Repping the Fandom: Subtle Style

There is never an age limit to being a K-Pop fan, however there is an age limit to wearing your favorites faces on every item of clothing you own. For many adult K-Pop fans, it is hard to walk the line between looking like a crazed teenager and being an adult with a love of a band. As a young professional with a love of K-Pop, I have had to learn how to blend my merch into my daily life so it was able to be seen by other fans, yet not “loud” enough that it distracted from the rest of my outfits. Check out a few tips below on how to curate your merch selection to allow for years of wear in all situations. 

Clothing

When picking out merch, it's important to find pieces that can blend easily into your wardrobe and be a part of many different types of outfits. Simple designs are easier to style than others, The Kraze staff member Lauren mentioned that she tends to lean towards things that are more “Visually low-key” especially when it comes to the front of the shirts. When given a choice between a large image of the group or simple design or graphic, she would always choose the simple design. A good example that Lauren provided is the two different shirts that GOT7 offered during the Spinning Top tour this year. 

Lauren explained that she would pick the Eclipse version of the tour shirt over the Spinning Top version because it would be easier to style for everyday outfits.

Another good thing to look for are text based designs.  The series of merch being released by the House of BTS pop up shop has a lot of good pieces that show how text based designs can be easily styled.  The simple heart with the phrase “Boy with Luv” on the pull over can easily be styled into all types of outfits—the average person wouldn’t relate it to BTS, however the moment an ARMY sees it, it becomes an instant conversation starter. 

The look of the merch is only half the battle, the other half is the way you wear it. A simple french tuck can change the entire look of an outfit. Layering a concert t-shirt with a blazer or cardigan can elevate any casual outfit to something more sleek that could be worn from day to night. 

Accessories

This is the easiest way to incorporate your favorites merch into your everyday wear. Many groups are beginning to release accessories that don’t scream idol merch, but are easily spotted by other fans of the same group. These are a great way to show off your love for your favorite groups without it standing out from the rest of your outfit. With the variety of options there's always a way to show off your love for your favorites. 

Jewelry

Many idol groups are releasing jewelry as part of their merch. Some are through collaborations with other brands, others are direct pieces sold during events both domestically in South Korea and abroad. Here are a few jewelry examples that can easily be blended into everyday life.  

These are the SM Town artist birthday bracelets; they release a bracelet for every SM artists birthday. They are very simple, they have the artist name and birthday engraved into either a silver or rose gold plate that is attached to a chain. These bracelets can be easily worn in many situations. 

MONSTA X and Twotuckgomm recently collaborated to create a line of jewelry alongside their character merchandise. The jewelry is made out of sterling silver or 24 carat gold. They released rings, bracelets, two types of earrings and a necklace that are related to one of the six members of the group. They design is elegant enough that they could be worn during fancier events and even in the workplace, but also are perfectly fit for day-to-day wear. While these pieces do not outwardly mention MONSTA X , they would be easily noticed by other Monbebe. 

Lifestyle Essentials 

Another way to style your merchandise is to incorporate them into your daily life. Many forget that nontraditional merchandise are also a way to show off your love for your favorites. These days, on top of the traditional merch options artists are releasing things other than shirts, hats and hoodies. Items like travel bags, tumblers, water bottles and even stationary are really easy to add to the rotation of things we need during our daily life. 

Returning to SM Town merchandise, they have done a great job of creating nontraditional merchandise. Their partnership with Pantone has led to several monocolored items including notebooks, blankets, travel pouches and tumblers.

Whether you like to rock the graphic tee underneath your blazer, or deck out your metal water bottle in stickers, everyone has their own special way to show off their merchandise for those that they love most. While these are just some pointers for some ways to style merchandise, know that there is no wrong way to show off your love. Have a favorite way to style your merch? Tag us on Instagram @KrazeMagazine!