When I saw the second MALE lead of Shopping King Louis wear a pink fuzz lined parka and I had to get one... I did 🤣

My Kdrama style icon is Healer’s Ajummha. T-shirts, sweaters, messy hair, and knitting needles are my jam. However, I did start wearing earrings again, and when forced to dress nicely put in my threader earrings and pretend to be a bitchy 2FL. (Not a psycho one though, I don’t want to force anyone to love me)

Jun Ji-hyun sports the most outrageous fashions. Her mismatched mermaid heels nearly gave me a heart attack.

I agree with this alot. I enjoy dressing well and looking good, and I get alot of ideas. For example, I would never think about wearing a trenchcoat before, but I got one as a gift and instead of just throwing it in the closet I wore it (admittedly after some tailoring) and it became one of my favorite coats. And if it wasn't for Kdramas I wouldnt even consider it.

And looking good really does affect your mindset. When I have on an extra fly outfit, I'm power walking around NYC like I own it.

My dressing style is very minimalistic and I stick to a few color palettes.
I don't get much influenced by these but I do admire their fashion. Especially the winter coats!!
But, I did buy a threader earrings out of a whim and wore it once!!

I would love to buy those oversized sweaters though. Am a sucker for oversized clothes.

Not wardrobe per se, but since Park Min Young is the highlight of this thread, I’m gonna bring up what Min Young did to my life - in Hearler, she sported to 2 piercings on her left ear - helix and close to rook. They're beautiful. I loved them and convinced myself I should get my left ear pierced the same way. My ear hurt so much for the first 6 months, but I don’t regret it, and still love my piercings to this day ☺️☺️ Thank you Park Min Young. And oh kdrama, how much you influence my life......

KDramas have great stylists. I can’t afford their wardrobe and I don’t have a need for them. However, I did look for Park Min Young’s earrings in WWWSK. I found similar earrings at Banana Republic last year!

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

I absolutely am a practitioner of KFMM, otherwise known as the Korean fashion mindmeld!! The savage disconnect between my frumpy exterior (de rigeur in Beantown- we have standards, duh) and my powerhouse interior is all due to my 'amulets', articles of clothing that allow me to channel my fave personas!

It's an everchanging cast.....right now I am craving the flowing multicolored layers of Bai Qian's outfits in the mortal world, ...so I layer same fabric, monochromatic multi-tiered pieces and it satisfies me.

You're not alone @missvictrix! I also role-play myself into K-drama characters. I try to emulate my wardrobe after my favorite female heroine at the moment in the best way I can and replicate her mindset throughout the day. I don't exactly change my persona, but it can become a fun mind game that I play to give me motivation. Currently following Song Hae-rin's chic editor confidence from RBB.

actually, wayyyy before Secretary Kim, my fave work outfits on a K-drama character was from 'The Man Who Can't Marry' - Uhm Jung-hwa's character. I remember seeing her chiffon tops and pencil skirts and loved them, and was super happy to find similar tops at a local shop! definitely wore them a fair bit that year... omg - a decade ago >.<

... let's stick to Secretary Kim as the work outfit role model of the 2010s then 😅

I am alright with the fashion and it's influence, but I am not alright with how the young part timer who owes a loan shark a ton of money has a better coat and purse collection than someone with steady employment.

Thinking about BTLIOF and how JiHo had all those giant coats, but when she moved out she had one tiny suitcase (the same one she had when she moved in). Where did all the coats go? Where did she store them when she lived with SeHee? That room was small, and I didn't see a closet.

These are the things that go through my head when I see kdrama fashion. Lol!

Oh, and ALL the outfits she wore in Misty, pretty much. I think there was exactly one that I wasn't all that fond of. And at least on that show we got to SEE where she stored them!!! Thank you Misty!!!

My personal style has always been the "office" look, but ever since my drama life started (like eons ago... I'm old lol), I've definitely noticed that my personal style has been upped and I've also picked up things and adapted things into my person style that I've seen in dramas which have rubbed off onto me lol I think the biggest thing is oversized sweaters (from every autumn/winter drama ever), pea-coats (I first picked up on this style statement from 2002's "Winter Sonata"..... Yea, that definitely dates me lol), and the variety and tones in colours that I now wear have definitely broadened compared to the neutral tones that I used to only wear :)

T.H.I.S. !!!
I feel like I love taking inspiration from Korean drama females to enhance my usual styles. Pairing colors and clothing combinations according to what some of my fav characters wear or modifying them to match my personal style!
I think the style I love the most is probably closest to Yoo In Na's style! She also makes everything she wears look absolutely amazing! If I can have her wardrobe I'd die happy!
My personal style is probably similar to Min Do Hee (because I am also very short, just 153cm!) But I'm not as fit as her haha

What watching K-dramas might do to your wardrobe:

Realize you need a whole new one.

I currently rotate between 7 winter coats. Enough said.

