z&V in this drama because she pretty much only wears the brand, along Fred Perry stuff and... oh yeah! Vanessa Bruno too -I thought she said she was poor! maybe she's addicted to French brands! ahem... now we know why she has no money... ha!-. 

Eun Sang is so standard that I've started to call her the 'plaid and stripes girl' because that's the furthest she goes in terms of style, not to mention that the girl apparently has no other option than wearing her shirts as outwear most of the time. But hey! don't pity her, she's won the heart of two handsome rich men so far, not to mention she has a cutie as best friend.

Tried to Walk on my Red Shoes under the Shadow of Love watching the Cherry Blossom Ending.

I don't have so much time to write a long post but I thought it'd be a good idea to gather some of my favorite Korean music videos -because it has to be Korean!- in one entry. I'm aware that my teacher is going to read this at some point, so this entry will include all those great songs that have been translated visually in what I consider 'the right way', thus I'll try my best to give an unbiased and objective opinion, putting aside favoritism and personal preferences. I might do similar post in the future so this time around I'll give you the Top 5 I can think of at the moment. 

 

5. Busker Busker- Cherry Blossom Ending

Although fashion wise this video is really weak, the visual elements combined with the plot story and the song itself manage to catch the attention of the viewer all the way throughout. I honestly might be picking this video because I find it incredibly 'average' but that's its charm and that's exactly why Busker Busker's song became the iconic 'Spring Song' in Korea. 

4. BEAST (B2ST)- Shadow

There's no much to say about this video other than it's visually addictive! At first I was quite unsure about including it in the list because to be sincere most of the people around me took the video really lightly and some of them even disliked it, however I think we can give it a chance, can't we? Although the video could fall into the 'guys-dancing-a-choreography' category, I think that other than just showing random close-ups of each member of the group singing, this video is full of symbolic elements, from the outfits to the effects, everything is in their right place, not to mention that the photography is -from my amateur point of view- indeed remarkable. Of course a help understanding the lyrics would make a lot easier to understand the visuals.

Hint: 'Breaking up and becoming a shadow while longing for the past'

3. B1A4- Tried to Walk

About this video? There's so much to say, I'd write pages and pages and still be halfway. First of all, a round of claps for the stylists, the artistic direction and the photography team, the outfits were very interesting mixes and -probably it wasn't even planned- the way on which the people in charge of the photography worked, allowed to clearly differentiate the variety of textures in the garments, I felt that unlike other videos, Tried to Walk gave a special emphasis on the fashion, the camera work is outstanding, showing close up of the accessories, hairstyles and clothes without downplaying other elements. My Respect.

Also, it was probably just me -the weird surrealism fan- but did someone else notice the clear references of Dali's work? I'm maybe hallucinating and I could be wrong stating the inspiration behind the video but I when I first watched it I immediately related it to the Cover for Vogue that Dali illustrated back in 1939 as you can see here:

Flowers, branches and skeletons, anyone?

Anyhow this video has its fair share of 'symbolic elements' that can only be understood if you understand the lyrics so:

Hint: 'Although it's hard, we're breaking up'

2. Teen Top- I wanna love

I can see people raising eyebrows at this choice, 'not remarkable' might be the main objection and it's true, there's no a 'defined' story going on, no special effects, no symbolism, just depressed teenagers over -apparently- breaking up with their girlfriends, wandering around Hong Kong in the most obnoxious ways. No link whatsoever. BUT... there's something that makes this video so unique to my eyes and is the quality of the styling work. Definitely, Korean stylist are the bestest of the best. There's so much textures, colors, prints. It's risky to combine all these elements but they did it without falling into the 'I'm-hurting-my-eyes-watching-this' type of video.

Other than that, the camera work is impeccable, simply amazing. I can't imagine all the work the cameramen had to go through to have such quality of images, they captured the best angles and I can have a twisted opinion but I find that although the guys were supposed to be the focus, somehow Hong Kong took over in this video, the city is in reality the main character.

