Is it me, or is the summer going to be TOOC (Totally Out Of Control™)? 어머머머머…이번 봄/여름은 너무 야하게 다니는 거아닌가요? 언니여러분 - 지금부터 헬쓰! 하나, 둘…! (PopSeoul.com으로 가보시죠 - 영어도 연습! 하나…둘…하나…둘…!)

The ladies over at PopSeoul.com seem to see the trend coming down the line, too. They ask “Who Pops It the Most” out of these six pictures, but they’re all looking way too fabulous too tell. 1…2…4…? Hey, whatever.

Well, upon further review…2 and 6 get my vote.#2 because they’re the least awkward looking, but #6 looks like she’s in the middle of a dance performance – work it, girl!

This was an extensive post I was supposed to put up a long time ago, but just never quite finished it.

You know, we all know – the 80’s have returned.

Tight jeans are back, pumps are back, even neon colors are back.

Especially pink.

Shades of colors from pure, primary red to pimpin’ purple are everywhere. Cute pink, hot pink, and pretty pink have not only returned, but are back with a vengeance.

그 걸 아시죠? 당연히 아시겠죠 – 80년대 다 시 돌아온 걸. 이 사진을 보시면 원래 Halloween 복장 가게의 사이트에서 찾은 “Shoes from the 80’s”이란 사이트인데 웃기는 건 모든 예날에 인기있었던 신발은 인제 리바이벌 패션이 된 거잖아요. 신기하며 무섭다고 생각해요. 80년대에서 벗어 난 줄 알았는데… ㅠㅠ

ㅋㅋ

For example, each and every one of these shoes – from a costume shop featuring them as “Shoes from the 80’s” – is back in style. The shapes are a bit different, but the animal prints, pink and other solid colored pumps, and even white are back in.

Put some stirrup pants and a cheetah-print top on and we’re Back to the Future with a quickness.

The young lady spotted below was in veritable pink overdrive, and exuding girlish coquettishness in a way that is hard to convey in writing or even through photographs. She was trying to meet someone – male, I guessed from her tone of voice and expectant eagerness – and was dressed to kill. From the way she walked, she wasn’t taking any prisoners.

이 언니는 너무나 이쁘게 나오려고 했고 그 super-pink구두로 성공한 거예요. “우와! 대단하다”고 생각할 수 밖에 없었어요, 첨 봤을 때. 어떤 남자를 만나려고 나온 건데 – 막 귀여운 목소리로 통화하고 끊고 통화하고 위치를 성명하고 또 찾아보는 걸 보니까 – 그리 걷는 모습을 봤으면…야아아아…일단 대단한 겅Uㅆ어요.

근데 제일 눈에 띈 건 신발말이예요. 이 신발을 인터넷상에서 못 찾았는데 (아마 무슨 동대문 작은 개인 디자이너의 가게에서 샀을 걸) 내가 봤을때 좀 화려하면서 특이하고 좀 이쁜 것같아요.

누구 더 멋진가요? 이 윗언니는 좀 괜찮은 거아닌가요? 밑에 언니는 좀…뭐랄까? 촌스러운가? 오바인가? 웬지 위에 신발 맘에 드는데 밑에는 좀…아줌마스럽다고 할까?

Inevitable, we have to deal with the question of whether anyone can ever be too pink. Ya think? Is it possible?

Well, in theory, yes – too much pink is definitely possible. But if you can pull it off, well…
What do you think? Crazy cool or totally tacky? I am leaning towards tacky…

어떻게 생각들하시나용? 이 패션에대해서? Comments좀 쓰시지오!

There are a lot of things going on here in the background with the site, so I do apologize for the irregular posting and updates. In the background, we’ve been struggling with getting that Javascript bubble working right (you might have noticed this on the front page), as well as some troubles created by changing the structure of our links.

우리 한국인 멤버들이, 안녕하세요! 요즘에 여러가지 기술적인 엎그레드중이고 (그 콤멘트 풍선과 다른 몇 가지 변함) 그리고 사이트 디자인도 프로 디자이너랑 엎그레이드에 대해 얘기중이예요.

But hey, that’s just shop talk.

