The Tracksuit and the Cardigan

A few months ago, I was watching some Super Junior stuff and I happen to see Eunhyuk sporting this:

Yes, I know -- Words do not even begin to describe how wrong this is.  But Eunhyuk was proud of his outfit.  Even when a friend said, "You look like a turtle," Eunhyuk proudly strutted around and even insisted while pointing at his tag, "This was handsewn by an Italian tailor."  I wondered how Eunhyuk had managed to bring THAT back from his trip to Italy.  What were his friends thinking letting him import that back to South Korea?

Until... I noticed that someone was cracking up over his comments about the Italian tailor as a reference to a show then airing in South Korea: Secret Garden.  Curious, I did a little research and found this: Eunhyuk's comment was a direct quote from a man who, in the show, sported an equally atrocious tracksuit.  I present here for your grimace, Hyun Bin in the role of Kim Joo Won.

And thus, began the craze that swept South Korea.  Everyone started wearing ridiculous tracksuit with sequins and flowers and bedazzles all over them.  After a while, you start to try to convince yourself that it's not so bad.

But really, it is.

Aren't fashions funny?  In the show that started the craze, everyone constantly makes disparaging comments about the man's fashion sense.  However, it was this very outfit that everyone, even kids and dogs, started to imitate.  Is it because the character, despite - or possibly because of - his quirks, is quite likeable?  Do we somehow hope, secretly, that if we are similarly quirky that people will similarly like us?  So, why do we insist on the identical quirk and forget that the quirks we hope people accept are those that make us unique?

Now, you ask, what does all of this have to do with the cardigan?  My sister recently put up a post about how she dislikes it when Cho Kyuhyun wears cardigans.  I laughed when I read the post because it just so happens that my favorite soccer player's favorite piece of clothing is none other than the cardigan.  And not just any cardigan - cardigans that are pink and purple.

Source: Tumblr

And despite what my impeccable <cough> fashion sense would convince me, I really like it.  But why?  Because I like the person.  And so, if the person I like wants to wear pink and purple cardigans, so be it.

So, the moral of the story?  Be yourself.  People ultimately love you for what's on the inside.  And when they love what's on the inside, they'll love what's on the outside, quirks and imperfections and all.  Especially if those quirks are handsewn, bejeweled tracksuits or cardigans.  :)