Fashion Face-off Friday: K-drama Women's Office Wear

I know you've probably forgotten all about the tracksuit fashion face-off we had because it's been so long, buuuuuut in case you've been dying of curiosity this entire time, Secret Garden's Joo Won won in an absolute slaughter in the battle of trendy tracksuits. I can't say that I'm surprised, but I thought having FOUR tracksuits in Rooftop Prince might put up a better fight.

This time around, I want to talk about women's office wear. K-drama styling often drives me insane. Okay, so I get that the hardworking poor girls have to dress like they picked up an eight-year-old boy's hand-me-downs because it will make the inevitable makeover that much more effective, but there are women in dramaland who have real, actual jobs, and their styling often goes to extremes.


In my observations, the styling for female leads in the professional world tends to fall into a few categories:

1. The Dorky Slobs. Their shirts are never tucked in, they have weird mullet-y ponytails going on, and they wear the largest glasses humanly possible just in case anyone missed the memo that THEY AREN'T COOL. We get it.

Prime examples: King of High School, Scent of a Woman


2. The Serious Girls.  Next, you have the girls who just want to be taken seriously. This, in the drama world, means wearing dark suits. And only dark suits. Then they get androgynous bowl cuts to go with said black suits. Because bowl cuts = respect.

Prime examples: Pride and Prejudice, Prosecutor Princess (the second female lead)


3. Power-hungry Monsters. Powerful women are scary! And can't control their need to accessorize! It seems like the more competitive the female lead becomes in the business world, the more over-the-top her outfits get. Fur trim, sequins, rhinestones--you name it. If she can buy it, she will wear it.

Prime examples: History of a Salaryman, Queen of Reversals

What strikes me as odd in all of this is that it's not like there are no normal, classy, professional outfits in K-dramas. In fact, they're all over the place, but for some reason, office-appropriate clothing is usually reserved for the villains. Want to wear a tailored pantsuit? Well, you'd better get ready to murder some people because that's second female lead territory right there.

But there's hope! Recently, some female leads have actually been allowed to look--gasp--stylish and professional as they go to work! Let's celebrate these fashion-forward females with a face-off:

Contender 1: Yoo In Na as Nam Sang Hyo in My Secret Hotel

I gasped when she first came on the screen. It's something people might actually wear to work in real life! It probably doesn't hurt that Yoo In Na hosts a beauty show, so she had a reputation to maintain.

Contender 2: Yoo In Na in My Secret Hotel

This white-on-white ensemble is gorgeous. Given my own habits of dropping half of my food on my lap, I would never dare to wear white pants, but she's a fancy lady at a fancy hotel, so she does what she wants!

Contender 3: Yoo In Na in My Secret Hotel

It's shockingly normal. Pants and a blouse. Who knew that was so hard?

Contender 4: Yoo In Na in My Secret Hotel

If I owned this lace skirt, I might never take it off. Seriously.

Now that you've seen the worthy challengers, it's time to vote! Who do you choose as the queen of work wear?

Best K-drama Women's Office Wear

Yoo In Na in My Secret Hotel

Yoo In Na in My Secret Hotel

I feel like this poll might be rigged.

I prefer working women in bowl cuts.

  

pollcode.com free polls 

pollcode.com free polls

Okay, okay, I know that My Secret Hotel wasn't the only drama with normal female office clothing, but it was the first and only one where I have literally clapped at my screen upon seeing an outfit, so that's got to count for something.

Sadly, as much as I enjoyed the styling and the first few episodes of this series, I dropped it around episode 10. As I said when I started watching the show, I appreciated that it was a reconciliation drama where they had regret and longing, but they weren't complete jerks to each other. Unfortunately, I felt like Hae Young gradually got worse and worse in this regard until almost all of his scenes involved him shouting "Nam Sang Hyo!" and dragging her around. The whole thing just got sluggish after a while, and when I went out of town and missed a couple of episodes, I didn't have the energy to keep watching.

Did you enjoy the series? Did you enjoy her outfits? Let me know!

New Drama Alert: My Secret Hotel and Discovery of Romance

I've been on a new drama rampage again. I probably won't stick with all of these shows as they air, but I wanted to check everything out before choosing what I want to watch. Yoo In Na's My Secret Hotel is kind of a weird little show, but the first two episodes definitely grabbed my interest. Discovery of Romance is nothing too new, but it's fast-paced and full of hot kisses, which is just about par for the course given the writer.

My Secret Hotel

Overview

A hotel wedding planner (Yoo In Na) has to plan her ex-husband's (Jin Lee Han) wedding to another woman. On the day of the wedding, a dead body drops through the roof into the middle of the ceremony.

First impressions

Is it just me, or is pretty much every single drama a reconciliation drama these days? I mean, this show is going up against I Need Romance 7--Excuse me, I mean Discovery of Romance, which also features exes forced to work together. What I like about the first two episodes here is that they aren't going over the top with the hatred. There's no hair pulling or throwing of objects like you get in Sly and Single Again or Emergency Couple. Instead, the drama focuses on lingering love and regret, which is great because Jin Lee Han has some pretty convincing eyes of regret!

It's too early to say much about the series because there are too many moving pieces at this point, but the show gets points for some excellent musical choices (although "Time after Time" was kind of a weird pick). I like that they went for some warmer indie pieces instead of full-on K-drama prom ballads. The drama gets even more points for Yoo In Na's styling. It's rare that I say this about drama leads, but I want to own all of her clothing. It's like watching an episode of Project Runway in every scene. 

Pant envy. I have it.

I'm not quite sure how well the series will balance the mystery with the romance. Frankly, the lead baddie feels a little out of place, so I'm not quite sure what to make of him. (Also, did he pull bones out of that guy's hand? I'm pretty sure that's not how anatomy works, but whatever.) Time will tell, I guess!

Where to watch:

Kdrama.com

Viki

Discovery of Romance

Overview

A furniture designer (Jung Yoo Mi) has things great with her kind, successful boyfriend (Sung Joon) until--what else? her ex boyfriend (Eric Moon) pops back into the picture.

First impressions

Like I said, this is yet another rekindling romance drama. It's also another sexy show about young professionals in "modern" romances from the same writer who brought us the I Need Romance series. It might not be the freshest idea in the world, but there's a reason this writer keeps getting work. These types of dramas are fast and fun, which is why we keep coming back for more.

So far, Eric Moon and Jung Yoo Mi are killing it in the chemistry department. I don't completely understand his character yet, but I don't even care. I'm pretty sure I know how this love square is going to end, and I will happily grab a bag of popcorn and watch it all unfold with glee.

I t'll be tough, but I think I can handle 16 episodes of this. For science!

Bonus points in this drama go to Yoon Hyun Min and Kim Seul Gi, both of whom I love in everything. 

Where to watch:

DramaFever

Viki

At this point, it's looking like Surplus Princess will have to go on hold for a while, mostly because something's gotta go, and I'm way too impatient to handle a show that only airs once a week. What do you guys think of this new batch of dramas?