Not Your Ordinary Accessories

Anyone who's walked around a shopping area in Korea has seen the array of "Konglish" t-shirts that line stores and street sellers' carts. Some shirts make you stop and wonder what they're trying to say, while others make you laugh with the lost-in-translation moment. Many foreigners like to add at least one Konglish shirt to their wardrobe for kicks, and others collect them to send home to family and friends.

Until the creation of Babo Shirts, there weren't many outlets for foreigners looking to buy shirts written in Korean. Now there's another option: Oki Tokki. A play on the English phrase "okie dokie," this shop sells one-of-a-kind accessories and gifts with Korean language. Started by Aein Hope, a half-Korean US resident of LA, this cute store sells jewelry, shirts, and buttons. It also features a whimsical tote with a bunny and carrot and the phrase 당근이지 (It's the carrot!) In Korea, this is a popular slang expression that means "of course!" It was created from 당연하지, which meant "absolutely".

Oki Tokki was created to offer lovers of Korean language a creative outlet. Aein Hope noticed during her study abroad program in Korea that clothes and accessories celebrating Korean language were non-existent, so she decided to change that. She hopes to expand her shop in the future to include more items, as well as branching out to sell in specialty art shops.

You can visit her website here: okitokki.com