Kdrama Trends We Wish Existed In America: Matching Couple's Outfits!

For those of us Kdrama fans who do not live in Korea, we often wish we could take a little piece of Korean culture and transplant it to our country. One aspect of Korean fashion, that I really wish was currently a part of American fashion, is the couple's outfit!

I realize that this may not appeal to every Kdrama fan, but I don't believe that I am alone in this. I'll go ahead and admit that I've always had a thing for matching. One of our other best friends and I used to match on purpose quite often (and this was not when we were 12, this was in college). I somehow could not find any good examples while browsing my old Facebook photos, but these matching picnic hats from about 5 years ago will have to suffice.

What actually inspired this post, though, was this photo of my parents recently posted on my family Facebook page in, guess what, a couple's outfit!

Turns out that my lovely grandmother hand-sewed these for them when they were newlyweds back in the 70's. She even made a matching bandana for their dog. Cutest! So apparently loving matchy things is actually hereditary.

Which explains why I just can't get enough of this:

Cutest couple's outfit ever!
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This guy is a trooper!
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This one is kind of classy.
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Hot!
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And wish I saw more of this in America:

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Ok, maybe not this. This was actually quite terrible. Matching outfits entirely made of denim are never a good idea, even if you are Brittany Spears and Justin Timberlake. How about this instead:

Couple's and dog Pajamas!  I want to be them! Maybe...
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I think this is what Vivi and her
 husband will look like in 40 years.
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Umm, so when I typed in "couple's outfits America" it only came up with Brittany and Justin, old people, and Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.

This guy is totally digging the couple's outfit. Good one K-dash!

This is why we need more American participants. I live in NYC, maybe I can somehow get the couple's outfits fashion ball rolling here!

In the very least, one day I will either have twins I can dress matchy, or will make my children wear matching clothes with me!

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So who out there is with me on this? Are there any other Korean drama things you wish were in your country? Comment below.  

Essential Korean Terms for Love Interests: Guest Post at Viki

Coco ad Vivi are both currently out of town, but we still found some time to do a guest post for Viki.  We are working on some more reviews as well!

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As summer heats up and Kdrama fans make plans to visit Korea (we wish!), we thought it would be helpful for us to share some Korean phrases that you will need to know for when you run into those rich chaebols and heiresses. We all know, from watching Kdramas on Viki, that when you meet your love interest there is a progression of emotions that you will feel. Here are 5 essential Korean phrases for each phase of your relationship.



1. Phase 1: Hey, do you want to die?

According to Kdramas, most romantic relationships don't start off well. Usually the male and female have a bad run-in with each other that results in mutual hatred. Sometimes this takes the form of violence and/or threats, as in Boys Over Flowers and Protect the Boss. In case this is how your relationship begins with your love interest, we recommend that you learn the Korean phrase for "Hey, do you want to die?".

2. Phase 2: Stop appearing before my face!

Oftentimes, the hatred between two characters evolves into a milder feeling of mutual annoyance. This usually occurs after the main couple has had several awkward encounters, such as in Lie to Me. In case this happens to you, we also recommend that you learn the Korean phase for "Stop Appearing before my face!".  Don't worry though; most likely you will enter into some sort of agreement to fake a relationship that is mutually beneficial for you, and which gradually ramps up your romantic interest in the other person.

3. Phase 3: Now do you see me as a man/woman?

Once you and your new Korean love interest have been tolerating each other for a while, it's time to take the next step by willfully invading the other person's space and asking awkward questions. See A Gentleman's Dignity as your guide to this move. Even though the obvious answer here is "Am I blind?  What kind of person could NOT see you as a man?" it is actually in your best interest to slide away coyly and feign disinterest--for now.

4. Phase 4: I don't have the confidence.

All great Korean romances have absurd obstacles thrown in the way.  Without them, it just wouldn't be true love!  At this point, the most advanced lovers think, "I know!  The best way to deal with this problem is to totally cut off communication and give up on our relationship!"  If you have seen anything with Park Shin-hye in it (You're Beautiful or Flower Boy Next Door, for example), you know exactly what to do.  Work those puppy eyes!

