Normally we here at fms love the fun fashion commentary at Go Fug Yourself. They’re cool, they’re hip, and they’re usually spot on. But we must cry foul at their foul call for Sandra Oh’s dress for the SAG (Screen Actors Guild) awards.
보통 우리 FMS 사람들은 Go Fug Yourself의 재미있는 패션 논평을 정말 좋아합니다. 멋지고, 앞서가며, 주로 딱 맞거든요. 하지만 우리는 Sandra 오의 SAG 시상식드레스에게 파울을 외친 Fug에게 파울을 외쳐야겠어요.
Korean stars have been wearing hanbok on the red carpet for some time now domestically, and some stars like Lee Young-ae have even showed it off at major international festivals like Cannes:
한국 스타들이 국내 레드카펫 위에서 한복을 입은 지는 꽤 됐어요. 그리고 이영애와 같은 몇 명의 스타들은 카느스와 같은 국제 이벤트에서 까지도 한복의 자태를 뽐냈어요.
So it’s good that the hanbok is getting some exposure. But not enough apparently, because somebody decided to rip poor Sandra a new one, comparing the stylized bow to the sort of thing you see tied around fancy cars in silly commercials during the holiday season. An apology soon followed, but still . . . is it a bad dress? My Gomishin-clad self saw it and immediately thought, “Dang, that’s a great modernized hanbok!” The colors and fabric are fabulous, and the stylized cut and drape still manages to be immediately identifiable as a hanbok, unlike some other modernized versions I’ve seen parading down runways. Yeah the bow is a little big in the first shot, but if we take a look at it from another angle:
따라서, 한복이 노출되는 것은 좋은 거에요. 하지만 충분하지 않나 봐요. 왜냐면 누군가가 Sandra에게 새로운 것을 만들어주기로 했거든요, 스타일화된 리본을 홀리데이 시즌에 나오는 우스운 광고 속 우아한 차들에게 묶여있을 법한 것들과 비교하면서 말이에요. 곧바로 사과는 했지만, 그래도… 정말 그것이 나쁜 드레스였나요?저는 보자마자 “와! 정말 멋지고 세련된 한복이다!” 라고 생각했어요. 색과 옷감도 멋지고, 스타일화된 컷과 드레이프는 그래도 한눈에 한복이라고 알아볼 수 있을 만해요, 보통 런웨이를 거닐던 다른 모던화된 한복들에 비해서요. 그래요, 솔직히 말해서 리본이 첫번째 사진에서는 조금 크네요. 하지만 다른 각도에서 보면…
That’s pretty darned elegant. And are those pockets??? I want a hanbok with pockets!!!
정말 우아하다고요! 그리고 저기 보이는 것들 주머니에요??? 와, 나도 주머니 있는 한복 갖고 싶어요!!!
Like it, love it, or fug it? 어때요? 괜찮아요, 좋아요, 아니면 fug할까요?
—Gomushin Girl
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new trend?
But yeah. Another “Oh, Korea” moment. ><
Eh, no, it’s pretty ugly. I was looking at some entertainment sites the other day—hey, it’s been a boring week—and she’s been getting mostly a free pass among Asian-Americans for being “ethnic.” But, it’s ugly. I think it’s the color combination that does it—or doesn’t do it—for me. Some gentler colors would have worked, even with that big bow.
Personally I like the contrast with the bright pink, but I think part of the problem may be how the colors turn out on camera ~ that’s some pretty strong flash she’s under, and I suspect it’s washing out what is a very vibrant pink into a more pepto-bismo color on film. Look at the highlights on her skirt ~ it looks grey, even though it’s obviously a black dress. Color aside, I think it was well tailored and still stands out as an elegant, wearable update of the traditional hanbok look. I wouldn’t give it a 10, but it definitely didn’t deserve the drubbing it got.
The giant bow is a definite turn OFF.
Why, Sandra, why??
Ugly.
Don’t even compare with the one that Lee Young-ae is showing in the picture. That one is beautiful.
Although hanbok is still a turn-off type of clothes, anyway. Beautiful from the cultural standpoint, bad from the sex-appeal point of view.
Compared with a kimono…yep, kimono rules!