근데 우리 콘텐츠는 제일 중요하다고 생각하니까 인제 우리 사이트을 위해 짧은 글/post를 쓰고 싶은 사람을 찾는중에예요. 지금 3명을 찾았는데 2-3명더 필요 해요. 콘텐츠 점점 발전시켰지만 인제 우리 core team을 찾아가지고 큰 계획이 있으니까 빨리 얘기합시다! 그리고 벌써 얘기했던 사람들이 이고 근데 제가 충분히 설명안했거나 아니면 질문이 있으면 빨리 알려주세요. 빨리 제대로 시작하고 싶으니까 기회를 노치마세요! 우리 목적은 80% 한국어/ 20%영어 사이트 만들려고 하고 멋진 여라 멋진 다른 콘첸츠를 만듭시다! (제 한국말은 너무 엉둥하죠? ㅋㅋ 빨리 도와주세요~!)

What we’re looking to do as we expand the scope of this site is really generate the content that both the international and Korean audience want to see, while also making the site interesting to both men and women. To that end, we want to make the content as strong and varied as possible, which will bring in as wide a variety of readers and participants as possible, in a process that will help us produce even better, cooler content.

Towards that end, look forward to more types of content (to which we hope to have as much feedback as possible so we can concentrate on what YOU want), a major overhaul of the design, and more types of multimedia interaction than you can shake a stick at. This will mean more pictures, more moving pictures, and other cool stuff for you to feast your eyes on.

And right now, we want to let you know that we are looking for writers. Ask your Korean friends who might be interested in shoes to take a look at the site, register, and leave a comment or two, or to just get in touch directly.

And if you have any content to submit, please send it along. I know several of you have sent along pics, but we’re still mulling over how to place them in as we reorganize our content.

Elvira의 좋아할 수 있는 구두의 사진을 남긴 거예요. 너무 이쁜데 진짜 비싸요. 근데 비슷하게 이렇게 생긴 구두 많죠, 한국에? 해피 할로윈!

I’ve left you with some shoes that Elvira herself would approve of (thanks, Shoewawa). They’re a little pricy, but I’m sure you can use them for inspiration.

For all the members of our community, I’d like to thank you again for registering. 우리 community member가 되신 분들 - 등록하셔서 감사합니다! 모든 밑에 사진을 클릭하시면 확대됩니다. Don’t forget to click on the pics to enlarge!

This “photo story” happened sort of accidentally. I was planning just another “Audition” for a new model, whom I met by chance while walking past a coffee shop window. As is always the case, models are far more striking in person, and I always fear that a lot will be “lost in translation” over to the two-dimensional plane of the picture.

It’s why they say “you gain 10 pounds on television” or some folks claim that they “take bad pictures.” It’s because you have to know what you’re doing when you present yourself in such a small slice of reality, from the set and narrow angle of a camera lens.

And when it comes to scouting for foot models, let me tell you that it’s hard to make that part of the body look attractive, especially at such close range. That’s why, believe you me, the few people whose feet and legs look decent on camera are that much more attractive in real life. And in “Goldie’s” case, this is doubly true.

I had convinced her to let me take sample pictures with her just sitting in her seat, which seemed the least awkward thing to do, since she’d have to get up, leave her stuff, and pose for pictures of her feet in front of the main glass doors of this very busy coffee shop. So I just let the camera roll on motor drive while she “disrobed” her feet in front of me, took a few flash pics in the middle, then let the motor drive roll while she got her feet dressed again.

To my surprise, the results were very feminine, very sexy, very 멋있어.

I know you might not think, “Wow! Whoa! Hot!” from looking at the smaller version of the picture above, but click on the picture and see if you don’t think “Goldie’s” a prime candidate for a model on this site. She obviously hasn’t received a pedicure in at least the last three months (or any time in her recent memory), yet there isn’t a mark or blemish on her skin. No corns, bruise marks or discoloration from the straps of bad shoes, bruises on her toes or band-aids on her ankle, dead skin, bad cuticles – anything – other than perfectly smooth skin.

I really hope she agrees to come on with us and become one of our premiere models as our site starts to take shape and fulfill its master plan, which really does exist, I swear.

We’ve been looking for different types of talent, found in various styles and shapes of feet and legs. What you’ve seen so far in terms of the models who’ve been on the site so far – both as official “models” and the “auditions” we’ve been having – is the effort to reflect several different kinds of look from the very beginning: clean and cute with short toes, sexier long and skinny feet, plump and petite peds, and even feet that are just outright “hot.”

Now, I think “Goldie” provides a sophisticated set that are not initially striking, but are unusual in that they can stand the close attention of the camera and actually look better the closer you look. Add to that a natural femininity and grace that one would expect in a posed photo shoot – but which found expression during a single attempt without any particular effort – and I tend to think that this is a woman with a lot of potential and who captures just the kind of mood I was hoping to be able to find when I started this little project.

