lirazel | if you have a few minutes to check this out, you should

For those of you who have any interest at all in talk about beauty standards/fashion/Korean culture/kpop, this video is worth checking out. A British model heads to Seoul to look into fashion week there for Vice and talks to a bunch of random people about fashion in Seoul. Featuring the world's shortest and most bizarre interview with Infinite, the most polite punk you'll ever meet, a rockabilly barber, and couples' matching underwear. Plus some really sad stuff about beauty standards and plastic surgery.

It's a mishmash of interesting things, and what I particularly liked was the people she talks to who aren't in the entertainment industry. Mostly because everything I know about Korean culture has been filtered through kdramas/kpop, so getting to hear from normal people in a nice change.

There's some stuff I learned and some stuff that broke my heart, and did I mention that the Infinite interview is really strange? It was clearly filmed at the time they were filming the bts stuff for the Second Invasion DVD so the styling is very familiar, and it's so strange to try to look at them through the eyes of someone who has no idea who they are.

There's some quite uncomfortably graphic plastic surgery stuff starting at about 25 minutes in, so you might want to avert your eyes if you're sensitive to that sort of thing.

Anyway: check it out.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

*flails*

I can't watch all of this now because I'm just too exhausted! But!!! I want to!

((I skipped to the Infinite section out of curiosity and it looks bizarrely edited! Also - Sunggyu is such a fracking trooper, trying to keep it professional while the person interviewing him has no clue.))

I think you'll find it fascinating!

Also - Sunggyu is such a fracking trooper, trying to keep it professional while the person interviewing him has no clue

He is, isn't he? *wubs*

This was a really interesting watch, and it reminds me that I never posted about all of the research and reading I did before I went to Seoul last year, or about all of the fascinating things I experienced there, some of which are relevant to this video. In fact, I was squeeing a little bit because (I'm about to become THAT GUY, be warned) I have been in most of the locales in the piece and it made me all nostalgic. Especially the subway (and the underwear shops inside the subway) because we spent the lion's share of our time on trains or walking between trains and idk I'm just flooded with memories rn. :) One thing I noticed, and when I mentioned it my G confirmed my thoughts (she lived there for over a year), is that younger women are always very put together in public. We were being touristy and wandering around in our t-shirts and jeans, and I was forever feeling woefully underdressed. Public life in Seoul did not strike me as remotely casual. Nearly all of the girls and ladies were dressed in fashionable suits, dresses, and very high heals (or so it seemed to me). Perfect makeup, perfect hair. All just stunningly pretty and well-groomed. I realize that part of that is a function of it being a huge metropolis and things therefore being more "citified" than I'm typically used to. But it was so pervasive it really stuck out to me.

Like for example, we spent a day in Ilsan wandering around downtown and then relaxing at a park down by the water, and there were groups and families all around us. The young men would be dressed casually: polo shirts, casual pants/jeans. But the ladies with them would be in little skirts and nylons and platform heals. Having picnics and walking along trails dressed like they're heading to a cocktail party or ladies' tea. And then there was me in my capri pants, tank top, and flip flops. The difference in beauty standards was jarring, and I felt out of place not because I looked like a Westerner, but because I was dressed like a shlub. It was a very interesting cultural difference that I was not expecting prior to our trip.

The plastic surgery ads are EVERYWHERE, and the subway is just glutted with them. It is a strange kind of norm that really threw me off at first but seemed normal enough after a little bit of time being inundated with it.

The Infinite interview was the WEIRDEST THING EVER. It's so strange to see someone trying to goad the boys into talking about their love lives and being summarily shut down for it. I mean, I get what she was trying to do - she wanted to find out if they're actually as sheltered as she's heard they are (and of course they are), but it was also bizarre to see the interview yanked as soon as the boys started flirting with her (Hoya what are you even doing, son). I don't think I'd realized before just how serious the industry is about protecting the "purity" of the idols' images. It's disturbing actually.

Also very much enjoyed the part with the rockabilly barber and his disdain for all things kpop, and the interview with the idol designer who was obviously uncomfortable about discussing the boys' entire lack of power within the industry.

This gave me thoughts to chew on, so thank you for the link.

i did check it out. and i almost regret it.

i'm korean-american and this made me feel incredibly WEIRD because i've always had my feet in both pools, but watching this was like viewing korea from an entirely foreign point of view and that was rather uncomfortable.

i found that i relate more with the western "side" on the korean outlook on fashion and plastic surgery (namely the narrator's reaction to everything). i was just weirded out the whole time so now i'm not sure what i even have to say about it. -_- sigh.

and yes, infinite's interview WAS rather weird...we're so used to feeling FAMILIAR with them, but that's not the case here...you could almost tangibly feel how uncomfortable myungsoo and sungyeol were. woohyun and hoya were just all out like usual, but idk...the atmosphere was very different for sure. i didn't like the feeling of watching them from that standpoint (like a stranger...ugh i'm so sad).

oh and i'm randomly replying to this post because i've been following you (-_- i'm like myungsoo now- creepy) for a while now (omg) and i want to be all friendly like all your other readers or friends or whatever they are. i know it SOUNDS creepy, but i'm not trying to be. i'm just really excited that you're such a great writer (great characterizations and excellent grammar and vivid descriptions and stepping into people's shoes...) and that you like infinite as much as i do AND you see the members the way i do.

i wish i had myungsoo's face so i could get away with all this creepiness. -_-

Haha! You're not nearly as creepy as Myungsoo, don't worry! And I'm pretty friendly--seriously, the way I became friends with all those other people is they just talked to me and I talked back. So pop in any time you want--you don't sound creepy at all!

i'm just really excited that you're such a great writer (great characterizations and excellent grammar and vivid descriptions and stepping into people's shoes...) and that you like infinite as much as i do AND you see the members the way i do.

Aww! You're really sweet! *blushes*

And your icon is Ron Weasley, King of my Heart, and you love Infinite, so I'm adding you to my flist! Yay for excellent people!

Haha is that so? Well I feel like it's okay for Myungsoo because he's himself. And really? That's awesome because I can't exactly talk about this kind of stuff with my friends.

Yeah I'm sweet, but really- I'm an extremely picky reader and less than fantastic writing often puts me off of fanfics with good storylines, which is unfortunate, but true. I love your writing, even your run on sentences because they add urgency and depth to your descriptions. (It makes it so that the characters aren't just feeling something, they're feeling something and it's taking over their entire beings and filling up the moment and it should permeate into our consciences as well.) I'm guilty to admit that I couldn't finish your epic Wooyeol fic. Not because it's not good, but because I'm so into Myungyeol and their sweet and familiar relationship that I can't break away to consider a different stance. -_-

Omg, you love Ron too, I'm not surprised. You have superior taste, as do I HAHA. Cheers.

Oh, I can imagine this was quite uncomfortable! I imagine it's something like how with family you don't always want to let people know the things that go on in the family group because they look strange from the outside.

we're so used to feeling FAMILIAR with them, but that's not the case here

Yes, exactly! It was SO STRANGE.

i didn't like the feeling of watching them from that standpoint (like a stranger...ugh i'm so sad).

I felt exactly the same way. I want them in a protective bubble of love, and they most certainly weren't here.

Okay, I'm not sure about that, but yeah- probably similar.

Lol at us. We totally are strangers, but somehow we feel so close to our beloved boy band. But whatever. We're young. It's okay for now.

if you have a few minutes to check this out, you should

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