Ok, I don’t think clothes, even runway and and red carpet should always be designed with the male gaze in mind. That said, I still think this outfit has plenty, although I will concede that I would like the bow to be much, much smaller than it is, or perhaps at least sewn to the bodice. I think that without the bow, people wouldn’t have any problem with this dress. On the other hand, without the bow it’s a lot less identifiable as hanbok. . .
Actually, I just included Lee Yeong-ae’s hanbok because it was the highest profile extra-Korea wearing of hanbok. I really didn’t like this one, both for color choice (way, way too old lady-ish! and sort of muddy. I wish she’d gone with a cool color for the jeogori, or a darker color for the skirt for a little contrast. I know there’s more than a few halmoni with that color combination) and while I like the idea of the extreme cut of the collar, I don’t think it worked. It’s a half-assed attempt at being daring, like they couldn’t commit to a bigger break with tradition. I just thought it was too sedate, with one little jab to say “I’m cool, I’m with it” like the class nerd trying to pick up on one trend and pretend to be cool.
And anyone who thinks kimono are sexy has never tried wearing one. Lack of breath is not fun, and like corsets their attraction is mostly for men as viewers. Someday, too, I’ll bring up all the photos of truely garish, ugly kimono I’ve seen over the years. It’s very, very frightening.
Maximus, I disagree 100%.
I like it. I think the 한복 is totally hot in general too.
I think kimonos are really unsexy. They’re kind of like an anti-corset. Instead of accentuating a woman’s figure it does just the opposite. Makes them look like a stick.
The 한복 on the other hand has a big gown that goes all the way up to the, umm… *clears throat* boobies, drawing attention to them. Then there’s the big long gown that both elongates the figure and at the same time adds to the womanly shape. Basically, the opposite effect of the kimono.
But that’s just my take.
just because the dress is representing a different culture, doesn’t mean that it isn’t an ugly dress. a pretty hanbok would have gotten good comments from critics.
to me, it just looks like a big ugly tube dress with a huge bow on it. ughh if she just pulled her dress up a bit, it would make me happier. the fit is awkward…the pink part cuts her off at a weird place and it’s sagging and looks like her chest is going to be exposed at any moment…i don’t know, it’s just…ugh, ill-fitting. plus the bright pink color paired with the black is way too 80s and kinda looks dated.
just really really rubs me the wrong way.
but i guess it’s just one of those things that people either love or hate, because i’ve heard both sides about this dress.
i think hanboks are beautiful, and i’ve certainly seen better looking modern takes on them. i think sandra oh is beautiful and a wonderful actress…kudos to her for trying to bring a bit of her culture onto the red carpet, but she could’ve done better.
Eh, the hanbok is also ideal for hiding surprise pregnancies.
I agree that clothing oughtn’t be judged entirely on sex appeal. (Unless we’re talking about clothing designed to be judged entirely on sex appeal).
The hanbok isn’t my favorite piece of “ethnic” clothing, but it has merits. When done well, it can look nice. It doesn’t accentuate the body—neither does the male one, for that matter—but certain color combinations can look nice.
Like I said, I think Oh is getting a free pass among some because she tried to be ethnic, and criticizing something ethnic is *gasp* un-PC. I think had she worn a more “traditional” hanbok, like the one in the picture for instance, it would have been a huge hit. But now, not only did she wear a dress ugly by western standards, she wore one ugly by Korean/hanbok standards, too.
I agree that being “ethnic” doesn’t automatically make something beautiful or give it an automatic pass (as I said, I have many an ugly hanbok, ugly kimono, ugly leiderhosen story to tell), but that said I think in modernized forms like this it does introduce another set of criteria on which it must be judged. In addition to being a dress it also seeks to stand in as a representative item of that genre . . .
So, as an evening dress? It’s nice, I think, except for WOW! There’s a GIGANTIC BOW (which, as I’ve pointed out doesn’t look nearly so stunningly large and bow like depending on the angle)
And as a modern hanbok, well, I’ve repeatedly said I liked it, so I guess it’s time to stop beating that horse.
But that said, I don’t think that if we acknowledge a piece of clothing is intentionally hearkening to a traditional model that it should be knocked for (gasp) adhering to that model. And it seems not just a little un-PC but also a little silly to say that a countries traditional dress is “not sexy” and “doesn’t accentuate the body” because culture that produced that garment just may not share your personal opinion of what garments should do or how clothing should accomplish that task.
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