이화미디어에서 온 문성식씨는 우리 북 런칭 파티에 대해 좋은 평가를 썼고 책 2권도 사신 거네요! 너무 좋은 글을 써줘서 고맙고 우리 Seoul Fashion Report를 지원해주셔서 고맙습니다!

Mr. Moon from Ewha Media has written a nice little review of our book launch party and our book. He even bought two! Thanks for doing the first independent Korean write-up of the book and for helping us get information out to the Korean public. [in Korean]

Photo: Denise Lejcar

Our book launching party was a great success! A lot of people came out, and a lot of people bought books — but the most important thing for us was the extremely positive reaction people seem to be having with our work. One of the most common reactions is: “Wow! The book is MUCH bigger than I thought it would be!” Well, in the case of the photographer-wanting-to-make-a-photo-book world, bigger IS better. Really — what more is there to say?

우리 북런칭 파티가 큰 성공였어요! 많은 사람들이 왔었고 많은 책도 팔았는데 더 중요한 건 왔었던 손님들이 우리 사진집을 보니까 반응이 좋은 것같더라고요. 그리고 많이 들었던 말은 ‘책은 생각보다 크네요!’라고요. 크기는 크죠?! ㅋㅋㅋ

Photo: Kristin Cato

There were a lot of people coming and going yesterday, and we hope to see more of you all in the future. And as promised, we had a free studio-level booth to shoot you looking your best, along with friends and even family.

많은 사람들이 진짜 왔다갔다 하고 있었네요. 우리 약속한대로 멋진 스튜디오 사진들도 찍어드린 거예요. 좋은 친구들의 모습이 좋은 기념이죠?

Photo: Denise Lejcar

We want to also thank the Anna and Tae Young, as well as the other staff of Berlin for doing a wonderful job helping with our party.

또 Berlin의 주인들 아나와 태영에계 많은 감사하고 싶고 — 덕분에 너무 좋은 파티를 즐겨웠어요.

Want to buy a book? You can simply transfer money directly into our domestic Korean business bank account, or also order via credit card online. For the Korean buyer, please send an email to confirm that you sent a book, and any other notes for us, such as shipping address.

책을 사고 싶다면 직접 계좌이체로 저희 사업용통장으로 보내셔도 되는데 그렇게 하시면 꼭 메일로 [Email address: orders #AT# feetmanseoul.com - replace #AT# with @ ] 보낼 주소나 딴 요청이 있으면 저희한테 알려주는 부탁합니다.

[국내에서 계좌이체로 더 편하면]
국민 827901-04-046723
영문으로: MICHAELHURT (터틀)
– 우편으로 받으시려면 75,000원을 보내신 다음에 email [Email address: orders #AT# feetmanseoul.com - replace #AT# with @ ]로 집주소를 꼭 보내주세요.

[FOR PAYPAL OR CREDIT CARD ORDERS]

Shipping options

$50 (no shipping, fill out note) $50.00 $50 + $10 (domestic shipping inside Korea) $60.00 Land ($50 + $20 intl. shipping outside Korea) $70.00 Express Air ($50 + $60 intl. airmail outside Korea) $110.00

아직도 한국에서는 ‘에이즈’에 대한 잘 못 알고 있는 것들이 있어요. 그리고 특히 한국에서는 HIV 바이러스 걸린 사람들이 (AIDS는 다른 상태이고) 말도 안되는 정도로 이 사람들이 큰 차별이 받고 있고요. 일단 이런 행사들 때문에 좋은 정보를 얻을 수 있고 무료 콘돔들도 받으러 와요. 콘돔을 써야 되는 걸 알지? 안다고? 그런 받으러 와요! ㅋㅋ 내일(12월6일)의 ‘Rubber Seoul‘이란 행사를 참석해봐요!

Rubber Seoul: On Dec 6th in the afternoon, a series of lecture will be held at Hongik University. Talks will focus on Human Rights issues that HIV/AIDS carriers face in Korea, as well as medical facts and statistics. Individuals will also speak sharing stories of why they became activitists and how their lives have been affected by HIV/AIDS.

In the evening of the 6th, 15 bands will play at 4 locations throughout the Hongdae area. All proceeds raised throughout the evening will go to Little Travellers and Grassroots Uganda.

