Monday: “This is an outfit I wear often. I wore a plain white tee and khaki pants with boots, and layered it with two flannels and a green bomber jacket. Both flannels are womenswear, and the boots are Timberlands. I also matched it with this hat, which complemented the rest of the outfit really well. I think pairing a flannel with a bomber is really cool and unique, because I don’t think anyone really wears it that way.”
Tuesday: “I’m wearing women’s jeans: they’re kind of flared and I folded them a lot. I paired it with a black t-shirt, a blazer, and a hat with a crocheted blue bag. I also wore chunky dress shoes. The accessories: the shoes and the bag– are definitely the most unique aspects of this outfit. I decided to wear them because I thought they added some depth to an otherwise more basic and neutral outfit.”
Wednesday: “These are Dickies overalls with checkered Vans, a black T-shirt, a navy blue bomber, and fur hat. I also tied the blue bag from Tuesday on the side with yellow gloves. Choosing this outfit was a fun process, because I was trying on random stuff, I saw the outfit, and thought. ‘That looks kind of cool.’ I was trying to be extra experimental. And I feel like overalls are something guys are afraid of wearing. Pairing that with a bomber jacket is even less common, and tying the gloves on the bag on the side added a bit more depth.”
Thursday: “I wore a beige blazer with a red brooch, a white tee, a women’s knitted beige vest, beige pants, and the same dress shoes from Tuesday. I styled my hair differently to reflect this outfit as well. I wanted to wear this blazer because oftentimes when guys dress up, they wear a black blazer, a white collared shirt, and dress pants. I wanted to dress up in a way most guys don’t do, with a lot of bright colors and a women’s vest. All of this fits well with the smaller accessories, especially the red pin, which I think popped out.”
Friday: “I wore semi-skinny jeans with my Timberland boots, a black T-shirt, and a purple collar under the flannel. I also decided to wear gloves, although it did hide another accessory I added to the outfit– silver nail polish.”
Since Sean Shim ’23 was a child, clothing and fashion have consistently been an outlet for him to express a reflection of himself with the world. By never sticking to one specific aesthetic or style, Shim constantly experiments with different and often unconventional mediums of clothing in his everyday outfits.
“My style of clothing is definitely more versatile… [and experimental]. Usually, when I want to make creative outfits, I try to match things that you wouldn’t normally see people wear together. Sometimes it can look bad, but it’s always great if it works out,” said Shim.
Despite Shim’s aesthetic versatility, he keeps to a few fashion essentials when choosing an outfit every day. One particular favorite of his are plainly colored T-shirts, which set a base for more unique outfits that are easier to build and layer upon. Shim prides himself on his distinctive accessories, which include necklaces, rings, hats, and nail polish—these subtle adornments stylishly help to bring his outfits together.
“I always need a plain black or white t-shirt, especially when it’s winter. In the winter, you have to wear jackets and overcoats. It can sometimes work to wear colorful, graphic tees under jackets, but most times it’s too much and too messy… I usually also wear a lot of hats and accessories, like nail polish. I think it’s important that I pay attention to those small details, because it gives the outfit more of a pop,” said Shim.
A large component of Shim’s clothing choices lies in enhancing his physical appearance. Instead of choosing pieces that all belong to a specific category or group of colors, he lets certain traits like hair and build decide the style of clothing he wears for months at a time.
“Hair is a big part. I used to have really long hair, and when I had that I would dress a certain way that was different from how I dress right now, or how I dressed when I had a buzz cut… My clothing style is more dependent on how I appear physically, because I think certain outfits only work with certain physical looks,” said Shim.
Alongside drawing style from his physical traits, Shim often selects a few new inspirations that help influence his current mode of fashion. However, he has a few consistent fashion influences, many of whom are Korean celebrities, including rappers G-Dragon and Kid Milli. Another influencer Shim takes inspiration from is singer-rapper DAWN, whom he especially admires for employing avant-garde yet compelling and fluid aesthetics in his fashion.
“No one can wear the outfits [DAWN] wears, and he pulls them off really well. It’s hard to get more specific inspiration from him, because he does the craziest outfits, but I get inspired by his attempts to try new things,” said Shim.
In the future, Shim hopes to keep experimenting with different types of styling and accessorizing. One of his primary motivations is his ability to influence the people around him with his unique and dynamic clothing choices.
“I like inspiring the people around me. Sometimes, people will come up to me and say, ‘Oh, this is cool.’ Other times, people tell me that their outfits that day are inspired by what I wear, and I appreciate that. I want to continue doing that,” said Shim.
