And as much as Ms. Yoon had looked forward to living in a world of options, she said learning how to shop made her anxious. Ms. Yoon, in addition to hiding her North Korean background, said she tried to look and sound local. “I made myself dress as South Korean as possible.” To understand what that meant, she spent hours on YouTube watching beauty tutorials and got fashion tips from “Get It Beauty,” a popular South Korean television show hosted by makeup artists and fashion-forward celebrities. “I dressed the way rich people in North Korea dressed, which was their interpretation of how wealthy Chinese people dressed,” she said. Over time, she toned down and simplified her style, taking cues from South Korean celebrities including the actress Cha Jung-won.

Source: New York Times August 04, 2021 09:00 UTC