이번 봄/여름에는 신문들의 패션 기사들이 계~속 “minimalism“에 대해서 보도하고 있었어요:

2007년 패션 키워드는 장식을 최소화한 ‘미니멀리즘’. 샌들 역시 화려한 메인 장식은 줄이되 세부 디자인을 강조하는 스타일이 뜨고 있다.

오늘도 나왔어요. 근데 동아갓콤의 기사에 같이 나온 사진을 보니까 이 기사들이 “미니말리즘”이란 개념을 뭔지 아나요? 왜냐하면 이 장식 많고 리본도 있고 빤짝빤짝하는 신발들이 미니말인가요? 혹시 기사가 틀린 사진들을 잘 못 오리신 것아닌가요?

Hmm. The fashion sections of the newspapers have been talking about “minimalism” for weeks now. But do they even know what it is? Take Donga.com’s article on the subject, for instance. The shoes above are some of the examples they give. Huh? These shoes with shiny metallics, bows and ribbons, and gaudy textures? This is minimal? Did they upload the wrong pictures by mistake?

흠. “미니말”이라고 생각하면 보통 “단순한” 아니면 “데코레이션 없는” 걸로 생각을 해요. 안그렇신가요? 사실 길거리에 미니말리즘이란 개념으로 나온 신발이 그렇게 많은 것도아닌데도 그런 사람들을 찾을 수 있었어요. 휴. 동아! 좀…복습하시지오. 메롱!

Minimal. Hmm. When I think about that word, I also think of “simple” or “unornamented.” Right? And in actuality, I don’t think there are all that many shoes made along the lines of “minimal” in Korea, but there are some out there. Take a look. And Donga – hit the design books and review a little, willya?

And now for some shoes that have a bit of ornamentation, but which still have a feel of “simple.” Look at those pictures after the jump.

그리고 좀덜 미니말…장식은 좀 있는데도 신발의 디자인 포인트는 단순한 느낌…밑에 “”링크를 누르시면 계속 보세요.

(more…)

 

 nyc trends: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

서울에서 사는 건 조아하지만 뉴욕을 많이 그리워해요. 그래서 거기서 사는 친구와 친척들이 많아서 다행이에요. 우리 친언니는 맨날 아직도 패션 소식을 해주는데 서울처럼 플랫슈즈가 아주 인기 좋대요. 근데 우리는 그런 스타일을 너무 싫어하고 우리같은 여자들은 stilletto를 너무 사랑하는 거예요. 물론 모든 사람은 나름대로 자기 좋아하ㅡㄴㄴ 스타일있겠지만 우리한테는 두가지 슈즈 종류있다고 생각해요: hot아니면 not. 좋아한다면=’핫.’ 싫다는 의미는=’낫.’ ^^

HOT

NOT HOT

I really enjoy living in Seoul, but I miss living in New York City and I think about it every day. Luckily, I still have family and friends who live there to give me updates. My sister tells me that flats, in all different colors, with huge embellishments on the toe, are all the rage. She hates them and so do I, but then again we’re the type of girls who prefer stilettos over flats. Everyone has their own opinion and style, of course, but in our world, shoes go into one of two categories, HOT or NOT HOT.

I could have called this post “From Tiger to Kitten Heel in Seconds” but I didn’t. Anyway, from Naver News:

단 1초 만에 8cm가 넘는 하이힐을 3cm 높이의 평범한 신발로 조정할 수 있는 ‘높이 조절 하이힐’이 인기를 끌고 있다고 20일 미국 WCBS TV가 보도했다.

언론 보도에 따르면, 한 켤레의 신발로 패션과 편안함을 동시에 누릴 수 있는 신개념 하이힐을 개발한 회사는 미국 필라델피아에 위치한 ‘카밀레온힐스’.

What’s that, you say? Adjustable high heels? Naver News talks about the Philadelphia local news coverage of this ingenious idea, but it’s even better when you see the video at CamileonHeels.com:

Naver씨! 여기는 인터넷이거든요? 그래서 유튜브비디오가 나와있으면 스크린캡펴만 하지말고 비디오자체를 보여주시죠? 오케이? 유갓잇? ㅋㅋ

에에이. Naver씨 – 농담이잖아요, 농담. 에이, 왜 그렇세요? 장난인지…알지…오? 헤헤.

