Pretty people looking… not so pretty, actually

by javabeans

I don’t usually comment on fashion, usually because I don’t care enough about what makes fashion “good” or “trendy” or “cutting-edge.” But I DO know bad fashion when I see it, and while I was scrolling through a bunch of the latest photos hitting the (internet) wire, I was taken aback by how uniformly bad things looked at the Gucci 2008-2009 FW Collection, which attracted stars on the evening of August 7 at Seoul’s W Hotel.

For instance, Lee Dong-wook above? Freshly shaven after playing a scruffy bad boy in the recent drama La Dolce Vita, he looks youthful and handsome… from the neck up. I don’t know where he got came up with the rest of the look, though — an ill-fitting gray suit, with a brightly patterned scarf in the middle of sweltering summer? The end patterning on the scarf looks like a rug my parents own (albeit a very pretty rug), and has he lost so much weight that the ends of his belt trail down under the jacket to peek out over his leg? (And brown studded leather with pinstriped gray twill? Even I know that doesn’t go.)

And he’s not even the worst of the offenders. For instance:

(1) Lee Jin-wook‘s headstone will soon read: “Death by Paisley Scarf.” Probably not the manliest way to go.
(2) Speaking of manly, someone hit it on the head recently when saying Jang Geun-seok is uncomfortable with his prettiness, because he’s always trying to overcompensate by overdoing it in the opposite direction. But instead of looking masculine, now he looks halfway between a lipstick and butch lesbian (both into biker chic), when he should just embrace his inherent metrosexshuality. OWN THE PRETTY, Jang Geun-seok! The pretty likes you.

(3) I know Lee Jia likes to think of herself as punk rock (really more punk rawk, and lite at that) but when you try to punk up your froofy ballerina tutu (cuz black is so badass), and then matchy-matchy your gold ruffly hem to go with your gold studded belt, you end up merely looking like Avril Lavigne Goes Kentucky Derby. Yee-haw!
(4) Kim Haneul is a pretty woman with bad lipstick, who looks stoned, and is wearing FRINGE on silk. With a sequined skirt. My eyes glaze over looking at all the weird texture combinations, sort of like Kim Haneul’s eyes here.

(5) Lee Eun-sung looks fresh and pretty despite wearing a brocade carpet. And Ha Suk-jin looks handsome, but for the neckwear that looks like his Project Runway designer ran out of sewing time, couldn’t finish a shirt, and shoved a swath of silk under his jacket as a substitute. (That would be this guy.) WHAT is with the scarves, men??
(6) I like the patterning on Sung Yuri‘s dress, but the pink frosted lipstick makes her look like she’s recreating the ’70s Farrah look.
(7) Lee Yeon-hee does gladiator chic!

(8) Yeah the dress is pretty busy, and maybe she shouldn’t have paired a loud belt with an even louder dress, and sure she looks dazed, but Kim Jung-eun looks pretty good, actually, considering.
(9) Oh, Lee Dong-wook. Ditch the scarf and we’ll talk. Actually, ditch the clothes, period. (Mm, naked Lee Dong-wook.)
(10) Ji Hyun-woo looks like he borrowed an old suit from Dad because he doesn’t own one and couldn’t be bothered to find one that fit. This one screams My First Job Interview (or Going to Big Bro’s Wedding When I’d Rather Be Playing With My Soft-Rock Band).

(11) Kim Sung-soo doesn’t actually look bad, but he does look like every other stiff, boring businessman he’s played in his dramas.
(12) Is it just me, or does it look like everything about Ha Jung-woo starts shrinking the further down you go?
(13) Cha Yeh-ryun doesn’t look bad, either, only she’s wearing the same busily patterned toga-dress that every other actress is wearing. And I hate that it seems gold is back in. If the CELEBS look cheap wearing expensive gold colors, what hope do us mere penny-pinching mortals have?