People in Hong Kong refer to a certain manner of dress as Mongkok-style, more commonly abbreviated by the acronym, ‘M.K.‘. Mongkok of course is one of the city’s thriving shopping and eating centers on Kowloon side. It’s also literally one of the most densely populated neighborhoods on the planet.
The term Mongkok-style can be used for many different things. It can have negative connotations in addition to positive ones. The negatives relate to the areas cramped quarters and the prevalence of fake items. (I personally like Mongkok as much as Causeway Bay and don’t agree with the negative term.) In a positive way, marketers have harnessed the term ‘Mongkok-style’ to convey authenticity and to give a product street-cred. A diverse range of items use the term including a kind of potato chips, which mimic a type of sausage sold by street vendors in Mongkok.
When it comes to fashion, I’ve been trying to uncover the origins of M.K.-style for a long time and I actually have a confession: I used to dress ‘M.K’ many years ago. At the time I thought it was T.S.T. style since I bought the shirts from a local designer shop in the Beverly Shopping Center in Tsim Sha Tsui. But thinking back now, I was definitely on the forefront of M.K. style for a good two years!
In conducting my investigation, the first question I needed to answer was: what exactly is M.K. style? FULL POST COMING SOON!
fascinating topic!
I’m hongkonger & evn thou i always use term MK style, iv gotta admit i dun evn kno the exact definition lol
prety sure heapsa HK ppls duno either!
lov yr site read it almost evryday!
keep it up!
so what is mk then.. how can you define mk.. surely if they used the term “mong kok..” surely it should be hip and common and desired… but it is widely used as an insulting comment about views or bad clothings.. right…???
mk= kids trying to immitate japanese style but not quite making it there???
ya please finish the full post soon!
quote: I used to dress ‘M.K’ many years ago. At the time I thought it was T.S.T. style since I bought the shirts from a local designer shop in the Beverly Shopping Center in Tsim Sha Tsui. But thinking back now, I was definitely on the forefront of M.K. style for a good two years!
+1!!!i used to dress in MK style a few years back though i still hv no idea wt mk style exactly is!!
looking forward to ur full post and then we may hv more detailed discussions!!
I was not even aware of style subdivions in Hong Kong!
Maybe this link will help clear things up.
MK Culture in Hong Kong
-over-length jeans with huge pattern of frames.
-fake bleach blonde hair with black roots, sumtimes tgt with awful highlights i.e. green/pink/blue
-try-to-be gangster but then not a proper body build-up gangster
-typical, skinny locals with sliver chains.
-not blink blink style but sliver chains for keys hanging off the pocket.
-walking with lots of coins as you can hear it
-always in black, tore off jeans and sleeveless top
I think MK style is also MARY-KATE STYLE!!!
ngagree – you forgot about those HORENDOUSE TRUCKER CAPS!
Agree with the above and I add that “MKstyle” or the often degrading term “MK people” is different now than what it used to be. Originally it could be applied to the young “errand boys” of the area, most of them full of tattoos. But for the present its used in a different way and they can be found in many areas of HK.
Starting off, I have to say that MK is not a trend nor a subculture, It is not something based on any paticular ideology. Insted it can be considered an effect of urban culture where teens want to act and dress in a way that in their point of view is cool (misled). They dont have any paticular sense of fashion and thats why MKstyle is a melting pot of many different fashion trends(high fashion or not) + also acccesories combined with Bad taste. They will buy what they see + like and combine it all together excessively/over the top and the result is something thats out of place. Below are some different cases:
– For girls: Long fake eyelashes, Color contacts, Drawn eyebrows, Fake bling(on clothes,nails +accessories), bad hair styles.
– For guys: Often dyed hair, Wearing hiphop accesories(Fitted hats, headbands, big fake bling) with NON hiphop clothes (eg. skinny jeans, Norm size tee shirt), “Hiphop” style with excessive layering, wannabe punk style combined with luxury goods (LV, Gucci, Prada etc) and generally any look thats out of place.
You can see them at Lkf, Karaoke bars and Discos.
Being MK is not a bad thing. Being Ingorant is
Wow! I REALLY need to finish this post. I just never got around to it, yet it seems to be one of the most interesting topics! I had many pictures to add. Unfortunately, I had an external hard drive fail, so I’m not sure I have them any more. Will try to search for them and see if I can continue the discussion.