Meet our Stylists!
The styling of WDMW main characters and insider stories.
Meet Vicky!
Vicky is a Korean stylist who has worked with some of top Korean celebrities (Kim Won Hee, Jang Yun Jung, Jang Shin Young and others) for about 10 years in the Korean drama, film, TV entertainment industry before moving to Singapore. Starting her career as fashion stylist, she has now expanded her role to include hair/makeup/fashion styling in Singapore. She is keen to tap into the Singapore entertainment industry and to utilize her experience and networks in Korea. She currently works at Zinc Hair Salon in Singapore as a senior hair designer.
Meet Rena!
Rena’s been working mainly as hair stylist in Korea (she also has experience with Korean singers), and she’s now expanding her role into makeup, bridal hair & makeup in Singapore. Joining WDMW styling team, she has proven her skills in TV drama makeup & hair as well as fashion styling. In Singapore, she works at Zinc Hair Salon as a senior hair designer.
1. Tell us about the styling concept of each main character of WDMW.
Simple & Natural
BananaMana Films directors required only one thing for the entire shoot: Natural & Simple. Even with close-ups, directors wanted characters look very natural as if they did no make-up.
Rena: I was mainly in charge of Jimmy and Jane. After analyzing the script, we decided that Jimmy should be styled more towards the comfortable, metrosexual look. I styled him mostly with shirts + shorts combination. For special events, he wore long pants. Hair styling was a simple & natural cut.
For Jane, she’s a character from the corporate world but at heart, she is a down-to-earth girl. Most of scenes were using an after-work look, so my styling was basically H-Line skirts with different tops or blouses.
Rena: Glory Ngim (Jane) had medium length straight hair, so we could achieve both a sophisticated pony-tail and hair down with light curls look depending on the scenes. Jane’s makeup concept was simple & natural and didn’t depend on much color with eye shadow. We generally added changes of colour or accents on her lips.
Vicky: Bob and Lingual were my characters. First of all, Bob is a middle-aged, not so fashion-forward guy, although he’s an actor. Main wardrobe were t-shirts and shorts and for a date look I embraced shirts with colors and jeans.
Vicky: Lingual is an interesting character. Her character dramatically changes after her trip and I wanted to show this change with styling. Before her trip, her style is more teenage like, so was her hair style. I liked her white top and tube dress combination and I think Charis looked very pretty here. (Ep.3 – how not to say I love you.)
Vicky: Towards the later episodes, I focused on a more grown-up look for Lingual. I embraced black tops & blouses. Make-up wise, color palette didn’t change dramatically, but I tried to show the change through her hair style.
2. What was your challenge?
Vicky & Rena: Budget was very tight and we didn’t have any sponsors for wardrobe and make-up. We had to bring all our clothes, accessories, shoes, bags,etc.; whichever suit or fit our actresses. We were really grateful that the Singapore Great Sale was going on while we were shooting the drama. We bought some items at heavily discounted prices!
Rena: It was a quite a challenge for me to find the perfect skin tone for base makeup. I’ve never had a chance to style various ethnicities in Korea. WDMW had different actors on each episode, and I got to work with actors with different skin tones and hair types. I had to practice a lot in advance to get the right skin tone before the shoot.
Vicky: For me, it was Singapore weather. I’ve worked in outdoor shoots or film sets in Korean weather. Singapore weather was quite a challenge for make-up & hair. We could see the makeup melting shortly after a couple of outdoor scenes. Now we’re getting better with Singapore’s hot & humid weather.
3. Any fun or memorable stories to share with us?
Rena: For episode 2 (under arm hair ^^), after we got the script, we had a discussion on how to make this happen. We could’ve used parts of wigs but Vicky and I wanted to make it real, especially for the close-up shot. We collected hair from our salon and had to be selective to get the similar texture of underarm hair. Once we were informed that Liz Lazan was casted for Karen’s role, we had to collect dark brown hair to match her hair color.
Vicky: For me, it was episode 1. Seeing foot prints on a toilet seat is quite foreign to Koreans and I found it very funny to shoot. To get the black foot print on toilet seat, we painted Abby’s soles with black eye shadow. Then Christian lifted and carried her onto the toilet seat to get the perfect foot print.
Vicky & Rena: It was a great experience to style actors or actresses with various ethnicities and I believe this to be a great strength in the Singapore entertainment industry. Through WDMW, we had opportunities to style Chinese, Indian, Malay, White, Eurasian actors. It was fun to be able to work with them and to work on new challenges. In Korea, we haven’t had any chance to style Indian or Malay actors, it was great learning experience to work with them to get the right skin tone and colors.
4. Any Last Words?
Vicky: It was my first Drama in Singapore and I hope people like it. I feel fulfilled when people say my characters are pretty, or they liked the hair or makeup. That keeps me motivated to be part in Drama/film industry. Personally, I wanted to start my career as fashion stylist in Singapore 5 or 6 years ago, and I’m very glad that I could finally be part of it through WDMW. Many of my ex-colleagues or fashion stylist friends in Korea are very supportive of my new career in Singapore and they are very interested in Singapore industry.
Rena: I had such a great time and learned a lot as I got this project 2 months after I first moved to Singapore. This project helped me understand Singapore culture better and helped me settle in Singapore quickly by meeting new friends. I really appreciate BananaMana Films team for this opportunity. Now WDMW is out and hope people like it and like my work. Next project (Perfect Girl) is soon to be out, so lots of exciting things happening and I hope people enjoy the show.
How would you suggest going about working as a part time fashion/wardrobe stylist in Korea? If that is even possible? From what I understand, connection is key. I do not live in Korea but I would if necessary.
Hi Cyndi,
It’s quite difficult – it’s a very competitive industry and most stylists have training at some of the schools in Korea. Do you have much experience in styling in Singapore? Did you do any fashion training?