New Year, New You: the Online Stores to Shop From
Being exposed to Korean culture means that we are inevitably exposed to the beauty of Korean styling. Be it dramas, music videos, airport pictures, or just regular street style, the fashion is always on point. There’s just something so fresh and young in terms of clothing and styles that we don’t really seem to get elsewhere. Clearly Korean clothing stores are not very common to find outside of Korea. While Korean makeup and skincare has become big and started spilling into global territory, clothing stores are still uncharted waters. However, true heroes come in every form, this time in the mode of online stores.
And with the New Year coming up, what better time to let your creativity take the front seat. If you’d like to let your inspiration run wild, and bring those lovable looks you see on screen to life, read on!
Yesstyle
If you’d like to buy literally anything under the sun, this is definitely the place for you. From clothing to beauty to lifestyle products, Yesstyle has it all. Housing all the popular, trendy K-Beauty brands and more, they also have a substantial list of Asian clothing brands. Based in Hong Kong, the site features products from Taiwan, Japan, China, and Korea, with free global shipping services over a certain amount. Once you spend over $30, you have access to free shipping—an amount that isn’t hard to reach by any means. With hundreds of diverse products and a new offer up almost every single day, you can purchase a whole lot of goodies without spending an excessive amount of money. If you’d like a one stop point to completely makeover your appearance and room, Yesstyle’s got your back. One piece of advice I would give is to make sure you check the reviews and size charts of any clothing items you buy to make sure the quality and size are up to par with the picture advertised.
Kooding
Ever watched a music video or performance and been swept away by the outfits? Well now you won’t have to scour the depths of the internet to find similar outfits anymore thanks to Kooding. Trendy outfits and accessories draw you in from the minute you enter the website. While the prices aren’t as agreeable as the ones of Yesstyle, I feel like I’ve seen more of the outfits available on Kooding actually on celebrities. Lately Kooding has also started sponsoring a lot of K-Pop cover dancers (like Lisa Rhee and Koreos members), which means that with the increasing popularity of these cover dances on Instagram and YouTube, Kooding has also become more of a reputable name.
Soaestheticshop
A house name amongst the pastel, anime, and Harajuku fashion scenes of Tumblr, Soaestheticshop has been pretty lowkey. Up until recently, the brand hadn’t made its way towards the mainstream areas of the internet. While it still isn’t as big as the aforementioned sites, the brand is slowly creeping its way into the spotlight. Capturing Instagram and Tumblr trendy aesthetics and enveloping styles of anime, Korean celebrities, and streetstyle, the online store is very much relevant today. You also have a feature called “Idol Closets” that feature garments similar to what idols have worn, as well as an assortment of merchandise. In short, it's a pretty thrilling experience.
One thing to keep in mind when shopping at these stores, or any Asian online store for that matter, is that the size range tends to be on the smaller side. They also tend to have many items that are labelled as one size. So make sure you study the size guide and read the reviews carefully! What are some of your favorite online K-Beauty and clothing stores?