Part 1: K-Pop Fashion

K-POP FASHION: MONDAY 23RD JUNE 2014:

K-Pop fashion is very out there, bright and flashy. Most K-Pop stars are dressed up in stylish outfits with many commonly wearing the latest Korean trends. An example of a fashion trend used a lot by K-Pop stars in 2013 is stripes. Many wore striped clothing while putting their own individual spin on the fashion trend during 2013.

Androgyny and gender-bending are common occurrences with the fashion and image of many K-Pop stars. Many male K-Pop stars have been called girly, feminine, gay and not masculine due to their more feminine style in clothing. These stars have challenged and gone against stereotypical gender roles and masculinity. Although androgyny is more common amongst male K-Pop artists there are also females who sport masculine clothing items. Amber Liu of f(x) is the best example of this, as she is commonly seen wearing shorts, muscle shirts and T-bird–style men's jackets. She also likes to have her hair short.

Amber Liu of f(x)

So is there a difference between the clothing items worn by male and female K-Pop stars? In some ways there isn't, because many disregard what's typical clothing of their gender. As explained before many males are happy to wear clothing marketed towards and sold to females. On the other hand, some females, most notably the aforementioned Amber Liu are fine with having a more masculine image instead of a feminine image. I imagine the average person would struggle to identify the gender of many K-Pop stars. As an example, the photo below is of male K-Pop star G-Dragon. If I had no context of K-Pop or G-Dragon, then I may have mistaken him as being female. What do you think?

G-Dragon of Big Bang

Amber Liu image reference: http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/31600000/Amber-Liu-amber-liu-31609486-360-480.jpg

G-Dragon image reference: http://tochanquoc.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/g_dragon.jpg