Are Stage Outfits Uncomfortable For Idols? K-Pop Costume Designers Explain All

In a new “Comment Defenders” interview with AYO on YouTube, two experienced costume designers explained the truth behind whether stage outfits make idols uncomfortable.

Lingerie Han CEO Han Seon Mi has been designing costumes for the Korean entertainment industry since she worked on the 2016 movie The Handmaiden. Joined by junior designer Na Hyun Bin, she’s branched out to working with idols over the past five years—including Apink, Red Velvet, and aespa. So, who better to reveal the truth about whether stage outfits make idols uncomfortable?

One AYO commenter wanted to know whether it’s hard to idols to dance in their stage costumes. “Their moves are big and extreme“, the fan noted, “and they wear super tight stage costumes [so] it must be very uncomfortable when they dance.”

Of course, the Lingerie Han staff only design the outfits—they don’t wear them. As such, Han Seon Mi says you’d have to ask the idols themselves to really find out how comfortable or uncomfortable they are. That said, Han did share some insight based on the design process.

The CEO explained that when idols dance fiercely, it’s important that their bodies aren’t “shaking or bouncing“. So, in that sense, wearing a “super tight” costume on stage actually helps to prevent discomfort rather than cause it.

It could be rather uncomfortable if it’s too loose.

­— Han Seon Mi, Lingerie Han

Han Seon Mi went on to say that artists most likely put up with a little discomfort or inconvenience when they only have to wear the outfits over a day or two for the sake of their art. However, she explained that costume designers do carefully choose fabric and materials to “make it comfortable and easier for them to move“.

For example, when Lingerie Han made corsets for Apink’s “Eung Eung” comeback, they switched out the uncomfortable, inflexible materials found in traditional corsets for materials that are easier on the body when dancing

Apink’s Costume Designers Explain How Their “Eung Eung” Outfits Were Made To Work On Stage