A Korean in America
I’m a 26-year-old Korean woman. Since I was 20 years old, I’ve studied film. When I graduated from my graduate school three months ago, I realized that I had been a student for a long time. Also, I realized that I had lived a small world. I wanted something new and was eager to open myself up to the larger world. I had to learn English for my future. That’s why I’m in here, New York.
The reason that I chose New York was simple and a little bit childish. First, because I was a Hollywood kid, I chose America. And second, because of the TV series, “Sex and the City’, I chose New York.
I was wildly excited like other girls and wanted to be like the fabulous characters of that series. Their fashion styles are as distinctive as their personalities. Looking up to their life and fashion, I dreamed about New York. Like the women in “Sex and the City’, as a women’s status and independence increases, so does their need for fashion.
We know fashion has become a very significant thing indeed and it delivers a lot of information about an individual. Clothes are not necessary just clothes. The term fashion usually applies to a prevailing mood of expression, but quite often applies to a personal mood of expression that may or may not adhere to prevailing ideals. This fashion can also be the idea that reflects the mood of the culture as a whole.
As just my personal experience, Korean women pursue not only “Being nice and pretty’ but also “Being mild and modest’. Actually, many Korean women including myself, think that Charlotte is the most beautiful of the 4 women. A graceful, educated, elegant woman such as Audrey Hapbun, Grace Kelly or Jackie Onasis seems to be an ideal lady Korean women aspire to. It doesn’t mean Korean women have that standard way of thinking about fashion. We definitely think they’re so cool.
On the other hand, whenever I watched Carrie in “Sex and the City’, I was anxious to know how she(or Sarah Jessica Parker’s stylist) would think about how to wear clothes that way. Once, my friend had said “Free’ when my English teacher asked her to choose a word which represents America. I think Carrie’s fashion style represents America’s “free’. The terms “fashionable” and “unfashionable” are employed to describe whether someone or something fits in with the current popular mode of expression.
Carrie’s way to match and combine each item isn’t restricted as if there were no rules or no judgements. It’s true that her style gives many women including me inspiration for fashion. I think that “free’ is connected to “one’s individual talent’ for fashion directly. In other words, free for fashion is to use one´s talents to the best advantage. I want to talk about that.
From my personal perspective, there are two distinguishing marks. As a Korean woman, I was surprised to see American women dress irregardless of the season or climate. Korean women usually wear suitable clothes related to the season. For example, light stuff or hot pants are for summer, not winter. And coats, boots, scarf are for winter, not spring or summer.
When I came here, it was late September. But I could see women wearing only a tank-top with jeans!! The feeling that whatever I want to wear is possible excited me. It was an unusual and strange scene that a woman in a tank-top and a woman in a trench coat were in the same place. It makes me feel free.
Another example is the various layered look-mix and match style. More or less Korean women prefer to wear clothes simple and neat. The layered look seems to be catching on in America.
People can mix and match whatever they want to wear in N.Y. Sometimes I see just three pieces of mix and matched clothes having an effect on the fabulous style. The layered style using various colors, pieces and different lengths of clothing seems to be more vintage but modern, cute but fashionable. The layered, mix and match style is for women who can combine and show their ability for fashion.