From Sports Donga.

According to Sports Seoul:

지난해 불기 시작한 미니 원피스 바람이 올해에도 이어지고 있다…신발은 반짝이는 소재의 발가락이 살짝 보이는 오픈 토 힐을 신으면 도시적인 느낌을 강조할 수 있다.

Ouch. Cute dress, but the shoes…? 미니 원피스는 좋은데…슈즈는 좀~?

그리고 동영상을 함 보세요 (좀 재미가 없지만). Watch the news piece on the subject, although it’s in Korean, only playable on Windows, and not really that good.

What Koreans call the “미니 원피스” (mini “one-piece”) appeared on the scene last summer, but will be hitting like gangbusters this summer, according to that paper. Indeed, our cameras caught it creeping onto the streets of Seoul from the first days of warm weather, which our cameras spotted back in early April.

Very nice..센스…굿!

And as the summer approaches, the heat is definitely on. In combination with other trends, such as patent shoes, bright and/or metallic colors, and the ubiquitous retro leggings that are now de rigueur, variations from casual to cute are pretty common. I’ll let the article do the talking to my Korean readers:

셔츠형 원피스 안에 민소매 원피스를 입고 앞 단추를 잠그지 않은 채 벨트를 착용하면 세련된 느낌을 줄 수 있다. 하늘거리는 검정 스커트와 함께 입어도 좋다. 스키니진이나 레깅스 위에 입으면 캐주얼한 느낌을 살릴 수 있어 활용도가 높은아이템이다.

So expect to see these worn in combination with or even as t-shirts, along with the also-ubiquitous “skinny jeans” and other accessories to make the look more flexible, casual, and demure – especially for the more conservative dressers or women who don’t feel so comfortable with showing a lot of leg, which is common in a fashion culture where even having defined calf muscles causes people to think of themselves as having “daikon radish legs” – the dreaded 무다리. Minidress with jeans, anyone?

Cute, I guess.

아니면 t-셔츠와 반짝반짝하는 미니 원피스? 퓨쳐리즘과 캐쥬얼? How about a t-short over a minidress, and with sparklies all around, to boot?

“멋쟁이신사 나가신다 길을길을 삐겨라~!”

여러가지 콤비네이션을 보일 수 있을 거예요. 일반적으로 이 원피스스타일은 유행을 탈 수록 미니원피스도 인기 많아지는 것같네요.

Covering all the bases.

Since the “one-piece dress” is coming back into style, so is the minidress, it seems. Look for all sorts of combinations and styles this summer, with the trademark Korean use of jeans, leggings, tights, and thigh-high/calf stockings used to dilute the sizzle factor for more everyday use.

I love the idea of reuse. It just makes so much sense. I really love when a new product is made, with good clean clever design, out of materials that would otherwise just be sitting in a garbage pile for the next century or so. Here are two examples of companies taking something old and turning it into something new and better for everyone.

Worn Again, a U.K. based company, makes their funky shoes and accessories from 99% recycled materials. They use tires, seat belts, and even firemen’s trousers!

Upper: Firemen’s trousers, scrap leather from car seats.
Lining: Lining from firemen’s trousers, jeans and men’s shirts.
Sole: Recycled rubber.

Car tyre, scrap car seat leather, seat belts.
Leather in the sandals comes from all sorts of different cars so each sandal is unique and may not be the same as image.
This makes every single pair completely unique and there will not be another one in the world exactly like yours!

Nike has figured out how to give their customers more use out of their products. The Reuse-A-Shoe program collects old shoes and turns them into what they call Nike Grind material. It has been used to make all kinds of athletic surfaces. I love a squishy track–like the one around Seokchon Lake (석촌) and Lotte World.

For neat stuff made from old stuff in Seoul, there’s a great little cafe/shop in Insadong, right near Biwon, called Fair Trade Coffee. They have a workshop where they make purses and wallets from leather couches, slippers for your house from used jeans, and all sorts of other clever products. They also have lovely tea.

If you know of any other places in Seoul to find eco-friendly fashion, Miss Koco wants to know all about it!