How K-Pop Helped Me Embrace My Personal Style
Did becoming a K-Pop fan give me a glow up?
I am a K-pop Stan. Yes, a Stan, not just a fan.
I got into K-pop at the end of 2019, and it has had a huge influence on me in a multitude of ways. In this essay, I will…
One of the major ways I was influenced was in fashion and beauty space.
When it comes to K-pop idols, they aren’t afraid to wear something that typically reads as feminine or masculine over there. It might not be their decision to wear something (it could be the stylist), but it’s been a great reminder that fashion is not gendered. It’s common in K-pop to see male idols rocking glitter makeup and crop tops ( I could do another post alone on this.) Idols' looks are often interesting and experimental, which helps engage and fascinate the general public and fans.
I’ve learned that when one enters the K-pop community, they have their own kind of glow-up. Here’s my story.
The Glow-Up
A lot of people have something called the “K-Pop Glow-Up,” where idols inspire them to change their fashion and beauty looks, making them feel more confident in their style choices. Many of my friends have found their personal style after experimenting with looks an idol they love has pulled off. A really great example is BTS; each member has a clear aesthetic, and fans use their personal styles to help them figure out and define their own personal styles.
For me, the K-pop glow-up worked differently since I have always had a super clear personal style. However, K-pop made me want to embrace my me-ness. I’m not really sure what the right word is, but it helped me embrace my essence and do it loudly and proudly. If I see an idol wearing something I am intimidated by, and they do it confidently, it encourages me to rock and try something out of my comfort zone.
I’ve experimented a lot over the past couple of years, and many of those fits were inspired by Idol’s airport look ( the outfits they wear to fly around the world, its street style level.) I’ve tried colors that I was afraid of because an idol inspired me. It’s been a really fun journey rediscovering my personal style through this lens and adding new components I’ve taken from the idols.
When it comes to the idols who inspired me the most, two come to mind. Suho of EXO and Jennie from Blackpink. I’m going to share with you a bit about their personal style and what about them helps inspire me to experiment and explore fashion.
I want to note that I took screenshots because most of the time, fansites and Korean media post these, so I’m not sure where to credit the images, too, which is why I decided to share some Pinterest screenshots.
Suho
Suho is one of my favorite K-pop idols overall. He is the leader of a group called EXO, which is my favorite K-pop group of all time. As I started to learn more about EXO and explore their content, his personality and sense of style stood out to me right away.
Suho always has the perfect Instagram photo, where his outfit perfectly matches the background of wherever he is. He experiments with many different elements but always manages to look put together, which is how I aspire to be.
He dresses softer and is known for his love of colorful outfits and sweater vests. Before I realized it, people on my TikTok started to point out to me how similar he and I dressed, which I didn’t see for a long time. He always looked put together, but that wasn’t me, only to realize that was actually how I dressed. It was truly a plot twist for me.
Above is one of my favorite Suho looks of all time. For a long time, I was afraid to express my softness and wear color, but he made me feel like I could, and it completely changed my perspective.
Jennie
The queen of Chanel and my biggest inspiration to embrace my soft and girly side. Jennie does it all, which is why I adore her and her personal style. Jennie’s looks go from embracing soft and classic looks to fun and trendy Y2K-inspired pieces.
Being someone on the curvier side, I’m often told to hide and “to embrace the dreaded cold shoulder,” but once I saw Jennie, I was like, this is how I want to dress. So what’s stopping me? I’ve always liked bows and softness, but I was scared to embrace that. Jennie reminded me to wear whatever the fuck I want and to wear it confidently. I love how one day she’s wearing a cute matching set but the next, low-rise jeans and a graphic tee.
Are there any K-pop idols who helped inspire you with your personal style? Let me know.
You know what! This is something I recently discovered about myself too. I never had much personal style, but with life changes, I really lost any sort of desire beyond finding things that were comfortable. It was starting to think about dressing for kpop concerts that started making me more aware of wanting to start dressing a certain way because of the whole culture of people’s concert fits. I’m still not super daring, but I’ve become more aware of finding pieces that truly spark joy for me. I now look for things I like instead of what just fits well on me. Like, getting some mofusand crop tops from Uniqlo although I never do crop tops, grabbing that strawberry cardigan from Amazon because of Baekhyun, or now starting to look to how to incorporate some red in my wardrobe. Kpop has influenced me in unexpected ways, including finding friends across the country who share in similar interests 😊. Love your posts Becca!
I love K-Pop fashion and especially am a big fan of Suho and Jennie’s style! I admire idols who wear clothes with statements and go against what society deems is appropriate. I’m unsure who I still credit my newfound style to, but I’ve felt way more confident wearing cute pastels and bows and ribbons! I believe my makeup has been largely influenced by the way makeup artists style idols like IVE’s Wonyoung and Blackpink’s Jennie. Thank you for writing another amazing piece!