On the universal language of fashion - Project Runway Korea S1E9

I received a pretty shitty back-handed compliment today, now that I think about it. One of my extremely vain gay friends complimented me on how I looked today, and went on to ask if I wanted his oversized black shirt, because it resembled what I was wearing. Hey, I'm happy for free clothes, so I said I'd love to take it, and he goes on to say "Sure thing, they're so out of fashion now anyway. I have like a whole bag of stuff I wanted to give to second hand, but I don't know, maybe you want it" and I don't really know how to take that. Yeah, I don't follow trends and instead wear what I think looks cool, but wasn't that just a veiled insult to the way I dress? Ah well, I'm not going to get pissy about it, I'm going to raid his hand-me-downs and rock them like crazy.



In this final challenge before Fashion Week (don't know which one, probably Seoul Fashion Week? I'm guessing Seoul Fashion Week), the designers were tasked with creating what I'm guessing is a look inspired by Seoul. They set about running around with cameras snapping pictures of whatever they found inspiring, some more frantically than others I might add. Jae-woong was going crazy with the camera, snapping away. Anywho, back in the workroom they set about creating a concept mood board from the pictures they took while out, as a sort of back story to their look.

Somewhere mid-work time lots of family and friends started pouring in, in typical Project Runway style. Seung-hee's faughter came, and oh my god, her kid is like the most adorable thing ever. Why are Asian kids so cute? Why can't white kids be as adorable? And oh my god, Jae-woong's crying dad!

Aww, sweetie!

Aww, my heart just melts at upset adults. I'm hoping he was crying because he was proud. Should be, Jae-woong's awesome. Cold-hearted and horrible as I am, I always find the meet-family-bits of Project Runway a bit distracting. If it were me competing, I'd be so far into into work-mode that any distraction (even if it was from someone I genuinely care about) would just disrupt my pace and ruin my game plan. Even if it's a nice distraction, I'm sure it breaks your concentration pretty badly. It's the challenge that decides who gets to go to Fashion Week for fuck's sake, you need to keep your eyes on the prize at that point.

Anyone else think Violet from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?

Someone who apparently did keep her eyes on the prize was Woo-kyung. Woo-kyung's is bat-shit crazy, just the way I like it. That blueberry purple, along with the exaggerated shape and proportion is really something different. This feels a bit like oversized menswear too, if menswear came in lavender. The origami inspiration came through loud and clear. It was fun, playful and completely different to most anything I've ever seen, and as such I thought it was pretty damn cool.

This is what I see myself wearing when I use Murder of Crows in Bioshock Infinite.

Yong-seop's is nice, but reminds me a bit of his high-fashion look where he did Ralph Lauren. It's the same shape to the jacket, although longer, and the pants are really similar. That being said, it's well made and kinda cool-looking, if maybe a little overly dramatic. I can see where he wanted to go avant garde with it, but it's a wee bit predictable. While it wasn't my favourite it was objectively a good look. Spot in the finals well-deserved.

Apart from the colour I kinda like it.

This could be the most boring shade of brown I've ever come across. It's not bad, and overall I kinda like Hye-jung's jacket, but I'm really not crazy about the bib-thing on her dress or the ruching around it. I'm not even all that excited to see her in the finals. She's not bad, but she's not anything particularly interesting either. But then again she might hammer out something completely breathtaking, so what the hell do I know. I think the collar of the jacket looks a bit unfinished, but apart from that it's a well-executed look with a pretty interesting point of view.

Nice, but nice won t get you to Fashion Week.

Simple, understated and elegant, but kinda boring. Kinda typically Seung-hee. While this dress wasn't terrible, and I liked the concept behind it, I wasn't sure on the asymmetrical shoulder or the removable skirt piece. It's far from bad, just... nice. Passable. Not good enough for the finals unfortunately. The seams on the bodice are interesting though, and it would've been nice to maybe see more on that theme.

I just... don t get it.

Poor Jae-woong, he wanted this so much that he over-thought his look and made something really weird (and not good-weird either). I don't really get the hole in the front of the jacket. Also, it looks kinda big and shapeless, like the model stole an outfit that would've looked much better on a male model.This fit was so odd. And why are the edges burned? It looks so... weird. Might have had something to do with his inspiration, which was a historical building that looked like it had been closed for renovation. Was there a fire there perhaps? Did the fabric burn from his fire-y desire to compete at Fashion Week? Unfortunately there's no way of knowing. He was so upset and disappointed too, I felt really bad for him.

The dejected designer and his stuffed potato friend wait out the inevitable with Woo-kyung.

I need that thing that Woo-kyung is playing with on the couch. I need it to live. Look at that creepy little face!

Never in a million years would 've thought it belonged to Jae-woong.

Judging from the quality in general of this season, I'm really excited to see what they can produce for a final runway show. The designers are all talented with different points of view, and it'll be fun to see what they can produce when given the chance to spend a bit more time and energy on their pieces. Need to read through the thesis I'm going to comment on at the seminar tomorrow first though, so I can't plow through all that fashion-y goodness until this weekend at best.

Speaking of time and fashion and stuff, I've got a fashion-related thing or two up my sleeve as well, which I'll introduce to you guys soon too. It's a project that'll stretch over the summer I think, and hopefully will culminate in something really cool before the fall. Curious? Stay tuned and I'll keep you posted.