Tag: kpop

Tweed Yarn Sweater Vest

The sweater vest. It was on my radar but did not become an item I dreamed of until I saw a lookbook from Steal the Spotlight styling Friends-inspired outfits, inspired by Chandler, the sweater vest king. I continued down the rabbit hole and to Katie’s K-pop Comeback Fashion review and I was done for. K-pop fashion, Korean fashion, and the sweater vest were a layering piece I knew I was going to make. Maybe it is the color combinations or the accessories, but how these sweater vests are styled across different boyband concepts just got me. It felt fresh and fun, not preppy or stuffy.

A year later, I was ready to tackle this project. After making a few sweater projects, and learning how to pattern from garment construction, I felt like I had a good understanding of the shape needed to make the sweater. At Joann’s, I found a non-wool tweed yarn and I knew this was the yarn I wanted to start with. It looked like garments I love from Irish Aran Jumpers and was a way to bridge my heritage and this new world I was exploring through K-pop. I like the garments I design to have a story and intentionality behind them.

The New Technique

With US Size 8 needles in hand and one skein of Big Twist tweed yarn awaiting a new form, I began by casting on 65 stitches. Working my way up I did the basic knit-purl stitch and gradually binding off on either side when I reached my desired length for the armhole. I chose to make a cropped sweater vest to accentuate my waist and break up my long torso. The big moment though came when I did some research and made the decision to branch out and knit the shoulder and neckline on two sets of needles. This required knitting, casting off in the middle, and continuing to knit on a second set of needles. It worked!

Learning new techniques is always worth the time and the trial because eventually it clicks and you have something new, you didn’t think you could do, but you can!

Making two instead of four pieces on my straight needles was a time-saver! Honestly, I see why having a teachable spirit is important in all aspects of life because I thought I had a good technique before, but dang, two pieces are such a better experience. Four pieces was a mental game, and I got bored. Hence why my previous sweater projects have taken months and months, and months because I distract myself with palette cleanser projects and then avoid finishing the four-piece projects.

Afterward, I sewed the two pieces together and knit two 65-stitch pieces of ribbed trim for the bottom. I liked how rustic the sweater looked without the ribbing on the neckline and armholes. It looks like an old-fashioned piece, and a bit like armor. Which is cool.

Sweater Vest Fits of 2023

This is how I have styled the finished garment so far! I like it over my black flannel and charcoal jeans for a moody look. It styled surprisingly well over this DIY project where I added a flared skirt to a cropped graphic long-sleeve shirt. This is where I saw the armor aesthetic come through. In 2024 I look forward to playing around with it even more!

Some things I plan on either finding or making, are basic layers I can wear under this vest. Currently, I have my flannels, that random diy-tunic, and maybe some long-sleeve tees but I’m not certain if they are long enough to layer out the bottom of the vest. This is the struggle of adding a brand new item to your wardrobe – how do you integrate it and style it well without buying a bunch of new things? Yeah, I’m figuring that out and until I do it’s going to be some time before I think I can make a truly amazing outfit with this piece. But I’d rather do this responsibly and be a patient person instead of draining my bank account for instant gratification. (Age has done me well in that respect because I used to do the opposite!)

2024 Project Update:

Since finishing the garment, I have either lost weight or the vest has stretched a bit from wear and one wash. It was not sitting well on my waist anymore but ballooning out so I took it in. I took it in at the arm hole seams and gradually took in the waist at the back so the garment has a back center seam which is not the look I was going for but the fit is on point again. Lastly, I knit another section of ribbed trim to lengthen the garment to keep it from riding up, in doing so I made the ribbed trim addition of 60 or 55 stitches, I forgot to take note when I made it, to pull the waist in even more. I like the fit and plan to make another version of this garment with a smaller adjusted pattern.

Kpop B-Sides from 2023

In 2023, the amount of good releases felt like a never-ceasing wave of music. It was an epic ride, and I’m sad to know the year is almost up. But hopefully, Year of the Dragon will be as generous as Year of the Rabbit was. Here are a few of my favorite b-sides (not title tracks) that made this year melodious and fun.

