Shinee is back with their new debut song “Why So Serious?”
I don’t really understand the KPOP trend in Korea at the moment with the saying “Why so serious?” I guess GDragon made it popular in Crayon…then Epik High had that performance at the MAMA awards which featured every member dressed as a Batman character…and now this..
but what exactly sparked the trend…? Batman was never overly big in Korea?
Dun dun DUNNNNNN
We don’t know.
But what we do know is that Shinee’s hero outfit for this music video is perfectly suited to the lyrics and zombie dance moves of the song.
ZOMBIE GRUNGE
Shinee’s outfit seamlessly ties the MV together by further communicating the vibe and character of the song – a man whose heart has been in a zombie-like state for some time (or maybe the song is actually a supernatural tale about a zombie who has been buried for way too long). Regardless of your reading, his love has finally been awakened by a beautiful lady, who he tries to convince to be his, but she is a bit apprehensive as he is not the typical guy she would go for. The character likens his feelings of love to that of awakening from a zombie-like state “A heart where only dust used to be,” “my pale lips are again crimson-colored lipstick,” “my blood is heating up again, all that is because of you.”
Shinee’s grungy punk rocker style in this look, acheives a zombie-like aesthetic by coordinating together colours of red, black, grey and white with ripped cage tops, patchwork pants, casual T-shirts and ripped jeans.
What I find interesting is the addition of gentlemanly attire in the outfits – e.g. blazers and Taemin’s Fedora x Top Hat. The juxtaposition this creates with the grungy messy clothing, compliments the lyrics of the song as if to say, “hey I know I may look like a dangerous and unusual guy (zombie grunge clothes), but If you gave me a chance you’d see my feelings are true and despite my look, I’m a gentleman (blazers!! yay). Trust me, this won’t be a sad love story, everything will be great!!”
Shinee enhance the supernatural element of their look through accessorising. All members have dyed hair, painted nails and coloured contact lenses.
Key’s sailor hat also adds a nice supernatural touch. At first I was like “what the…?” But it actually helps to give that supernatural vibe in two ways. First of all, it has magical powers or something because Key manages to dance, jump, lay down, and all the while it does not move an inch on his head!!! Secondly it gives off a supernatural vibe of “a time much before now.” Like maybe Key is a sailor zombie~~ who died out at sea oooooooooooooh.
For me Taemin and Onew rock this look flawlessly…well almost. Taemin’s Fedora X Top Hat is slightly confusing just as his “A” side pouch/bag thing is..
What does the “A” mean Taemin??! What does the “A” mean?!?
Then it hit me. Aria, Hannah, Spencer and Emily!!!! I have found who “A” is!!!!! He has had a gigantic label on him this entire time!!! Sheesh! Who knew Taemin had a double identity as the villain of Pretty Little Liars?!!?!?
The biggest disappointment is my favourite member…Minho!!! First of all, his gorgeous hair has been ruined!! His red blazer, over his grandpa buttoned up cardigan and 1960s old man checked pants just make me so sad. His cute boy vibe has changed to one of a middle aged (or older) Korean man. I want Minho’s pinchable cheeks back!! I want his PINCHABLE CHEEKS BACK !!!!
THE WHITE TUX
I like the concept of this look. The clean palette, minimalistic graphic shirts and fitted blazers make it pretty hard to fault this modern take on a combo staple. I love how the look takes the concept of the ‘classic tuxedo’ but transforms it to a wearable everyday look with street fashion pieces like creepers, fedora hats, zipper details etc. This captures the essence of a tuxedo without the formality.
If you look closely you can see that there’s two versions of suits: symmetrical and asymmetrical.
Symmetrical
Minho and Key.
Winner: Minho
Ultimate favourite is Minho’s style. It’s just classy period. The black trimming on the blazer’s lapel collar against the white of the blazer and the simple graphic button down shirt with rare comprehensible English sentences, check!
The white skinnies are what pull the look together. Choosing a pair of black skinnies would be playing it safe but white just took it to the next stage of class.
