Politics of candidates' style

By Rachel Lee, Jun Ji-hye, Baek Byung-yeul

Fashion is certainly not the deciding factor influencing voter opinion, but as with other beneficiaries of the cult of celebrity, politicians know the importance of looking their best, especially during this election season.

For members of the electorate with a complete absence of political sense, what politicians wear can be as important as what they say.

With less than 30 days to go before the presidential election, three hopefuls ― Park Geun-hye, Moon Jae-in, Ahn Cheol-soo ― are under ever closer scrutiny from the public and the media. Their clothing, hair styles, shoes and, oh yes, their words represent different facets of who they are and what they represent.

Image, it seems, is increasingly important to political campaigning. Fashion and image projection are used to sell aspects of each candidate's personality, and is also used to gloss over misperceptions or negative images.

"In this multimedia age, creating an appealing, reliable image for a candidate is ever more important," said Jo Hye-jin the director of Jo Hye Jin Image Research Institute.

Park Jong-ho, a 30-year-old software engineer, believes he can get an idea of what messages the three candidates are trying to convey to the public through their overall fashion style.

"I feel Park Geun-hye really loves red. She wears jumpers, mufflers, and shoes all in red that symbolizes the party she belongs to. I think she is doing a good job because the color consistently reminds me of Park," he said. The Saenuri Party's colors are red and blue.

Choi Jung-won, a 30-year-old music instructor thinks Moon Jae-in, the candidate of Democratic United Pary (DUP) and Independent candidate Ahn Cheol-soo show little difference in terms of overall style.

"I think generally that females have more diverse choices in their wardrobes," Choi said. "I feel faith and trust through Moon's sober suits and Ahn impresses me as a young and fresh candidate wearing his open neck shirt."

Yoon Seung-ki, a 29-year-old doctor, however, expressed a different view about the relationship between politicians and fashion.

"I don't want to be affected by appearances. I know how the candidates try to manipulate us and act as if they are perfect runners. They only try to project images as if they are ideal candidates."

Park Geun-hye

Park Geun-hye, the ruling Saenuri Party's standard bearer, has greater need than her liberal rivals for establishing an appealing, stylish image.

She has already established her image as a significant political figure.

Therefore, the style approach of the 60-year-old conservative is to highlight her personal qualities rather than the clothes or accessories she wears.

She rarely wears skirts in public. Many political observers and media describe Park, the daughter of the late President Park Chung-hee, as a female warrior, saying that she doesn't want to display her femininity in the male-dominated political arena.

Why does she refuse to wear skirts? Cho Yoon-seon, Park's spokeswoman, explained, "It's uncomfortable to walk or run in skirts."

In terms of color, she usually chooses neutral tones such as navy blue, khaki or camel. But, these days, she often appears clad in red, symbolic of the Saenuri Party.

"Her achromatic-colored clothes with matching red items lend a degree of modernity," said Fashion designer Lee Seung-hee of Leyii "To refresh and rejuvenate her image, I would suggest she tries wearing a small necklace or patterned clothing."

Makeup artist, Kim Hwal-ran of Musee Neuf in Gangnam, southern Soul, said, "Park has maintained wearing her hair up for years, which makes her resemble her mother, Yook Young-soo. She tends to avoid vivid colors and just focuses on her eye line and toned-down lip color."

The expert suggests that if Park cut her hair short, it would give her a more progressive air.

It is true that younger generations usually view the conservative as quite an old-fashioned figure. Due to this, Park suffers a lack of support from the youth.

To woo young voters, fashion experts suggest that Park needs to change her typical style and come out with a more vibrant style to project a younger image.

Moon Jae-in

Moon Jae-in of the DUP has long kept his grizzled, parted hair in spite of advice from his wife and aides to dye his hair in order to create more youthful impression. Moon himself who stresses "honesty" adheres to gray hair to keep his slogan "People come first."

"I think it is best to express my mind and courtesy to the people who come to meet me," said Moon in July referring to the reason why the 59-year-old politician wears suits most of the time during the campaign tour.

The member of the main opposition party was also spotted wearing clothes appropriate for special occasions such as military uniforms when visiting an army base.

A slight change was made recently. After declaring his candidacy in the presidential election, Moon changed his square frame glasses to round ones to soften his image which is partly defined by his square face.

"His natural hair color and loose fitting suits seem friendly towards the public," said makeup artist Kim. The artist said dying his hair black might attract members of the young generation that show a growing interest and concern in the country's political and social issues.

Designer Lee also pointed out that Moon might look somehow boring or unsophisticated with his current fashion style. "I would suggest he tries bright-colored or patterned ties. And knitwear can be another option. He will look more comfortable in those," she added.

Ahn Cheol-soo

"Natural" and "comfortable" are the two key words that best represent the overall styling concept for independent candidate Ahn Cheol-soo.

The 50-year-old software mogul is already known for his semi-formal attire, wearing no tie. But since the announcement of his presidential bid in September, the former professor has surely realized he is in need of a makeover especially for formal occasions.

He apparently prefers some dark-colored suits such as black and navy over light colored ones and mostly matches these with white or blue shirts and ties. And he sports a blue jumper by French brand Ungaro.

The biggest change is his hair. Ahn has taken the opinions of stylists and advisers into consideration and started to apply mousse and gel to hold his long and straight hair.

"Modern fit suits with colorful ties like orange looks good on him," said Lee. "Since he has comparatively fair skin, I suggest he tries some light-colored or patterned suits."

"I recommend he should try holding back his fringe to look more confident and active," said Kim.