5. Phase 5: I love you.

If phase 4 makes you sad, don't fret!  It's only a temporary ploy until you get to the final phase: complete and total bliss with the one you love!  Just pray that you get a good kiss instead of one of those frozen ones.  You've earned it!

Fashion Face-off Friday: Stuff Rich Ladies Wear

Our last Fashion Face-off Friday, Battle of the Guyliner, ended up being a decisive victory for Joo Byung-hee of Shut up Flower Boy Band, proving that a little makeup philosophy can go a long way.  I'm a little sad that my favorite vampire prosecutor came in last, but he had some stiff competition.
I tend to see a lot of kdrama jokes about rich chaebol styling, but today I'm taking a stand for gender equality and recognizing that women can wear absurd rich outfits, too. Think of it as Girl Power--just with more weird accessories.

Contender 1: Han Song-yi  (Queen of Reversals)

As far as I can tell, Han Song-yi only has two defining character traits: 1. She hates everyone and 2. She loves money. As far as I can tell, the costume designers of this show firmly believe that nothing says "I will crush you with the sheer weight of all my money" like wrapping yourself in dead animals. My all-time favorite rich lady outfit was one where she was wearing a gigantic fur arm warmer on each arm, but unfortunately, this series is 31 episodes long, and even after I spent two hours scrolling through every.single.episode (I couldn't help myself--those arm warmers were that outlandish), I couldn't find it again.  Sadly, this means that we have to settle for one of her many other fur-covered outfits.

Yes, yes she IS wearing a full suit under that polar bear cape.  I guess she thought it would add to her credibility as a businesswoman?  

Contender 2: Kim Joo-won's mom (Secret Garden)

I really, really want to make a your momma joke here, but I'm trying to keep it classy.  Whenever I see Joo-won's mom, I can't help but think that it's exactly how rich people would dress in real life--if my five-year-old niece dressed them.  Her wardrobe is an endless parade of lace, tutus, and tiaras, but she can afford them.

Who doesn't own a lace nightgown/dress for informal gatherings?
Poor people.  That's who.

Contender 3: Madam Kang (Boys over Flowers)

In all honesty, her clothing isn't as blatant as some of the males on the show.  She is here for one reason and one reason only: her collars look like they can (and have) stabbed people in the face.  

Randomly, there's this old hip hop song called "Wanna Be a Baller," and even though I know they aren't the actual lyrics, I always think the first line goes "Wanna be a baller, popped collar, 20-inch blades on the Impala" (The REAL lyrics are "shot caller," not "popped collar," in case you were wondering.).  I kid you not, EVERY time Madam Kang came on the screen to threaten people with her pointy face and her matching pointy collar, I got that song stuck in my head for a week.  And THAT, my friends, is what earned her a spot on this list. Okay, and also for wearing what appears to be a sash.

To be fair, Madam Kang IS pretty baller.

Contender 4: Kang Hye-na (My Fair Lady)

Not to be outdone by the older generation of fancy ladies, Kang Hye-na is out to prove that she can be just as ridiculous and rich as the best of 'em.  In Hye-na's world, the words "less is more" don't exist.  If you have money MORE is more.  The upside?  Since she doesn't dress herself, she is single-handedly supporting the Korean economy with the number of servants she hires to hold things like--metal suspenders?  Is that what those are?

In related news, I need a bejeweled scrunchy--ASAP

Out of these wealthy women, which one wore the craziest outfit?  Vote below!

Craziest Rich Lady Outfit
	Han Song-yi (Queen of Reversals)
	Joo-won's mom (Secret Garden)
	Madam Kang (Boys over Flowers)
	Kang Hye-na (My Fair Lady)
pollcode.com free polls

The Queen of Kdrama Kiss Scenes: A Tribute to Yoon Eun Hye

Back in April, we wrote a post about the Best Kdrama Kiss Scenes and asked you to vote on your favorite. We decided to keep that poll open forever, but after 261 votes we believe that we have a pretty good representative sample of Kdrama fans, so we'd like to announce the winner. The clear winners of best Kdrama kiss scenes are Lie to Me at 25% and Coffee Prince at 23%! The main thing that these two dramas have in common is that the leading lady is played by Yoon Eun Hye. When you add in the extra 4% of votes she earned for the kiss scene in Goong, that means that Yoon Eun Hye managed to account for over half of the votes for best kiss scenes! I thereby deem her the Best Kisser in Kdrama Land.

