Fai | K-Pop Soloist

✧ FAI'S FASHION ✧

Hang out with idols...No.

I mean it's true that we have to develop some sort of relationship with them. We need to have them be comfortable with us, a trusting relationship. Sometimes we get to crack jokes but we don't have time to hangout.

Since we're always together it may look like that, but that's not the fantasy... It looks like we talk about private stuff but they're usually saying.

"Unnie this shirt is weird."

"Noona something is wrong with my pants."

"Oppa tie my shoes tighter."

"Hyung I look like a joke."

Idols are busy and have a lot to do, even when they're on stand by they do their own things. Playing games, reading books or sleeping. Us stylists we just continue working, editing the clothes, ironing, packing. We're together every day during promotions, but we aren't hanging out.

"Fai said her stylists get annoyed when she rips her pants, surely it isn't that big of a problem. Can't they just buy a new one?"

In theory, yes we can get new pants, but it isn't that simple.

Fai has great proportions, she's 170cm tall and has long legs. And because of those great legs, we it hard to get pants that will fit her legs and waist well. When you buy pants you're obviously go by the inches of your inseam, which is the length of your crotch to your ankles.

Fai is now 170cm tall, Fai's inseam is 86cm, which is 50 percent of her body. To put it in perspective, the average inseam for Fai's height would be 76cm.

So her legs are long and her waist is small, to find pants that fit her perfectly and are the right material is pretty hard. What we have to do is get them tailored for her. We don't get everything tailored for her, it's just the pants and she doesn't wear them often, but that's why we get annoyed when she rips a portion of her pants.
Because yes we can sew, but it won't be the same. Yes we can get new pants, but when you're depending on those pants for three consecutive days it's impossible to get new ones made in time.

What is the process of styling for a comeback?

It's a long process, but I enjoy it. In Bighit we have visual directors, Min Heejin, she used to work in SM and is one of the visual directors in BigHit now, they plan comeback concepts ahead of time, I would say they start planning around one to two years prior to release. The visual directors are behind everything, from costume concept & styling, album cover, image, logo, design and video, everything you see is planned by them. The company also works with several video production companies, one being Lumpens. As stylists we listen to their visions and plan the outfits.

The first thing we do is research, we analyse trends and what we have styled the idol as before. For example, Fai has worn tennis skirts for Russian Roulette before, even though the tennis skirts would have suited Oh! My Mistake we can't style her in that because it would clash too much. We want people to identify each era just from glancing at the outfits. We also look at colours, we don't want the clothes to clash with the set design and most importantly the hair. If the idol's hair is red, we won't dress them in pink, yellow or orange.

Then we get a budget, purchase the clothes and style from there. Sometimes we do get clothes sent in, but a large majority of the time we don't accept them unless we have a partnership. Fai is an ambassador for Dior, so we receive clothes from them and is expected to incorporate their clothes in some way.

Sometimes we purchase clothes and do not like the way it looks so we tend to alter it, we tend to use the designers at Window00. They create really intricate and interesting designs.

After we purchase the clothes, we show the company everything we've purchased and whatever the company does not agree with, we return. Then we go to Fai, give her a general view of what we're going for, show her a couple of pieces and whatever she doesn't like we also return.

What happens to the clothes after promotions?

All of or clothes are bought and not rented, so we don't return anything back to the places we've bought from. We have a great room in the company that has all the clothes that has not been used, we store them there. Some does end up being used in the future, some pieces of clothes get used as material for custom made pieces we want, some things end up being resized and used on someone else.

For example, there was a suit jacket that BTS have not used so we resized the jacket, made it more feminine and Fai wore it for one of her Gotta Go stages. I mean doing all of that wasn't cheap, but sometimes you see interesting things and you just have to use it. It's fine, who cares it's just clothes.

If the idols beg the company enough, they can take some pieces home for personal use. But that doesn't really happen often.

As for the used clothes, the important outfits are archived, like music video outfits and also the ones worn in concerts. The company has a storage complex so they get stored there. And the rest are donated to local shelters.

What would happen if the clothes suddenly don't fit before a performance?

Well, that's why we do fittings. We consecutively do fittings to make sure the clothes fit so we can alter it, especially a week before performances.

Sometimes the clothes slightly don't fit, weights do fluctuate, stress and puberty are a thing. It isn't a problem, we can sew a piece if it's a bit big. If it's slightly small, that isn't a problem either we can find an alternative, that's why we bring backups.

We aren't cruel people, we won't tell the idol to go lose or gain some weight within a week. Us as stylists, we just know how to adapt to situations like these, it's one of our requirements. If something doesn't fit then we'll fix it.

Do stylists take into account what the idol does not like to wear?

Of course, we do. We ask them if they feel comfortable with what they're wearing and the longer we work with them the more we know about the idol's preferences. So we know exactly what they do and don't like.

For example, when Fai was younger she did not like wearing or performing in pants because she felt it made her legs look really long so it made her disproportionate. I obviously didn't feel that way, but if she doesn't feel confident in black pants then we won't style her in black pants. Now obviously, Fai has grown confident over her legs and that's why she wears pants more often, but that's why she hasn't in the previous years.

Plus it's out of courtesy as well, we want the idols to feel their best as it increases their confidence. If they don't like or don't feel comfortable in what they wear then they won't be able to perform at their best. The last thing they need is to stress over their clothes, it's my job to stress over it.

Or else we'd be fired.

Anything else you would like to add?

Not really, that's it. I read comments that people make regarding Fai's style and I'm happy that people enjoy her outfits. Seeing positive comments is really heartwarming and it encourages me to work even harder.

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⋰˚☆ FunkWav's Thoughts

yall i wrote the next 3 chapters and they're 😳😳 do u have any guesses what could happen?