Also, congrats to 3RACHA for winning Best Creator at the 2023 Asia Artist Awards last night! They deserve it ❤

5-Star by Stray Kids

  • Item
  • Hall of Fame
  • Youtiful
  • Superbowl
  • Topline (ft. Tiger JK)
  • FNF
  • Collision

Golden Age by NCT U

  • PADO
  • The BAT
  • Not Your Fault
  • Golden Age
  • Kangaroo

My World by Aespa

  • Salty and Sweet
  • I’m Unhappy
  • Thirsty
  • Welcome to MY World

Get Up by New Jeans

  • New Jeans

Unforgiven by Le Sserafim

  • Eve, Psyche and the Bluebeard’s Wife

Rockstar by Stray Kids

  • Cover Me
  • Comflex
  • Megaverse
  • Leave
  • Blindspot

This World Ep. 2: Outlaw by Ateez

  • This World
  • Dune

Kill My Doubt by ITZY

  • Kill Shot
  • Psychic Lover
  • None of My Business
  • Bratty

Fact Check by NCT 127

  • Parade
  • Space
  • Love is a beauty

Drama by Aespa

  • YOLO
  • Hot Air Balloon
  • Trick or Trick

The World Ep. Fin: Will by Ateez

  • Everything
  • IT’s You

Cleaning as a Way to Destress

What do you do when you feel out of control? I used to just blast music in my headphones until I could push the emotions down. For the sake of my poor eardrums, I’ve been trying something new.

I am a Tornado

If you knew me in real life, you would know that I am not a great housekeeper. I am more of a tornado of creative chaos, whether it be in the kitchen or in my workspace, there will be messes and clutter. As a creative person, sometimes I honestly don’t notice the chaos or clutter around me, I just see what I’m working on and if I have completed my project according to my vision.

It’s not a good way necessarily to go through life, but it is my authentic self. As a kid, this led to a lot of nagging me to pick up and friction with my mom and grandparents because I was not organized or faithful in straightening up my room. The same with vacuuming, dusting, or remembering to do the dishes before my mom got home from work. Now as an adult, it’s an internal battle I wage with myself between the chaos tornado and the desire to keep things tidy.

Over the years of working from home, I’ve learned that a chaotic space is not a productive space, as they said many times before, and yet I’m still a bit slow to do something about it. It wasn’t until watching Business Proposal that I began to connect the dots.

Kang Tae Mu

While watching Business Proposal earlier this year, a now beloved classic in my house, I related to a lot of the main characters. The one I did not expect to feel a kinship with was Kang Tae Mu. He is a young president of a company, he is rich, polished, and in control. The opposite of me. It wasn’t until the mask of perfection cracked and I saw the vulnerable moments of his character, the heartbreak and stress of his childhood, and his perfectionism as a coping tool that I realized we are not so different.

There is this moment, that truly endeared me to his character and opened my eyes to my own poor coping skills. Tae Mu and his friend Mr. Cha go to Mr. Cha’s apartment after work (Mr. Cha is his assistant) and Tae Mu cleans everything. Mr. Cha just steps back and out of his way, while Tae Mu works out all the emotions rattling around his mind in chaotic fractures by cleaning, and later cooking. His character decompresses by putting things back into order when he feels out of order and out of control. I never thought of cleaning that way before.

Gellers and Gilmores

I had seen it portrayed less healthily in the show Friends through Monica’s character. Monica’s character does this in a more unhinged and controlling way. But Tae Mu’s cleaning is so much more relatable. I mean it makes so much sense that tidying things can be a productive way to release the frantic energy of big emotions. In the show Gilmore Girls, emotional outbursts are normal. The characters rant, they yell, they express their emotions with big displays and that is usually how my feelings come out. In big messy paintbrush strokes over my relationships and my little house. I don’t like that anymore. I want to be kinder, gentler, a positive person to those around me.

I know I’ll still have those moments, but I’d like to minimize them and cope in better ways. Like not pushing the emotion into a box and tossing it to the back of my mind or feeling stressed and tense. So I’ve been trying to clean, when I really feel like I’m stuck.

Cleaning to the Beat of Wonderland & Item

I was feeling down in the dumps today, it was just an amalgam of bad communication with my husband, a cold, some other not feeling good things and discouragement. A lot of little things kept going wrong and my highly sensitive personality was feeling overstimulated. I was messing with my ability to focus on my current mitten project, my NaMo WriMo start, and planning blog posts.

