#in fact i think it might be specifically a response to how vitriolic ppl were about the vlive he did when he announced he was enlisting

[sanstropfremir]

hi!!!! do you have any advice era taemin styling thoughts to share!!!!!

oh of course!!!! who would i be if i didn't? i talked about the advice styling in more general terms in my taemin and masks post a million years ago and a little bit here in this post where someone asked me my fave taemin stylings, but there are a couple of places where i wanted to go into more detail!

advice is very interesting, styling wise, because on first glance it's all over the map. but there's very conscious effort at play to conceptualize and visualize the idea of combined dualities. ngda was taemin's magnum opus, an interrogation of binaries and strict moralities with the conclusion of creating a new self outside those systems. and, very importantly: the new self is built from those systems. as exemplified with ending shot of him being doused in white paint, the new is informed, synthesized from the old. which you can see in how none of the clothing is in true monochrome. it's always as a purposeful duality: skin/covered, black/white, white/red, red/blue. even his hair is dual toned. and it also is ingrained in the fabric of most of the garments themselves. the split black and white suit, the thorned jacket, the tartan suit set. i know the tartan might not seem like it follows the trend, but tartan patterning is made from using multiple colour warp (vertical) and weft (horizontal) lines while weaving, which creates an entirely new pattern just from alternating colours.

the other point i want to note in particular is the king imagery. with the minting of a new self in a new system outside of the old, one has the choice whether or not to take a position of power, and taemin 100% does that. the most obvious king imagery is in one of the rounds of concept photos:

and there's also the extremely obvious:

as well as the thorned jacket, which is undoubtedly a jesus reference but importantly it is a marker of carrying the thing that hurt you as a mark of pride and strength. taemin has taken a lot of public scrutiny over the course of his career and there are some motifs throughout advice that are emblematic of that scrutiny:

the extensions: the last time taemin had notable extensions was for sherlock when he was nineteen, almost a decade ago. he had a lot of unwarranted criticism levelled at him for being 'feminine' and that public response had a very dramatic impact on his persona and the trajectory of his work

the instagram 'baddie' look: again, he's taken a lot of shit for being 'feminine' and he took that to the most extreme he's ever done

the mascara tear tracks: taemin has spoken several times about how he doesn't like to/finds it uncomfortable to cry in public

the boyishness of the point styling: because he debuted so insanely young, there's always been a perception of youth and immaturity around him and with this tartan suit he embraced it instead of trying to shy away from it. that outfit also bears striking similarity to gainsborough's blue boy portrait (c. 1770):

which, although it would be incorrect to say that this particular portrait is indicative of 'short pants as indicating boyhood' ('teenager'/youth clothing doesn't exist in this period but that's a costume history lesson for another day), it is true that short pants in the last two centuries have become inextricably linked with school-aged youth. that, combined with the previously cited image from the inkigayo stage of him in this outfit sitting on a throne, paint a very clear picture of a boy king who has rightfully and confidently taken his place at the head and as the inspiration of an industry.

and a parting thought: i know it's a likely coincidence but i'm not going to look down on the fact that this suit combo is from the loverboy ss21 collection, titled 'the healing'

#this is my evidence submission for why advice was supposed to be an epilogue repackage of ngda #taemin meta #kpop analysis #me checking twt this morning: oh its advice's first anniversary i guess i should finally finish that advice ask #alskdjf;alsdjf im so sorry i take so long.................. #someone sent me as ask like two days ago that started 'idk if youre finished all your asks or not....' #anon i don't think i am ever going to be finished my asks but i will eventually get to everyone! #text #answers #i didnt put this in the main body bc im not sure abt it in terms of from the media + whatever but #taemin as been pretty frequently harangued on twt/by intl fans for 'not showing emotion the right way' #hence why i think the tear tracks were included in the styling #in fact i think it might be specifically a response to how vitriolic ppl were about the vlive he did when he announced he was enlisting #again idk how much of that he really sees but he did probably know about it #also like. not to mention about the whole policing grief thing that kpoppies seem to have a hard on for #ANYWAYS HBD ADVICE MY BELOVED