On the universal language of fashion - Project Runway Korea S1E4

So once again blog.com was down for a bit and this time I wasn't so much inspired as pissed off. Get your servers together, people, this is embarrassing. Doesn't help that yesterday was a piece of shit day either. Tried to take the bus - but buses don't run when it's been snowing in Sweden, which coincidentally is covered in snow six months a year. "Fuck it," I thought like the cultivated young lady I am and walked to the subway. I reached the subway, reached into my pocket to get my bus card... wait, where the fuck is my bus card? And my keys? Walk all the way back (in a fucking blizzard) and get my things from G. Decide to try the whole bus thing again, manage to get on one this time, reach the subway... and the connecting bus leaves literally ten seconds before the doors to my bus opens, so I miss it. OK, 15 minutes to spare and I'm cranky. Maybe I should go get something to eat? So I go to buy a yoghurt and my card doesn't work. The universe appears to have been telling me to go home and get back into bed, because the day was pretty much craptastic.

 I hid out at my sister K's house instead, completely ignoring things I was supposed to do and instead snacking on burnt cookies and playing around with my niece. I'm trying to fight the general feeling of apathy that comes with having too much to do. I get stressed out, feel like shit and decide to face my problems ostrich style by sticking my head in the sand and pretending they'll go away that way. Naturally it doesn't work and I end up having to do a million things last minute instead. I just have no self-control, I never do a damn thing on time.

My spirit animal.

This episode of Project Runway Korea started out with a mysterious giant Project Runway egg filled with bags. I considered myself officially confused. Korean Tim Gunn held up three fingers. A three-piece look? Three separate outfits? A three-day-challenge? And then he held up five fingers and people started carrying bags. Are they only allowed five bags? Do they have to switch five bags with another designer? Five minutes to pick which bags to use? Flabbergastedness aside, this looked like it could be fun. Also fun: the word for bag is the same in both Korean and Japanese, thus I could understand a fraction more of the conversation this time. Instead of "bla bla bla random english word bla bla", I could now make out "bla bla bla bag bla bla random english word bla bla bag bla bla". Hey, it's a start.

Anywho, it seemed like they had 24 hours to put it all together.

Generally Project Runway Korea and regular Project Runway follow the same scheme, so even with language barriers it's pretty easy to understand what's going on, which leads to it being easier to notice the little differences, one of them being preening men. I was a little surprised when sometime during the show, the camera crew films Jae-min putting on foundation. While regular Project Runway does feature people who act pretty queer, it's rare there to see such an everyday guy putting on makeup. I'm in no way saying this is bad (the opposite, even. Hell, makeup is fun. I'm all for boys in makeup), but when it comes to appearances South Korea can be a pretty harsh place. I both love and am kinda weirded out by the extreme focus on physical attractiveness there. I talked to a Canadian guy of Korean heritage the first time I went to a K-pop Nonstop event, and he told me that when he goes there to visit, every relative under 30 has had surgery and even his grandmother thinks he should get a nose job. It all kinda takes a turn towards uncanny valley. Even in nerd-dominated areas, such as the professional Starcraft leagues, the Koreans have trendy haircuts, have to spend time in the gym and are prepped to look nice for the cameras. While I totally appreciate the effort, I'm a bit worried by the pressures of such a shallow society.

Not

that

I 'm

complaining.

...although hell, I like the effort they're putting into it. Nerds, take note.

Purdy.

Anywho, there seems to be some shit-stirring going on, although obviously I don't understand what's being said. People seem to be bitching about Hye-jung. I'm guessing they don't consider her garments all that cool, and while I kinda agree after last time's awkward plastic raincoat-looking thing, I don't think she's that bad. Not terrible at least. It seems to be mostly Myung-sin and Jae-min bitching about it, which makes sense seeing as they were both in the bottom last time while Hye-jung was safe. News flash, buddies - your looks were just as bad if not worse, and we can't all be on the bottom. At least Hye-jung's looked finished and well-made (even if it was awkward-looking), unlike certain others'. I'm looking at you, Myung-sin. Then again I admit to possibly being blinded by how ridiculously beautiful I find Hye-jung, so I don't know. Maybe I'm not the most unbiased person.

Pretty sweet coat.

So imagine my surprise when Myung-sin knocked this one out of the park. Normally when people bitch and moan a lot on Project Runway about someone else, they end up wasting so much energy on it that they fuck up themselves. Good to see that she channeled it into something as cool as that coat. The top part is genius.

Uhm...

Yeah, I'm not with the judges on this one at all. It's not terrible, but the top had far more potential than the skirt. It has a weird fit and looks kinda juvenile/crack addict/video game character.

Nice but boring.

Seung-hee was smart to use the clasp from the bag on what otherwise looks like a rather boring dress that you can buy straight off the rack from any regular store, except that the back looks like the fit is pretty off. The bolero jacket was cool though.

It s hip to be square.

Yong-seop went for something more avant garde, which ended up looking... boxy. I mean, I don't dislike it, but I'm not sure I like it either. It's interesting though, I'll grant him that. The play on shapes is kinda cool.

Transformer outfit.

Jae-woong, you're cool. I like the way you think. Also I can't believe that jacket's made from bags. It's amazing. I want it! I love that the outfit's made to be able to transform. Super cool.

I don't really get it, but hey, who cares, it's Woo-kyung.

After seeing some of what people have been doing, I'm a little confused as to what fine print of the challenge actually was. No matter, adorable Woo-kyung's super conceptual box dress thing is cool. Weird is good.

Liking the upper half.

I like the futuristic cyber feeling that this outfit has to it. Pretty damn cool. Then again, I'm not crazy about the lower half, but all in all a well put together look.

Someone should ve told her she s not designing for mid-90 s Gwen Stefani.

While I can relate to Jae-eun's idea of a coat you can wear anyway you want, and I thought it was a cool concept, the actual product looks kinda schizophrenic. The styling's also all over the place. Feels kinda Björk, but not so much in the cool way.

And I was starting to like you too.

Jae-min, you're in no position at all to complain about Hye-jung. This looks terrible, like she fell down a laundry chute and came out wearing whatever stuck to her with static. I can see where you wanted to go with it from seeing the back, but as is it just didn't cut it. She looks boxy and big. Not cool. But... but that means...

Boring and safe.

Nooo, not my darling Sang-euk! While this outfit certainly lacked any kind of wow-factor, it wasn't bad per se, at least as not as far as I could see. The buckle-thing was awkward, and it certainly wasn't as creative as the others, but aww, I'm going to miss him! What about the great romance between him and Woo-kyung that I was looking forward to? Can't we give love a chance? She looked so sad when he was saying goodbye.

Look at that shiny face. *sad*

*sob*

Poor guy. I don t think it was his time.

I mean, first Tu and now this? There's only so much disappointment I can handle from this franchise. Then again, I can always make myself feel better by believing that their great romance continued off-screen after the show. Judging from the internet, I don't seem to be the only one who's rooting for them and thinking they'd look adorable together.

Aww.

Come on, this not happening would be nigh-on criminal.