I realized the only thing I could authentically change to set my day on a better path was to do some cleaning that had fallen by the wayside while I had been sick. With my earbuds in place and a playlist of Stray Kids’ 5-Star and Ateez hits I set to work on a kitchen deep clean. It is incredible how the first five songs of 5-Star changed my mood. The pacing of the music woke the dopamine centers of my brain back up and I was jamming through my stovetop scrubbing. By the time I switched to Ateez, I felt this weight lifted off. The stovetop was shining, the kitchen floor was lemony-fresh, the dishes were sorted into the drying rack, and the laundry was done with its spin cycle.

My environment was different even if my problems and little irritations from the day still existed, I was less stressed because I was able to do something to release my tension. Something active and productive. I felt like I was running my day, not my day running me over.

I Wanted To Learn More About Kpop

What is your favorite genre of music?

K-Pop. Boy bands, girl bands, flashy music videos, and complex choreography. BTS. Blackpink. PSY. It’s a genre growing in popularity in the West and you’ve probably heard of it. From the outside, it might not make a lot of sense. So where did this cultural wave of music and fashion originate? Well, we gotta go back a few decades. (Note: I became a fan in early 2022 so I am limited in my knowledge – I’m sorry if I don’t mention a band you stan <3)

Brief History of K-Pop

Western musical influences entered Korean culture in 1885 and continued throughout the 20th century after Korea’s liberation from Japanese occupation in 1945, due to the US military presence and the Korean War. USO tours brought artists such as Nat King Cole and Louis Armstrong to Korea, sparking interest in Western culture and music. This continued into the 1990s as Korean artists experimented with musical styles from other cultures and developed their own sounds. These included folk and rock ballads, with Korean musical groups, like the Kim Sisters performing in Las Vegas and on American television shows in the mid-20th century. J-Rock had an influence in the later 20th century.

The modern K-pop era began on April 11, 1992, when the band Teo Saiji and Boys debuted their first song “I Know” on Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation’s talent show. Their song showcased new jack swing inspirations from R&B and hip-hop which kicked off a wave of Korean hip-hop artists of the 1990s, such as Drunken Tiger. In June 2023, Stray Kids released the song Topline with Tiger JK of Drunken Tiger. Until 2012, K-pop was a success in Asia but hadn’t reached worldwide reach until PSY’s “Gangnam Style” followed by EXO’s debut in 2012, the debut of BTS in 2013, and finally, the debut of Blackpink in 2016. Blackpink would become the first K-pop group to headline at Coachella.

Record Labels, Trainees & Survival Shows

So where do all these bands come from? After the success of Teo Saiji and Boys, first album, and a new appetite for the hip-hop and R&B musical style of these emerging 1990s K-Pop artists, three labels were started that continue to be some of the biggest labels today – SM Entertainment in 1995, YG Entertainment in 1996 (formed by a member of Teo Saiji and Boys), and JYP Entertainment in 1997. This shifted the K-pop industry’s focus to teen-centered music and idol bands that would capture the attention of teen boys and girls – the structure we still see today of boy groups and girl groups. The business was modeled after J-pop in Japan.

Trainees who want to debut as idols undergo rigorous auditions and training to learn singing and dancing skills, but also how to navigate the media by their etiquette and attitude, as well as knowledge, of the Korean language because not all K-pop idols are native Korean speakers. Current examples of this are Lisa of Blackpink, Johnny of NCT 127, and Felix of Stray Kids, who all became fluent in Korean through their idol training.

Another element of the debut process for some groups can involve reality tv style survival shows. The Mnet Survival Show became very popular in the 2010s and led to the formation of many groups including TWICE, Seventeen, ENYPHEN, Kep1er, Momoland, and Stray Kids. The trainees compete against each other while gradually being eliminated. The top seven of Twice’s survival show “Sixteen” were selected to debut along with an audience favorite and J.Y.P.’s selection for eight in total with members added later. The contestants went on to other projects, some debuting with other groups.

Maknaes, Leaders, and Visuals

Something that I found hard to follow at first was the term “maknae” meaning the youngest person in a group, but I’ve learned through time and research that it is a part of Korean culture to recognize who is oldest and youngest within a group. Each group has a recognized maknae, Jong-ho in Ateez, Yuna in ITZY, NingNing in Aespa, and our Maknae on Top – I.N. of Stray Kids.

The oldest or an older member of a group is usually the leader usually each group has a leader, except for some groups like Blackpink, K.A.R.D., New Jeans, etc. The leaders write music and contribute to the group’s concept alongside the producers but they are also the spokesperson for the group and keep the group in order. Some current K-pop group leaders are Taeyong of NCT 127, Mark Lee of NCT Dream, Hongjoong of Ateez, Chaewon of Le Sserafim, and Jihyo of Twice.