Key’s look is a bit hit-and-miss on the blazer detail. The pockets in the design are great to show contrast and to balance the kneepads (I’m guessing) however the subtleness in the border trimming gets overtaken by the presence of such a bold patch of colour. His blouse detail is AMAZING I must say, but not enough for me to forgive that blazer!! haha His “beat” earring was a bit out there when I first saw it. It matches his personality though; I dunno what I feel about it with this outfit yet.
Asymmetrical
Onew and Taemin
Winner: Taemin
Can’t go wrong with a top hat to bring some extra swag to your threads. Seriously, top hat, WTF? How do you keep that thing on your head while jumping around on beds Taemin? HOW?!
Anyways, there’s something very TOPSHOP design about the simplicity of the text on the tee with the zebra print. The fact that the pants are a dark green colour wins props in my stylebook. It’s a nice alternative to black. But, is the alternating zebra stripes from right to left too costume stage wear or can it be wearable for the everyday?
Hmmm, if you look from afar it may be subtle but I think it’s pretty unnoticeable in the video. Should guys wear zebra print (would a guy even wear zebra print)? That’s a look not for every guy out there. Taemin’s manliness got knocked back 1000 points in Sherlock so yes – Taemin can wear zebra print. LOL :)
Onew’s outfit is quite stage wear I feel. It reminds me of back in my Visual Kei stage where all the guys in the boy bands wore something similar to be visually pleasing on stage and compliment the other band members. And there was always that ONE guy stuck wearing the long coat/suit who had to suffer on stage LOL. There wasn’t anything striking about Onew’s outfit that I liked (except for the nice crisp tie). It was quite average. Except he can play great hide and seek in it…
MILITARY UNIFORM PREP STYLE
This outfit is just love, love, love! Maybe it’s the nostalgic feeling I’m getting of The Beatles fashion in the 1960s, but the idea of mixing classic powder grey suits and the preppy office wear of the past, with the outer exterior of a bulky trench, anoraks and overcoats in that khaki shade look so handsome on them ohohoho
The addition of zips and buckles seem to be a must for the Shinee-fashion way and works well to bring a fresh interest to the pieces but… the Union Jack?
Sorry to the Brits who might be reading this (please don’t kill me cos we’re Aussie as well ahh ><) but damn, did the stylist/designer just paint that on or what? It’s just so…obvious it’s not meant to be there. If it was faded into the fabric a bit like the other designs, then sure! It works! But that paint job…eww and it’s so obnoxiously big!! It literally screams: LOOK AT MOI!!
AWESOME JACKETS BUT NOT SO AWESOME PANTS!
This outfit is very cool, unique and alternative – very different to the other outfits in this clip. It is very much to show off Shinee’s style rather than to suit the MV or the song in any way. I’m totally digging all the members super quirky and cool jackets!! The trend of excessive zippers is continued in this look, and I’m trying desperately to figure out the function of the zippers on bottom of the sleeves of almost ever jacket and blazer featured in this clip…Perhaps all Shinee members have extraordinarily fat wrists that they need the aid of zippers to fit their arms into their jackets?
The jackets are just so unique, I am especially loving Taemin’s baby blue jacket with clouds and the yellow lapel collar!
The unique leather floral print on Minho’s jacket was also pretty cool!
And then the awesomeness ends.. totally not loving ONEW’s Hawaiian print leather jacket…that’s just taking things too far.
This overall look is very special in that we only really ever get to see the top half of the look (except for Onew and Taemin which we get slight glimpses of mid-thigh). This kinda got me thinking…Maybe SM ran out of money to feature pants for this last look so they just used dodgy ones and tried to avoid showing it…? Or maybe the jackets were just so amazing the stylists couldn’t find anything to match?? Or maybe…the zombie stage has just completely taken over that Key and Minho’s legs have completely fallen off, whilst Taemin and Onew have still managed to retain their thighs?!??!
Regardless, I’m sure we can all agree that the fact Key and Minho are never shown below the waist for this look, it is evidence enough to safely assume that they were not wearing any pants during this part of the MV. *drool*