Dissecting Seventeen’s Fearless stage outfits: in contrast to Fear
[a thread]

@pledis_17 #SEVENTEEN

disclaimer: I am in no way an expert but I do love fashion and read up on fashion essays and keep up with collections and have taken online courses on fashion theory so I guess this is just how I PERSONALLY would interpret/dissect their outfits based on my knowledge.

Please keep in mind that I’ll be referencing my Fear thread a lot since Fearless is sort of the “sequel” to Fear so if you haven’t read it here it is (although you’d still understand my thread even if you didn’t read this but it’ll give you more context tho!) https://twitter.com/messmingyu/status/1268116830251433985

I’ll start with the details I noticed in their outfits then I’ll move on and contrast and compare the two concepts together.

Contrast and restriction; Two concepts that heavily influenced the Fear and Fearless concepts. However, these two concepts were presented in a different light in both Fear and Fearless.

Both Fear and Fearless outfits presented an armor-like look but if Fear presented it with them feeling/looking restricted, Fearless represents this armor as sort of a uniform or a badge of honor (presented with the sashes, the padded shoulders, etc)

It’s also interesting when you consider that the leader line were wearing aiguillettes (a braided cord/rope with decorative tips) Aiguillettes are typically used to denote honor and the usage of it derives from the lacings used to plate armor together.

The fact above sort of ties in with the contrasting idea of apprehension and dread in Fear with the idea of assurance, confidence and honor in Fearless.

The uniformed outfits really represent them as a group, a sort of symbol of unity that represents their achievements together. They stand as one unit ready to conquer what’s ahead.

The raw edged minimalism presented using the clean slashes through their clothing and the worn sleeves further highlighting the journey of how they got there.

This sort of imagery is quite striking when you compare fear’s theme of limitation under beauty and fearless’ theme of freedom under destruction.

Most importantly though, the sashes was also used to tie in the idea of contrast to both Fear and Fearless. A long colored silk sash appears tied/draped on their outfits whose vibrant hues and soft draping contrast with the sharpness of militaria.

One of the biggest things their Fearless stage outfits also mirrored was the silhouette. Both emphasized a v-shaped silhouette that achieved a stronger more masculine look.

The use of cummerbunds in their Fear outfits was used to achieve this look meanwhile in their Fearless outfits, belts and sashes were used to achieve the same silhouette.

Partially using the sashes to achieve that same silhouette is quite smart when you consider that a military sash used to represent status symbol or rank in one part of fashion history.

I think this fact is quite striking when you think of how much the boys referenced and used motifs from their past works/eras. It’s sort of a statement of how much they’ve conquered and how far they’ve come together.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading thru this! It’s just a thread of how I would personally interpret their stage outfits using my knowledge.

And don’t forget to stream left and right or ill leave ur dog bald <33