Another thing that threw me off was the designation of the visual in a group. There are many roles within these groups – leader, maknae, lead vocals, lead rapper, main vocalist, main rapper, main dancer, sub-vocalist, and the visual. Basically, the visual is the member who best represents Korean beauty standards within the group and has been a part of K-pop from the beginning. Jisoo is the visual of Blackpink, Hyunjin is the visual of Stray Kids, Yeosang is the visual of Ateez, and Miyeon is the visual of (G)-IDLE. There can be a lot of debate between fans on who is the visual and being the visual doesn’t keep you from serving in other roles.

Fandom Names, Lightsticks, Sub-units & Bias

Each group has a fan name with BTS’ fandom name probably being the most famous – ARMY. Blackpink fans call themselves Blinks. Stray Kids have STAY, Ateez stans are Atiny, and NCT fans call themselves NCTzens or NCTizens (pronounced N-citizens) as they are citizens of NCT City (Neo Culture Technology). Twice fans are called Once which I think is cute. EXO fans as a group are called EXO-L and fans individually are referred to as Stars. Itzy has MIDZY and TXT has MOA which stands for moments of alwaysness. Moments of Alwaysness as a name is quite poetic and dreamy. Fans are also referred to as stans, as you stan the group you are a fan of.

I thought lightsticks were pretty gimmicky until I saw videos of them at concerts and close-up videos of the lightstick designs – they are actually pretty cool and unique. I personally love Ateez’s lightstick concept the most, both version one and version two because they feature pirate motifs. I also love the cute and slightly menacing Blackpink double-sided heart hammer light stick as well as Cherry Bullet’s squirt gun light stick.

Some groups have sub-units with the actual K-pop group concept and they will release albums within these sub-units while still being a part of the original group. These albums have different concepts than the original group. Notable Sub-units are NCT U, NCT 127, and NCT Dream all within the group NCT. The fandom name NCTzen or NCTizen can be applied to all. Girls Generation has a sub-unit called TTS or TaeTiSeo, Seventeen has BBS or BooSeokSoon, along with many, many other sub-units across K-pop.

Your bias, or selecting a bias is just selecting your favorite member for each group. Your bias wrecker is a member within that group that makes you want to switch your favorite member. At the moment, in Stray Kids, I’d say Felix is my bias and Changbin is my current bias wrecker. In Ateez, Hongjoong is my bias but Wooyoung is turning into a bias wrecker.

Comebacks, Music Videos, and Discography

I first got into the music by watching music videos while I rode my exercise bike, through this I learned to not sleep on K-pop music videos – they are integral to the concept as K-pop is quite visual from dancing to fashion, it is a part of the experience. My early favorites were Kick It by NCT 127, Kill This Love by Blackpink, Don’t Stop by Ateez, Maniac by Stray Kids, and That That by PSY & Suga. I love the aesthetics at play and how the members are styled for these videos. It is in my opinion more inspiring than reading Vogue or watching fashion week anymore.

Comebacks and discography were the most confusing to navigate, to be honest. Comebacks refer to the new release by a band, that includes the promotional material for the concept, photo cards, choreography sneak peeks and dance challenges, performances, the music video, and the single/ep/album being released. There is a lot involved! And to make it more confusing bands release full Japanese albums, compilation albums, and mixtapes that are all different. If you are going to buy a K-pop album I highly recommend doing research first.

I made that mistake with my first album purchase – I bought a BTS album second-hand and bought the wrong version. The store had three different versions of the Love Yourself album. I wanted the version that contained the track DNA, and out of the three versions I purchased the only version not to have DNA. Yep, I bought ‘Tear’ but it was a great learning experience and helped me explore their discography more.

Wrap Up

I hope this little guide is helpful to you if you have been curious about K-pop or have a loved one or friend who is a K-pop fan. It’s a fun world to escape into. There is so much more I could dive into but this post would just be endless so thanks for coming along on this journey with me.

#25 – Glasses, S-Class & Book of Tea

The sweetest package arrived early Thursday morning! I saw pure bliss for my tired and angry eyes – new glasses with fresh blue light blockers. My eyes were fried. Had been frying for weeks without me noticing. It happened slowly, building, draining, and then bam my eyes let me know, yes indeed, it was time to get new lenses. If not I think they would have gone on strike. Those headaches are such a nuisance. The aching of tired muscles around my eyes, and how heavy my blue frames, were the perfect combo for a week of migraine woes. But alas, it’s in the past and I am thrilled. For a few reasons! The new spectacles are super light. They are a fun style I wanted to try out after seeing Changbin wear this look for a stage performance, and I got the cutest dust cloth of a bun wearing glasses and a tie.