“Lee Myungbak and Kim Jongil in Secret Summit”

할로윈은 진짜 한국에 왔네요. 5년전이면 일반 한국인들이 ‘할로윈’인지 신경 안쓰고 몰랐을 거예요. 근데 요즘에는 할로윈 행사같은 걸 많이 하고 무서운 귀신이나 그런 테마로 데코레이션을 하는 데 많이 볼 수 있어요. 근데 좀 짜증나게 하는 부분이 어른들이 할로윈을 즐겁게 하는 걸 보면 좋다고 생각하지만 너무 ‘성인’할로윈이 된 것같더라고요. 요즘에 어디서나 할로윈이란 계절이 그냥 야하게 입을 수 있다는 핑계가 된 것같아요. 특히 여자의 복장: ‘섹시 마녀’나 ‘야한 여고생’아니면 ‘불량한 간호사’로 나오는 사람들이 너무 많더라고요. 휴. 좀 창조적으로 합시다! 조금이라도 노력하면 진짜 많은 차이가 나는 거예요.

Halloween has really come to Korea — 5 years ago, you would rarely see Korean nationals putting on costumes — with stores and decorations now lo longer being a rarity. However, Halloween for adults has definitely become too ADULT, especially for women, for seemingly half of whom Halloween has simply become an excuse to be “naughty”, e.g. the “naughty witch” or “naughty schoolgirl” or “naughty nurse.” Yawn. But we were able to spy some truly creative costumes out there over the weekend. We love it when people put in EFFORT. As mom used to say, when you do put in even a little bit of real effort, it shows in the end.

Aaaaaagh! ㅋㅋㅋ

“Ajumma들.”

역시. / Oh, yeah.

조선시대의 양반과 유흥집에서 일하는 섹시한 색시.

Chosun-era gentryman and bar girl.

예쁘라. / Work it, Chosun-style!

우리 패션 일기를 하는 Miss Seonja를 M2의 줄에 우연히 만났는데 친구들이랑 한번 찍었어요. 아직도 많은 한국인들이 완전히 할로윈에 빠진 것보다는 아직도 보수적인 한국 사회에서는 귀여운 머리밴드에 붙여있는 귀나 그런 것까지만 입거나 쓰는 거예요.

We ran into Miss Seonja and her entourage outside M2. Most Korean women are still playing it safe with cute headgear of some type. Halloween is still largely the stuff of foreigners, or Koreans who hang out with foreigners.

한국에서는 재부분 한국인들이 할로윈이 뭔지 알지만 보통 행사로 하는 거예요. 무슨 이벤트같은 것 있으면 직원들이 할로윈 복장을 입는 거나 일반사람들이 아주 간단하게 꾸미는 것같아요. 그리고 아무리 전혀 할로윈 복장을 안 입더라도 할로윈복을 입는 사람들을 보러 온 젊은 애들이 많은 것같아요. 예를들어 이번에 홍대에서는 사람들이 유난히 많았던 것같아요. 밑에 사진에서는 Club Day를 홍보한팀이 있는 거예요.

For most Koreans, Halloween has become the stuff of the “event” — as in promotions, advertising, perhaps some employees dressed up in Halloween-themed items. But now, the holiday is at least recognized as happening that day; and even if many young Koreans themselves don’t dress up, one gets the sense that a lot of people come to Itaewon and Hongdae to watch others dressing up. For example, this year, Hongdae was absolutely packed, and we ran into a group of folks doing a promotion for Club Day.

많은 남자들이 할로윈의 날에 여장하는 거네요. 혹시 복장보다 조금 더 큰 호기심이 있는 것아닌가 싶네요. 미국이든 한국이든 마찬가지로. 그리고 한국방송을 보면 남자들이 맨날 여장하는 것같아요. 한국에서는 호기심이 더 많은 것아닌가요? 하야튼 ‘그녀는 너무 예뻤지?’ ㅋㅋ

There was the obligatory boy-as-girl “costume.” Perhaps it’s the one day when the “real person” can “come out?” She’s pretty, no?

근데 한국인들 중에 정말 창조적인 룩을 하나 봤는데…

We did run into a Korean guy who had one truly crazy costume, though.

“Crazy Freddie Mercury”

Source: Starpulse

진짜 닮았네요. 잘한 것 인정. ‘킬러 프레디 머큐리?’ ㅋㅋㅋ 너무 오리지널하다, 진짜.

I have to admit — that’s pretty good. Freddie Mercury…as a killer? I think that one wins on creativity points alone.

또 다른 우리 패션일기 친구를…Senan! 진짜 우연히 만났단 말이예요. Senan과 남친. 멋지죠? 계속 길거리에서 잘 만든 할로위 복장을 찾아러 다녔죠…

We also ran into Senan — I swear this wasn’t planned! — while making our rounds. And there were more cool costumes, although we had to look hard. I liked the attitude behind this one…

‘미래적 인어공주’ / “Futuristic mermaids”

참. 정말 웃겼어요. 그리고 은색 장갑 — 나이스.

That’s funny. And I loved the gloves. Yep, leave it to the foreigners to go all the way.