1. IU- The Red Shoes

Bran New. I'll keep it short: IU is the best act in Korea just now and no one -I don't even like her- would dare to state otherwise. And there's no reason either, she deserves all the attention she gets, her new song is pure perfection and the music video is an awesome work of styling, art direction, choreography and photography altogether. The only thing I can say about it is that instead of MV -Music Video- this work should be addressed as 'Musical Short Film' because well, that's what it really is. 

The Goodbye of the Sun

During the summer, I had the chance to visit -once again- 'La Capilla del Hombre' -The Chapel of Man- back in my hometown, Quito. This place is a beautiful museum built by one my favorite artists, Oswaldo Guayasamin -Ecuadorian painter and sculptor- to display his work of over 50 years. Guayasamin had indigenous origins and his family was really poor so his work has a social character and it was strongly influenced by the figure of his mother, he also explored different techniques and styles that most of artists at that time didn't dare to experiment. The background and inspiration for his work was so unique and refreshing that he quickly became one of the most renowned artists in Ecuador  and later on he gained a lot of popularity abroad, especially due to his close friendship with icons of the artistic medium like poet Pablo Neruda or  political figures like the -back in the day- French first lady Danielle Mitterrand.
Although his tematics are the kind of concepts that I usually try to avoid as much as possible, his paintings are way too touching and meaningful to be ignored. For Ecuadorians, Guayasamin doesn't represent a painter solely, he's the biggest proof of the infamous 'hard work pays off' so I always feel connected to his work, especially because the 'Chapel' is located in the north of the city -coincidentally quite close to my house- therefore the place holds a lot of emotional memories and I feel somehow attached to it.

Among his work, one of my favorite collections 'Huacayñan' or 'The Path of Tears' depicts the vision of miscegenation in Latin America, specially in the Andean Region. I'd spent hours talking about why I like these paintings so much but I better give you a glimpse of Guayasamín's art:

Capilla del Hombre- Coleccion Manos 'Hands Collection'

Las Manos de la Protesta- The claiming hands

Capilla del Hombre, indoor sight of the dome

Mural Capilla del Hombre. Translation 'I cried because I had no shoes, until I saw a kid with no feet'

In days like today, when I feel homesick, I wish I could go over the 'Chapel' and take pictures, there's an amazing view of my Quito from there, because well, my city too is a big inspiration for me when it comes to my creative process and, of course, I can't help but longing to be there...

The Chapel of Man, as seen from the workshop building of Oswaldo Guayasamin.

And of course as in the spirit of being back home, some music from Latin American groups that totally fit my mood now:

You know it's true...

Finally I managed to get my hands on a copy of L'Officiel Hommes Korea from April 2013. To be honest the main reason why I wanted this magazine was that one of my favorite groups was featuring in one of the editorials and as expected I was curious about the concept.

Since I was young I had a fixation over fashion from the  80s and 90’s, or to be more specific fashion from TV shows of early 90s like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air or Saved by the Bell and singers like New Kids on the Block (specially from their late 80’s era) so I must admit I nearly died once I checked the whole photo-shoot Teen Top made, I’m aware many people would hate the hairstyles and even the clothes, but for me such shapes, prints and ambience take me directly to the period I’ve always dreamed living in –in a very platonic way of course-.

I might be wrong with the references that inspired this fashion spread but when I look at it closely it has a late 80s feeling very ‘New Kids on the Block’ style in the music video for ‘I’ll be loving you forever’ combined with a troublesome guy of the 90’s –sorry this is completely random but I was thinking maybe Gangsta's Paradise would be the perfect soundtrack-

Anyhow, thumbs to the stylist of L’Officiel, the pictures came out pretty nice -and now I’ve officially founded the Korean Stylists' Fan club- their work is outstanding; it’s always a pleasure to have a look at Korean magazines, the pictures are never disappointing!  usually presenting striking concepts with fresh fashion, cool sets and overall amazing visuals. Once you’ve laid your eyes on the photoshoots Korean fashion magazines have you will never ever find again pleasure on checking the plain and overused concepts editorials in western magazines tend to display.

Scans from L'Officiel Homme Korea 'Boys on Top'  April 2013

Teen Top Official Facebook 

And in the spirit of the period some musical inspiration! seems like ages since I last listened all these songs.