adjuma fashionistas

When I reach 40 I intend to be super fashion savvy. A leader in style and elegance. I shall be smart and savvy, with a quiet sophistication, a definite flair, a refined finesse. I shall have an outfit for every day and every occasion coupled with an arsenal of handbags, shoes and accessories from which to complement my look. OK, so that is the plan anyway. Surely with age comes wisdom about one's clothing choice? Surely it has got to get better than where I am at the moment? 

Looking back, perhaps the teenage years have been my fashion highlight to date. But that is not really saying much as my wardrobe then consisted mostly of school uniforms for the week, sports uniforms for the weekend and the rest being whatever it was that my mum chose for me, my sister handed down to me or the neighbour's daughter, Kerrel, was throwing out (please don't mention the bottom accentuating red dress I wore to the high school debutante ball). My twenties were spent mostly in jeans and baggy t-shirts and cheap suits for work. And my thirties? A bit of a fashion disaster to be honest as I have tried desperately to remain dressed in twenties clothes (hard to move on from a Sportsgirl/Gap addiction) but with a post three baby body shape, a relocation across three countries in three years with extreme variations in temperature and very little disposable cash to top it all off. I think it would be fair to say that my clothing crisis is currently at an all time high. I am now living in hope that in the three years I have left before reaching 40 I will:

1. Receive a huge sum of money from someone; and 
2. Set about magically transforming my wardrobe into something resembling a successful 40 year old's wardrobe. 

Ignoring the problems that fulfilling number 1 on the list poses (Kickstarter grant worthy?), number 2 needs some clarification. What exactly is a successful 40 year old wardrobe? Let's turn to the streets of Seoul for inspiration. Seoul is well known for being a city of beautiful people. Advertisements for plastic surgery are abundant, nail bars are to be found on every corner and the make up stores are ubiquitous. People are generally very well groomed and extremely well put together, from the shoes to matching bets to matching handbags and occasionally (but more often than you would think occasionally would mean) matching dogs. 

As I am not intending to head down the road of Korea's equivalent of the Japanese Harajuka girls (spotty socks with frilly lace aside), I have been surreptitiously checking out Seoul's older generation for some fashion savvy guidance. The adjumas seem to have a definite sense of style in Seoul. From them, I have prepared a list of things that it appears I need to accumulate over the next few years as I begin to assemble my descent into the 40 something life wardrobe. 

Sun visors

The bigger the better is the trend here. Why go for a baseball hat, peak hat or even a bucket hat when you can go all out in front with a super sized sun visor (that has the added bonus of letting your perfectly coiffed hair remain free in the wind)? I would estimate that the largest I have seen to protrude at least 30cm from the forehead. Not that you are ever in danger in Korea but I have a feeling that the super sized visor could also be utilised as some sort of weapon of mass destruction should the need ever arise (images of a pack of adjumas wielding sun visors manically above their heads as they descent in zombie like movements down a mountain trail resplendent in their fluorescent hiking gear spring to mind here).

Fluorescent hiking gear 

No matter where you are hiking - be it a Sunday stroll down the main tourist strip of Insadong, a walk around the palace of Gwanghwamun or an actual hike up one of Seoul's mountains, it would not be a hike unless you wore some sort of fluorescent clothing. The more the better.

Matching prints 

These photos are hard to come by (it is really hard to do on the sly and given that most of the adjuams I come across seem to want to provide me with instructions about my children it is hard to discreetly snap away) so, i have resorted to images of the prints to provide an example of what goes with what according to the discerning eye of the adjuma.

the black paisley print is a favourite

UPDATE: Thanks Mike for this special snap below.

Note that the shoes at the bottom of the ensemble will either be fluorescent hiking sneakers or some sparkly sequinned number.

shoe example (very rare to see black pants) 

Sparkles and sequins are not just for the Seoul woman however. For men, there are plenty of options to adorn oneself in some sort of shimmery, sparkly number. This jacket remains my favourite to date (it also comes in silver).

Soul to Seoul: a whole lot of style.