이 장면에서는 Spiderman이 Superman을 패배시킨 거다. (박스 오피스에서 한 것처럼…ㅋㅋㅋ)

Spiderman beats Superman (well, at least in the box office, anyway). But this…

“Friar Tuck”

진짜 하드코어. 장난아니야. 정말 몇 개월 후까지 그 할로윈 컨셉의 효과를 느낄 수 있겠다. ㅋㅋㅋ 그리고 뒤에 그 물레바퀴를 좀 봐봐요. 나 똑똑하지롱! ㅋㅋㅋ

Hardcore, dude. Haaaardcore. That Halloween costume’s gonna leave a mark on several months more of his life. Don’t you love the waterwheel? Ain’t I smaht?

그 다음에 신촌에 가서 우리 동창 후배의 King’s Tap이란 빠로 갔는데 (여기는 Facebook 그룹) 아주 재밌는 할로윈 파티를 하고 있었네요. 분위기는 좋고 사람들도 재밌었는데.

Then I went to Shinchon, to The King’s Tap (and here’s the Facebook page), which is a new bar owned by an alumni friend. It’s pretty chill, and they threw a good Halloween party. At which I encountered some cool costumes…

“Sarah Palin”

진짜 가장 꿈찍한 인물이었다. 나한테. 근데 가장 흥미스럽고 제일 사교적인 복장은 바로 이 것. ‘재생’버튼을 누리고…

The scariest of them all! Hehe. This one was pretty funny, and a very social costume. You push play…

그녀는 막 어색하게 ‘로봇’같은 춤을 쳐요. 근데 계속 하니까 좀 썰렁하게 된 순간에 버튼을 누른 사람이 끊기고 싶은 거잖아요. 그때는 ‘아!’란 생각을 들면서 ‘중지’버튼을 누르게 되는 거예요. 참. 재밌네.

And she dances a kinda goofy version of “The Robot” until it gets a bit awkward, at which point you figure out the joke and hit the “STOP” button. I thought it was cute as hell.

김밥. / “Kim bap.”

B-보이. 사실 ‘걸’로 표현해야 되는데. ㅋㅋ

A pimp b-boy (ahem, girl).

또 따른 b-boy의 멤버. 80년대식 라디오까지. 롯데에서 샀다고 했는데. ㅋㅋ

And another member of his crew. Loved the Lotte boombox.

We’ve covered Club Cargo before, but since going again, we wanted to highly recommend the place in general, since it’s one of the chillest and most comfortable places to drink and dance in Seoul. The people are laid-back, they mix, people talk, and there’s an overall minimum of unnecessary ‘tude in there. It really is one of those places where people go to simply have a good time, sans le bullshit.

FMS가 이미 클럽 카고에 대한 기사를 쓴  경험이 있으나 요즘 ’핫’ 한 클럽들보다 편하게 술마시면서 춤출수 있는 곳 중에 하나라고 적극추천하고 싶어서 다시 한번 기사를 써본다. 또 카고에 오는 클러버들은 성격들이 까칠하기 보다 굉장히 쿨하다.

OK, I’m getting old. But that’s NOT the reason I don’t go clubbing much anymore — my standards have just gone up. If I find something I like that’s high-quality, I still passionately like it. That doesn’t change with age, especially when it comes to music. And my musical “home” is hip hop, but it’s hard to find a talented, old-school DJ here in Seoul — which to me, requires mixing, scratching, and knowing how to put one’s hand on real vinyl when a needle’s in the groove. That takes real skill on top of having good taste in music and knowing how to move the crowd. As Rakim said, that’s “move the crowd” is what “MC” means.

나도 확실히 어느정도 늙었다는 생각이 들정도로 클럽을 별로 즐기진 않지만 그만큼 나의 기준들이 더 까다로워 진것 같다. 요즘 유행하는 클럽 문화도 물론 좋아한다. 나이랑 상관없이 음악도 예외는 아니지만 내가 가장 공감할수 있는 장르의 음악은 힙합이다. 안타깝게도 서울엔 올드스쿨 힙합 디제이들을 만나기 어렵다.

So, it’s too bad that club cargo’s first hip hop night, held on the first Friday of every month, wasn’t as populated as it could have been, since the DJ talent was definitely there, and there were even a couple live rap acts that were, unlike many amateur acts I’ve seen, pretty good. I missed all but the very end of one of them, which had a white guy rapping in Korean. Well.

이번달 부터 카고에서 매달 금요일 첫주째 힙합나이트에 훌륭한 디제잉 과 라이브 공연이 있었음에도 불구하고 사람들이 많이 오지 않아서 아쉬움이 많이 남았다.