With the eye fry though, getting worse with time on my computer or phone, I took last week to give my eyes a break from screens until the new frames came. And it turned into a tremendous creative recharge time. I knocked out my open sewing projects, finishing my backlog of stretch-knit fabric items floating on their own island of procrastination. This was a problem because I had real projects for friends to work on and their procrastination island was taking up valuable real estate on my worktable. So it was time, and without the prompt of my lens wearing it may have been another month before I finished the stretch knit pieces. It was a good thing. I also used the time to sketch out potential maps for a novel idea I have. Well, two novel ideas, actually. I developed two plots and worlds, flushed out in my notebook with the settings, names, and timelines of the plot I want to write. Once I decide on which project I should move forward on, I’m excited to share it with you.

I’ve noticed taking a break, even just for several days in a row of not writing, my brain feels rusty and I feel clunky with my words. This skill of writing is so much more like a discipline of exercise than an art form sometimes.

To recharge my mind, and get those creative writing juices flowing hopefully better than before, I realized I should get back into reading to be immersed in fiction in order to learn from others what it takes to write a good original story. Someone I admire, without finishing the book yet, is the work of Judy I. Lin. I started her novel, A Magic Steeped in Poison back in September 2022. With my Autumn/Winter Collection sewing schedule I put it aside to keep my deadlines – it seriously pulled me in and plan to write a bigger appreciation post for her work. I jumped back into the story this weekend and dang – being fully immersed in a fantastical story with such layered culture and characters – it is just pure joy. I forgot how wonderful reading can be. With the final act of the book before me, I hunger for more of the story. I can’t wait to jump back in this week and carry onward into the sequel of the Book of Tea Series – A Venom Dark and Sweet.

The cherry on top of this weekend though was the S-Class M/V from Stray Kids along with 9 new songs! I absolutely adore the 5-Star comeback, from the style choices to the music. It really showed their range. The bonus content of the band reacting to the S-Class music video and unboxing their album together was the wholesome coziness I needed before today. Seriously, if I.N. is smiling, how can anyone frown? I needed that going into today, especially. It’s a day I remember a lot of pain and loss, but although how small it may be, the joy of a favorite band releasing a new album with their unique charm has been a wonderful distraction from the gloom that usually takes hold on this day.

As we begin this new week, I wish you love and hope that it is a good one for you.

#23 – Soundtrack of Life, My Mood Boost

BOOMBAYAH – Blackpink

Sugar Rush Ride – TOMORROW X TOGETHER

Blue Hour – TOMORROW X TOGETHER

Wonderland – ATEEZ

Maknae on Top – I.N. feat. Bang Chan & Changbin)

The Real (Heung Ver.) – ATEEZ

Not Shy – ITZY

THAT THAT – Psy feat. Suga of BTS

Sticker – NCT 127

DNA – BTS

Feel Special – TWICE

Thunderous – Stray Kids

Whistle – Blackpink

God’s Menu – Stray Kids

Pirate King – ATEEZ

Fancy – TWICE

Dynamite – BTS

ANTIFRAGILE – LE SSERAFIM

Back Door – Stray Kids

Faster – NCT 127

9 And Three Quarters (Run Away) – TOMORROW X TOGETHER

Kick It – NCT 127

Next Level – aespa

Case 143 – Stray Kids

Butter – BTS

Spicy – aespa

ATEEZ’s Don’t Stop M/V is a Masterpiece

My first comeback experience for the South Korean boy band ATEEZ was for their single Don’t Stop. I gave their music a try thanks to the recommendation of Katie from Steal the Spotlight. What was at the time a random song pick, has become a piece of fashion inspiration that I could watch on repeat and my journey to becoming a new member of Atiny.

Ateez debuted on October 24, 2018, with the song ‘Pirate King’ and incorporated the pirate aesthetic into their lightstick, insignias, and this video, ‘Don’t Stop’. I love the pirate aesthetic, with The Pirates of the Caribbean series being one of my favorites for costume design. In the music video ‘Don’t Stop’ the pirate aesthetic is mixed with an Ocean’s Eleven style heist framework making this a perfect match for me!