Yoon Eun Hye is my personal favorite Korean actress, and this just confirmed to me a large part of why that is. As Vivi mentioned, she definitely returns the passion and does not leave the man to do all the work. She has the ability to create amazing chemistry with any Kdrama male actor she is paired with. When I watch her fall in love, I believe it, and I believe that the male lead has fallen hard for her too. She has played a wide variety of characters very convincingly and I always believe that she is truly feeling the character's emotions. So here's to the reigning Queen of Kdrama Passion, Yoon Eun Hye!

Who would you deem the King of Kdrama Kiss Scenes? What about the prince and princess? Comment below.

More Kdrama Hollywood Lookalikes

The last post we wrote reminded me that I had been meaning to post another round of Kdrama Hollywood Lookalikes since the first round I did was right at the beginning of this blog.  Some of these might seem kind of random, but they seriously drove me nuts until I figured out why their faces seemed so familiar.  Are k-dramas melting my brain for real, or do these people actually look somewhat similar?

1. Lee Yoon-ji (Dream High) and Jessica Alba

This one feels like a no-brainer to me.  The second Lee Yoon-ji walked onscreen, I thought, "Whoa! Jessica Alba has a Korean twin!" 

Jessica Alba photo source

I also vaguely recall that Jessica Alba was the star of some teen dance movie at some point, so they also have that in common.  This leads me to wonder what would happen if they met in an evil twin dance-off.  Who would win?  Would it break the laws of physics and explode the earth?  I don't know the answers to these things, but I DO know that when it comes to K-pop nemesis dance-offs, you can't do much better than this video.  Go watch it three times in a row, and then we'll get back to this list.

2. Sung Joon (Lie to Me) and Charlotte Gainsbourg and Charlotte Gainsbourg and Jung Ryeo-won (My Lovely Sam Soon).

To be fair to Sung Joon, Charlotte Gainsbourg (who was in a version of Jane Eyre, among other things) has a pretty androgynous face, so I'm not necessarily saying he looks like a lady (but maybe a little bit).  Still, I feel like they could be siblings separated at birth.

Charlotte photo source

That being said, the first time I saw My Lovely Sam Soon, I could not for the life of me figure out why Jung Ryeo-won seemed so familiar until I realized that something about the long, windswept hair and the way she carries herself also reminds me of Charlotte Gainsbourg (maybe because I saw a movie with her in it on Netflix not that long ago). 

Charlotte photo source

What I'm trying to say here is that if Sung Joon and Jung Ryeo-won had a baby, she would probably star in obscure French films.

3. Ji Hyun-woo (Queen In Hyun's Man) and Brendan Fehr

Circa 1999, Roswell was the hot new show for teens. Don't remember it?  Well, basically it was about hot angsty teenage aliens in love with hot angsty teenage humans. It was so hard for them to be in love because they came from different worlds.  

Sound familiar?  Well, now in 2013 I'm almost done watching Queen In Hyun's Man, which is about--you guessed it--hot young people learning how hard it is to be with someone who comes from a different world.  But the similarities don't stop there!  I spent the first episode of the series pausing my video stream, just trying to figure out why Ji Hyun-woo looked so familiar. It's because his facial expressions are really, really similar to Brendan Fehr's.  The problem is that it has to do more with the way their faces move than anything else, so getting a screen capture at just the right second was impossible.  Just trust me that they're the same, okay?

It's so hard to be so handsome and also so tormented by supernatural problems, isn't it?

4. Lee Won-jung (Vampire Prosecutor) and Jack Black

C'mon. Two lovingly chubby masters of physical comedy who just put a smile on your face. Can you imagine if Jack Black made a cameo on Vampire Prosecutor as an American detective who steals Soon-bum's thunder?  Can you?  I don't know why people don't pay me the big bucks to write these genius scenarios.

5. Choi Woo-shik (Rooftop Prince) and Tony Curtis

I know I already mentioned this one in my Rooftop Prince review, but the comparison (even when they're both in drag!) is uncanny, and I somehow felt like Choi Woo-shik would feel left out if he didn't end up with the other lookalikes, so here it is again!

So who did I miss?  What random lookalike connections have you made?