The main attraction was DJ Dojo, who could mix and scratch well, and knew how to put on the tunes from back in the day, ones that are a joy to hear on the large speakers again — RUN DMC, Bell Biv Devoe, Salt-n-Pepa, etc.

디제이 도조의 스크래칭 과 한때 히트 쳤던 곡들을 흥미롭게 과시해서 고마울 정도였다.

It’s funny how 80’s rock is “retro” and certain clubs in Hongdae are packed, while you put on a well-mixed string of the old-school good stuff and it’s just “old.” One of the reasons, I suspect, is that the stuff we know as “old school” was before people knew many specific American rap songs before Eminem and 50 Cent, when rap went mainstream enough in KOREA for people to know the music. And hip hop, unfortunately, associated with the overcrowded several clubs around the Hongdae area that simply play top 40 club hits on heavy rotation to sweaty teenagers and early twenty-somethings — not the refreshing “retro” feel that turns small clubs playing bad 80’s music into cool places, while old school hip hop clubs and parties don’t get to enjoy the equivalent association.

In short, the main problem seems to be that the average Korean old fogies like me — in their late 20’s and early 30’s — don’t have a memory bank of old American rap and hip-hop songs to draw from. Sure, a few might, but that’s not enough to fill clubs, especially when people associate hip-hop here with extreme youth. But last Friday night, the people who knew or in the know (and even some who weren’t) were having a great time — because the music was just THAT good.

80년대 락 음악이 아직도 홍대 클럽에서 울려퍼지는 소리가 나는 반면에 올드 힙합은 들리지 않는게 나는 참 신기할 다름이 없다. 내가 생각하기엔 한국에서 힙합이 대중화 된지 얼마 안돼서라고 생각한다. 한국인들은 힙합을 떠올릴때 에미넴이나 50센트 같은 래퍼들이 생각나고 요즘 힙합 클럽들도 40위 안에 드는 최신곡 들만 틀어주는 것도 이유 중에 하나라고 본다.

결국엔 나 같은 2030세대들은 올드 힙합을 기억으로만 되새겨야 되는게 아쉽다. 물론 힙합 클럽들이 올드 힙합을 틀긴 하지만 아직도 불충분하다고 생각한다. 카고에 첫 올드 힙합 이벤트에 온 사람들은 그 결과가 어땠는지 알 것이다. 성공적이었으니까.

And there was quite a mix, with all kinds of friendly foreign types, along with Koreans of all stripes.

다양한 사람들이 파티에 참여를 했다.

This included the main DJ, whom you met above.

디제이 도조와의 단체 사진.

One of the featured rappers, also now a familiar face, but who was gracious enough to also pose for a portrait.

래퍼중에 한명인 그녀가 카메라를 위해서 포즈 한번 취해 주는 모습.

And the party’s organizer, Venus, whose t-shirt helps you pick her out in a crowd.

그리고 파티 관리를 한 비너스, 셔츠에도 이름이 비너스!

We even had two guys making the walls into graffiti art — LIVE. It was very cool to watch them work.

또 벽 쪽에서는 두명의 남자들이 그래피티 아트를 라이브로 하고 있었다. 그 광경은 매우 신기했었다.

And one of the artists taking a portrait break with me while he inspects the wall.

아트스트 한명이 카메라를 위해서 잠깐 포즈를 취하는 중.

Venus is definitely pulling the strings tonight.

비너스는 그날밤 재대로 물 올랐다.

The mixing and the dancing went on and it turned out to be a great night, even if it did get started off slow.

그날 파티는 서서히 물 오르면서 점점 흥미로워졌다.

I definitely encourage you to check out Club Cargo, home to some very good general music and parties like Hidden, Junglist, and Dojo, among others. They’ve got good music, a great bar, a chill atmosphere and space, as well as friendly staff — and you can actually have room to breathe, talk, and relax. Drinks are reasonable (try the Sangria pitcher for 25,000 — you get more good juicin’ than the 2.5 sip-o-drinks you’d likely get in Kangnam), and there’s space to sit and chill.

카고의 특징은 좋은 음악 뿐만 아니라 친절한 직원들 때문에 편하게 술도 마시면서 즐길수 있다. 음료수 가격도 매우 친절하다. 상그리아 피처가 25,000원 정도하는데 왠만한 강남 클럽 음료 가격에 절반이다.

Cargo is a chill place that definitely has won me over. And since we’re gonna try to keep you as up-to-date with their events as possible, you’re gonna check them out, right? If you do, tell somebody that FMS sent ya. Because it definitely fits the FMS sense of style.

모든이들도 나처럼 카고에 빠져 들었으면 한다!

—Original post by FMS
Korean 번역 by Erotic Orange