North Korea Has Banned Skinny Jeans
Kim Jong-Un is not a fan of skinny jeans. This, along with mullets, body piercings, and basically anything too outlandish for the hermit nation.
According to a state-run newspaper in North Korea, the slim-fitting jeans, which became a trend in 2008, were too capitalistic and did not reflect the country’s socialist culture.
An excerpt from the North Korean newspaper was published on Yonhap News Agency, a South Korean news outlet.
“History teaches us a crucial lesson that a country can become vulnerable and eventually collapse like a damp wall regardless of its economic and defense power if we do not hold on to our own lifestyle,” read the excerpt.
"We must be wary of even the slightest sign of the capitalistic lifestyle and fight to get rid of them," it added.
It is not the first time Kim Jong-Un has banned certain fashions. In 2017, the country banned all hairstyles for men except a selection of 15 approved styles that look sadly similar to the Supreme Leader’s own haircut.
A Literal Fashion Police
For a starving country like North Korea, you’d think the government would spend more on food security than policing fashion, but that’s not the case. Members of the Socialist Patriotic Youth League act as the nation’s “fashion police” who guard against unpatriotic hairstyles and clothing.
Among the other trends the fashion police have outlawed are the use of hair dyes, spiky hairstyles, and basically anything that might look too foreign. Branded T-shirts are forbidden, and you’d be arrested for wearing statement shirts, no matter how innocent the printed words are.
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