Korean fashion style 2009 has definitely been an exciting field in the world of trends. The global economic slowdown did affect Korean fashion last year, as people in Korea began to consider the spending power of their money seriously. The won, Korea’s currency, suffered devastating devaluations last year, preventing Korean consumers from indulging in personal luxuries such as fashion. For this year, Korean fashion style 2009 has showed a lot of energy. Korean consumers have regained some of their won’s value, and have been slowly coming back to spending in boutiques and fashion stores.
Korean fashion style 2009, as in the previous years, has largely been affected by European, particularly British fashion. Koreans have a penchant for following British fashion trends, just as Japanese fashion trends lean toward adhering to American styles. Thus, as brands such as DKNY, CK, and Nike are popular in Japan, so is the popularity of Top Shop, Burberry, and Gucci in Korea. In Korea, the popularity of the long, loose tee shirts with English text as designs are still up this year. While this trend continues, another trend of exposing body parts such as emphasis on the chests, wide neck holes to expose the shoulders and short lengths to expose the midsection has also been noticed. Tight and revealing t-shirts are seen as the antithesis to the loose and comfortable t-shirt trend of the past years. This trend has also given birth to another trend – layering of plain cotton tees with lacy undershirts to be paired with short skirts and chunky boots with high heels, and accessorized with vintage jewelry such as prominent brooches and necklaces with gem pendants. This trend is partly based on the Gothic Lolita street wear style in Japan, or at least the Lolita part of it.
Yellow has been announced as 2009’s color for fashion. The preferred shade has been assigned to Mimosa, which is a warm and bright shade of yellow. As in Korean and East Asian cultures, yellow is a symbolism of wealth, so the pronouncement of yellow as the chic color of the year has been widely accepted, as the trend is supposed to combat 2008’s financial woes.
An American trend currently getting a healthy following in Korea is the adherence to geometric and grid prints. Dresses, tee shirts, and even shoes and bags have adapted angles and repetitive figures as the hottest design trend of 2009.
As for accessories, geometric designs have been lent to trendy hair bands, belts and neck scarves. These accessories are currently drawing a lot of following, pairing them with oversized and opulent vintage jewelry.
For foot wear, the trend a few years back of jelly shoes are back. Chunk is replacing sheer height this year, as the trend is leaning towards high and chunky clog heels on jelly shoes, whether in sandals, casual slip slops, or even in close-toed shoes. Lastly, hairstyle in Koreans has been greatly influenced by television trends. Women’s hair is now dominated with bangs and soft curls that fall just inches above the neck, as popularized in the Hallyu soap opera Chanranhan Yusan or Shining Inheritance, particularly by the actress’ Han Hyo Joo’s character Go Eun Sung.
Related posts:
- A Glimpse into Japanese Fashion Style 2009
- Korean Street Fashion
- Womens Korean Fashion
- Mens Korean Fashion
- Top 10 Korean Fashion Designers
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