Pirates on a Quest for Redemption

The scene begins with a beaten and bruised Mingi being thrown from a car that later blows up. Cut to Hongjoong, seated at a grand piano in a pirate-esque coat with a compass insignia looking at a pirate ship model, with the implication of loss and frustration.

In the shadow of night, we meet Seonghwa, Jongho, Yeosang, and Yunho as they break into a pawn shop. This is no ordinary pawn shop but one containing a pirate-style sword and a skull. In pure Ocean’s Eleven style, they break into the vault of I assume the guys who took Mingi to retrieve the title for their pirate ship. I believe Yunho wears the jacket with a skeleton motif, evoking to me the skull and crossbones of a pirate flag but also the ghost pirates of ‘The Curse of the Black Pearl.’

Meanwhile, Wooyoung and San try to take the baddies in a rigged poker game for their spyglass.

Things begin to turn, from the ashes of the blown-up car, Mingi finds a compass that matches the patch on Hongjoong’s coat.

In a fit of despair, Hongjoong, aka the Captain, throws an oil lantern off the piano he stands on, next to the pirate ship, and it looks as though he is going down with the ship in a sea of fire. It’s a visually stunning image. Instead, he throws the small pirate ship into the flames that have consumed the piano. The ship shatters, sending an ember upwards into his eye. In spite of the destruction, within the flames and remains of the tiny ship, a skeleton key is seen at the feet of Hongjoong.

The video culminates with Mingi being picked up by Seonghwa, Jongho, Yeosang, and Yunho in an armored car with a pirate king hood ornament reminiscent of the siren on the bow of a pirate ship. San and Wooyoung, winners of the game go to claim their prize but not before the gang seizes the spyglass. At this moment the armored car erupts through the wall to save San and Wooyoung.

When we see Hoongjoong next, he takes his full form as the pirate king with an eye patch. He stumbles down an empty road, in the distance from where he came smoke billows upward. As darkness falls, the crew reunites with Hongjoong to reveal their bounty – the compass, the title to the ship, the looking glass, and a bag full of cash. The video ends with all eight members, changed to pirate-inspired garb, walking towards the camera, past the camera, in search of something bigger. In the distance we see beached on a desert dune, the stern of their pirate ship.

The Fashion is Rich in Details

There are a lot of looks I would like to recreate from this video. By far the standout piece for me is the yellow plaid pants with faux skirt worn by Mingi. They are like punk plaid pants mixed with a kilt in the best way possible. I hope to figure out the pattern someday so that I can sew my own version. Seriously, why is this not a style seen on the runway or the street? It’s such a versatile statement piece.

The lapels, length, and overall cut of Hongjoong’s pirate coat is such a classic outerwear silhouette but with the twist of the graphic print and edgy styling, it looks like a brand-new kind of coat. Because of how much work goes into the tailoring process of making an outerwear garment I love seeing how the right styling can make a piece even more wearable.

San’s sweater with the axe motif and color-blocked sleeves is one of the most unique sweaters I have seen. I hope as my knitting skills improve I can attempt to make a sweater using the techniques and make my own version of his look at the poker game.

Yunho’s skeleton-inspired letterman jacket would be such a great thrift flip. As a girl who grew up with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and the “rawr” aesthetic of ‘scene’ being quite popular in my teen years, I have an appreciation for skulls. I even have an Alexander McQueen skull scarf that I think would fit perfectly in the music video.

San and Wooyoung’s final looks of the video shine for me as the pirate core aesthetic has emerged in 2022/2023. It is such a clean and modern interpretation of the romanticized pirate style this aesthetic celebrates. San’s vest to me evokes those little details of the Spanish galleon. The vertical lacing looks like bones from a Jolly Roger flag. The criss-cross lacing evokes the stays and early corsetry of the pirate era and the rigging of the sails.

Wooyoung’s half vest looks like a piece of armor, reminiscent of a holster, but it also bridges the gap between East Asian pirates and Western pirates of the Atlantic. The lacing on his shoulder adds the subtle detail of the classic men’s shirt of the period worn by Western pirates. I also enjoy the contrast of the white shirt, like a sail, and the black of the half vest, like the black flag being raised for an attack.

All in all, I love the fantasy of this music video. Fashion and music can bring out the best in each other when there is a clear vision. The stylist for Ateez continually inspires me to push my own style further and excites me for the day when I can construct garments with the level of care that is seen on the band members.