I feel lucky that our paths crossed, and it’s the hope of finding models like her (as a complement to the ones we’ve found already) that really makes me believe that we can gather the models we need to really get this project developinng into what it should be.

Again, I hope that – as members of our community who I want to help define the tone and direction of this site – you’ll start to comment and really get your reactions and ideas out there and make this project more interactive from now, the beginning. I am veritably waiting on the edge of my seat, finger hovering above the mouse, for some good suggestions to turn into reality, so c’mon, people – put me to work!

And I also want to thank “Goldie” and encourage her to come aboard. 사진 포즈해주셔서 너무 고맙고 계속 우리랑 프로젝트를 닽이 하셨으면 좋겠어요, 언니! 이 사이트가 아직도 실험적인 프로젝트인데 이 사dl트의 분위기와 “필링”을 발전하면서 이해주시고 도와주셨으면 좋겠네요.

And to my readers, I want to assure you that whatever you think about the site in its present state, there is so much more in the works, so many more ideas that haven’t even been tried out yet, so many positive suggestions and changes that will come from our growing list of partners – that it’s really safe to describe us now as sitting atop the very teeny, tiny tip of the iceberg. I’m really looking forward to taking this site to a new level and making it something that has never been seen yet. We’re not just another shoe site, nor are we an online shopping mall; we’re also not a “foot fetish site”, even if it does focus on feet and shoes. Anyway, don’t just take my word for it – watch as this site develops, help guide that development, and judge for yourself.

Boys! Don’t be afraid of thinking shoe fashion is just fabulous! It doesn’t make you gay, or a pervert, or a “fetishist.” Girls put a lot of time, effort, and money into appearance and fashion below the skirtline. What’s the harm in appreciating, right?

And girls – don’t be shy! Come talk shoes, compare notes, keep up with the new styles, find out what the other girls are wearing and where to get the really cool stuff.

Whether “Goldie” comes on board with us or not, the impromptu “shoot” was certainly very inspiring. Whatever she decides, she has helped definitely led me to think more concretely about a great many things, about which you will all learn more in the days to come.

Thanks for coming, registering, and hopefully continuing to return to Feet Man Seoul!

As a good student of signification and symbology back when I was taking classes in school and first starting to think about design, I was taken pleasantly aback at how obvious the connections were being made between the fetishized foot and heel, the woman’s body as a sexualized object, and even near-rape and prostitution in this video.
Here’s the full video, which is followed by a link to a Korean television concert version right below (just click on the screen), which has the lyrics on the screen, and about which I’ll briefly also talk below. For non-Korean speakers, you might want to read through this entire post before watching the first video.

What you will notice in the video are some pretty fetishy shots that are standard fare on the so-called “fetish” sites. I guess “fetish” is just a matter of how much you admit you’re looking.

Don’t even get me started on the phallic imagery of the lipstick or her man being impaled by other, more powerful men after she is sexually harassed. There’s also the footsie (and the foot) under that table that initiates her sexual laiason with her man, and signals her end after she has basically decided to kill herself by walking in front of the car – the camera lingers on her dead foot and red high heel that had been knocked off in the impact.

This video’s use of the foot and shoe – along with the lyrics and concept itself – is the very definition of “fetish” as a metonymic symbol of sexuality and desire. If you say this isn’t about “fetish,” then I guess you’ll just have to change the definition of the word. Sorry – I work in the fashion and design field; this is the way we think, is what I do. It’s also what effective video directors and songwriters do, too, so don’t make too short shrift of my insights, OK, girlfriends?

Here’s one of their television performances, where the content of the lyrics is almost as surprisingly entertaining as their complete inability to sing – intonation, anyone? Wow.

You get the gist of it as the group’s rising, swelling lyrics talk about trying to seduce a man by “putting on my makeup thickly, wearing high heels” in the hopes to make the man notice/come to her, followed up by “putting on my makeup even thicker” and “wearing even higher heels” to hold his attentions. The high wail on which the song ends is of one of the singers yelling, “Wearing even higher heels…!”

Maybe they should spend more effort of singing instruction and practice than worrying about the heels and makeup.

This is the bonus picture of Rachel offered to users as an incentive to register to the site. And the Feet Man doesn’t go back on his word!

Rachel here is briefly sporting a style that’s a bit more racy than her usual look. One look at her Shoebox should tell you that.

That’s all the commentary I’m gonna make. Just enjoy the view and thank Rachel for being such a good sport.