North Korean authorities have intensified crackdowns on young people’s clothing and hairstyles since enacting the “Youth Education Guarantee Act,” but North Korea’s youth — accustomed to outside culture — continue seeking change despite state restrictions.
“New fashions and hairstyles that differ from last year are trendy among Hamhung’s youth,” a Daily NK source in South Hamgyong province said recently. “Crackdowns intensify every year, yet young people’s appearance becomes more non-socialist the harder the authorities crack down.”
Young people wearing various clothing styles can easily be spotted on Hamhung’s streets — especially this summer, when the number of young women wearing colorful one-piece dresses or skirts has noticeably increased.
According to the source, short-sleeved, above-the-knee one-piece dresses are trendy this summer. Particularly popular are low-cut ones with especially short sleeves.
“These kinds of one-piece dresses slowly became trendy about two or three years ago, and now everyone wears them,” the source said. “They used to cost 500 to 1,500 Chinese yuan at first, but this year they’re much cheaper at 200 to 300 yuan.”
“People think you’ll get in trouble for wearing a low-cut dress, but young people nowadays actually prefer them,” the source said. “They also look for short skirts, thinking that long dresses — even if low-cut — are tacky, and they think nothing of wearing sleeveless dresses.”
Among young men, black shirts made in China, which cost around 200 yuan, are reportedly popular. “Black shirts with russet details slightly visible inside the collar are popular among men, who think they look cool,” the source said. “Nowadays, people express their personality through their clothes.”
Young people are also sensitive to hairstyle trends. “Recently, more young women are getting magic straight perms,” the source said. “If you get a magic straight perm, your hair looks full and lustrous, and you can also dye it a natural dark brown.”
Because dyeing one’s hair exceeds the government’s limits and is subject to crackdowns, young North Koreans still try to fulfill their desires — at least partially — while staying as close as possible to the authorities’ boundaries.
Young people “laugh” at socialist styles
In North Korea, maintaining a tidy appearance is considered a serious ethical issue. The authorities strongly demand that people wear clothes and hairstyles that conform to socialist lifestyles, arguing that clothing and hair reflect the wearer’s ideological spirit.
Article 41 of North Korea’s Youth Education Guarantee Act forbids young people from “wearing clothes or grooming themselves in strange ways that are un-Korean.” North Korea has emphasized the need for youth education and intensified crackdowns based on this law, yet young North Koreans’ desire to express themselves through foreign-influenced clothing and hairstyles continues to grow.
“Young people don’t wear clothing or groom themselves in ways that conform to socialist lifestyles. In fact, they laugh at such styles,” the source said. “If the authorities intensify controls and crackdowns by enforcing standardized appearances and taking ideological issue with people who violate this, young people will experience even greater contradictions between what they express and what they think, and the state will be responsible for this.”