#10 – K-Pop, Fashion and Working Out

How did I find K-pop? Simple. It found me. And I am so glad it did!

Last January, I needed a change so we bought an exercise bike. I hoped it would help me get through the cabin fever of winter that dragged me into a mood of malaise and would get me to finally shape up. My twenties had been so rough on my metabolism and the person I saw in the mirror was not what I wanted to see. I saw this girl was worn down by the stress of the last six years, wound up with tension in her muscles, and angry by how these emotions seemed bottled with no release. I needed to move my body like I used to in college. You know when you can see you are unhappy with your posture? It was like my body was afraid to stand up straight in case I got knocked down. It’s a weird place to be because the only way to make it better is to work on it, but when life pulls you away from healthy habits you lose those familiar patterns and get lost.

In need of a dose of joyful movement and a good burn, I did a quick search for a fun workout on Youtube. I found this channel called Emi Wong and thought, sure I’ll give this Blackpink workout a try. I had heard Kill This Love before and knew how hyped up the music is, plus it was a 4-minute workout – no big deal. Oh my, this was euphoric. The music, the quick pace. I was sold on this whole “working out” thing everyone in the world seems jazzed about. This led me down a pretty pumped rabbit trail of Fancy by Twice and Dynamite by BTS. These workouts were so joyful! I hadn’t heard music like this before. It gave me “The Feels” pun intended, for the y2k groups my friends and I would learn the choreography for when we were in elementary school. I was so happy and needed to live in this bubble so I gave riding the bike a try while listening to the music videos.

Then my mind was blown. I saw Fruits Magazine, Totally Spies, and dream fashion combos on the K-pop idols, both men and women! It was pretty much love at first site. As I obsessed over the fashion I rode the bike with an inspired commitment I hadn’t seen of myself before. The tempo pushed me further and further until it was a highlight of my routine. A year later, I love working out. I’ve moved beyond the K-pop 4-minute workouts to Emi Wong’s longer videos, I love how much stronger and healthier I feel from my muscles to my mind. Now I listen to K-pop pretty much every day, if I’m not listening to worship music it’s K-pop. The music has inspired both my own style combos and what I dream of sewing and the bands give me such energy while I’m sewing or writing, like right now I’m listening to Stray Kids.

So what’s my point other than sharing something that is dear to my heart? Exercise is not universal, and the approach that most people take might be why it seems overwhelming. Like, if I have to go to a gym, I’m not going to do it. I don’t want the expense, the commute to the location, or having to work out in front of others. I’m a pretty shy person and I’d rather move my body in the privacy of my own home. It has helped me get into my own rhythm and regime according to my goals not what a trainer is pushing me into. I’m not surprised that my hook into working out was somehow a fashion lure. It’s what I’m interested in. I hope you can find what inspires you so we can all get some healthy movement in today. But don’t be concerned I’m not a 5-am routine kind of girl, and I’m not going to ever do the “lifestyle inspiration” thing. This is just my unexpected love story with exercise and K-pop.

My K-pop Favorites for High Energy

  • Stray Kids
  • NCT 127
  • Red Velvet
  • BTS
  • Twice
  • Aespa
  • HyunA (& Dawn)
  • Ateez
  • Itzy
  • Blackpink
  • PSY & Suga
  • TXT

#7 – Winter 2023 Soundtrack of Life

Track One – Yoshi Win by My Phone’s Notification

Track Two – Circus by Stray Kids

Track Three – Ping Pong by HyunA & Dawn

Track Four – Error Sound of Wrong Thread Tension by Singer Heavy Duty Sewing Machine

Track Five – Howling by the Wind

Track Six – Hum of a Tractor by Farming Simulator 19

Track Seven – 45-Second Beep by Emi Wong workout videos

Track Eight – I’m So Blessed by Cain

Track Nine – Plunge of a Fresh Pot of Tea by Yerba Mate

Track Ten – Endless Coughing in Cadence by the Flu

Track Eleven – Brass Band by Samurai Japan’s Cheer Section

Track Twelve – Sizzling of a Frying Pan by Tilapia

Track Thirteen – Birthday by Red Velvet

Track Fourteen – Electric Guitar chords by Husband

Track Fifteen – Run BTS by BTS

Track Sixteen – Cows by Clarkson’s Farm Season 2

Track Seventeen – Tim’s Grunting by Home Improvement

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