February 27, 2018

Day 12 (8.24)- Everything’s Couply

Going back to the aspect of fashion in Seoul, I’ve noticed a very unique trend which is quite different from what is socially expected in America. Due to the commonality of college students and young people in Korea to stay living with their parents until marriage, the union of young love is treated much more seriously than that in the United States. Here, people in college may date for weeks, months, or years, and even live with each other long before marriage, as a sort of trial-and-error mode of dating before settling down. In Korea, because it’s not customary for young couples to live together, and also considering the size of a city like Seoul causing young couples to often have to commute to see each other, they have found other ways to adapt a relationship based on their cultural and social needs….Matching outfits.

While this may seem ostentatious in the West, seen as a bit saccharine-sweet for American society’s idea of practical romantic relationships, for young Korean’s its not only a way to stay connected with each other as a couple, but also to display their coupledom for the public as a sign that they are unified. It’s a sentiment that we don’t have back at home as often, as matching outfits from an American standard is seen as an attention-grabber. In a way, it is the same here, but the attention is to not just let people know they are dating, but instead that they are committed…and they are. Often, young couples that live in different neighborhoods or go to different schools will organize their outfits together, even on days they won’t see each other… the idea being that even when they are apart, they are a unit. It’s a sentiment that I personally think our hookup-culture and expendable-significant other mentalities in the States could use, as love in America is quite arbitrary, with grey area that Korean culture just doesn’t have to deal with.

This is way easier…. Showing that you are the yin to the other’s yang. Similarly, monochrome seems to be the most popular match-up…