I definitely do the "dress the way I want to feel" thing. How you look greatly impacts how you carry yourself. I even have several tiaras that I wear when I really just need to feel like a princess for a while - even if I'm just sitting around the house in my jammies recapping.

Hye-ran 's style in Misty was brilliant, it was just reinforced how much of a badasss she was. The stylist did an amazing job at pairing different textures, colours together, I've started to wear more red and burgundy colours.

I really liked Kim bok joo's styling in WFKBJ, I couldn't help but smile at the rainbow assortment of tracksuits. It was so nice to see someone look warm and comfortable! I'm still working on adding more colour to my wardrobe and expressing myself freely like bok joo!

I bought myself a long swishy coat and it's so much fun until you ride on public transport - reality vs expectation...

But I agree, it's more of a mindset when we incorpate pieces from our favourite characters. It inspires me to reflect on myself and what I have to say to the world.

Thank you for the post, I really enjoyed reading.

I'm Park Shin-hye in heartstrings: simple dresses, cardigans, little T-shirts and looooong skirts. ❤

Uh huh. Uh huh. Nodding as I read this. Oversized shirts with tapered pants and sneakers. Check. T shirt under dresses. Check. Love for sequins. Check. Winter coats!!! Lol everyone mentioned winter coats. And not just clothes, hair too. Yoo Inna for me is ponytail goals. Sooo pretty

Right on the nose @missvictrix!! It’s odd. It’s like i subconsciously adapt the style of the characters I love. I identify with them, therefore i want to be closer to them. And the only way I can is via clothing. Clothes are definitely a huge part in the storytelling of a character

I have always wanted to wear coats but unfortunately for me, I live in a tropical country :/

Turtlenecks. 😎
This behavioural thing is real though, beyond fashion. The other day someone teased me that I laughed like a Korean because I covered my mouth. Omo.🙊 Now I’m super self-conscious at social gatherings, even though half of my friends watch dramas too. 🤣

Usually the style that I like speaks out to me instead of the heroine that I'm looking for. So sometimes it's even the antagonists in designer wear our our heroes who look so nice in those turtlenecks & coats.
The heroine usually wears comfy clothing which I find very cute as well.
I think I accidentally found Korean & Chinese shopping websites around 4-5 years ago when I was looking for some particular style that I saw in a Kdrama.

BUT, this is where I stop. if I had money, I'd be buying things left & right, but I don't have. So I just look & leave it at that.... T_T
The closest I ever got was alternatively painting my nails in bold color.

Ahhh yes. Fashion plays such an important role in your mood and not just how you look physically but how you're able to present yourself to the world. Makeup does as well, but that's a different conversation.

With the right outfit, you can pull off the confidence that doesn't come naturally and make it through your day a lot easier than you would otherwise. I feel like a good outfit is like putting on a layer of protection between you and the outside world. And it's so wonderfully versatile because you get to choose what that layer of protection will look like for the day.

One of the reason's I fell so in love with Kim Nam Joo's character in Misty is because of her outfits. They really complimented her personality and career trajectory in a way that was tangible. Plus, her outfits represented a side of myself that I want to display when entering my career field of choice. A strong, in-control and determined woman who means business. I've got places to be and things to do. And any outfit that speaks to that (ALL THE PANTSUITS) speaks to me.

Sorry, I wouldn't say the way the female characters dress is at all inspiring
First you have all the candies with their knitted pompom hats and assorted uglies
Then the professional women in mini shorts (sure, try to go that way)
Everybody runs in stilletos
And finally you have the sharply dressed women in outfits size XXS .. beautiful but you know they will never work on a larger size

The most impact K-drama have done in my wardrobe is the styling. I have not bought any clothes or accessories based on any heroine (tbh I cant afford nor I am the body type of most of the k drama heroines ) but I surely learn to maximize the use of the clothes I have through different styling . eg wearing t shirt under slip dress giving it more casual look, wearing turtle necks under shirts in fall , tucking clothes in certain way, layering warm clothes and so much more

It works because some iconic characters in dramas are aspirational in their personas. For example, you love Gong Hyo Jin's wardrobe (business casual) in It's Ok, That's Love 'cause of what it helps to project: a professional, elegant but laid-back career woman; so you aspire to that image.

My ID is Gangnam Beauty influenced me to buy Atelier cologne. I also ended up getting a purple hoodie because of Sung Duk Seon in Reply 1988! I think KDramas are perfect for product placements because of suggestive advertising.

I was catching up on 'The Beauty Inside' (series) last night when the heroine said something like "The wardrobe doesn't do the acting, the actors do." That is a statement I've really got to disagree with. In K-dramas (all drama) the wardrobe carries much of the heavy lifting in defining the characters before the first word of dialog gets spoken. You immediately get a handle of social status, degree of wealth, job stability, ego, etc etc. No need to write a lengthy character description of the guy in a wrinkly old T-shirt, sweats and slippers on the street in the middle of the day. He's going to be the feckless unemployed brother of the heroine.