Traditional Korean Clothing - Hanbok

Hanbok is known as Korean traditional clothing which can be also called Joseon oth. Many Koreans wear hanbok during special occasions such as the Korean Thanksgiving.

The hanbok was every day cloth and its structure was set in the Goguryeo kingdom during (37 BCE-668 CE). The Goguryeo kingdom, which is known as the Goryeo kingdom was part of the three kingdoms of Korea. The other two kingdoms were Baekje and Silla. I will be discussing the inspiration for making the hanbok. The hanbok is based on the Confucian dress code as well the people’s keenness of naturalness, as well as feeling protected by supernatural forces.

The general idea of the hanbok is that the hanbok follows a delicate flow of lines and angles like a hanok. For example the baerae which is the white lining of the jacket sleeves and dongjeong which is the jacket’s collar shows the soft and elegant traditional Korean aesthetics. The colors of the hanbok correspond with the yin and yang theory. The colors also symbolize your social status and marital status. Children wore bright colors, middle aged adults wore subdued colors, unmarried women often wore yellow garments and red skirts, married women wore green and red, and women with kids wore navy. The commoners wore white but would wear different colors in special occasions. The upper class wore variety of colors.

There were designs on hanboks that held different meanings. Peonies were embroidered on wedding dresses to represent a wish for honor and wealth. Lotus flowers would represent hope for nobility, and bats and pomegranates showed the want for a child. Embroideries of dragons, phoenixes, cranes, and tigers were reserved for high ranking officials and royalty. The upper class such as the high ranking officials also had hanboks made of lightweight fabrics like ramie and silk, while the lower class were stuck with cotton.

The hanboks have 2 different components to it. For men, they have an upper jacket known as a jeogori and pants known as baji. The women have a jeogori as well and they wear a skirt which is called a chima. The unmarried women wore their hair in daenggimeori which was a braid with a large ribbon attached to the end if the braid. Married women wore their hair in style called jjokjin meori which the hair was put into a bun and fastened by a pin. They also wore their hair in a style called yongmeori where the bun rest on top of the head and sued a wig called gache to make the bun fuller. The Queens and the king’s wives wore their hair into thick braids and put on the top off their heads the style was called eoyeo meori. The women would use accessories like binyeo a pin that holds the buns together, dwikkoji, and cheobi a hairpin to close knotted hair. Other accessories were worn with the hanbok such as a goreum a coat string, ssamjang norigae a pendant with three ornaments, and a danjang norigae a pendant with only one pendant.

In conclusion, the traditional Korean dress has a long history that goes back to the the three kingdoms. The hanbok has special meaning based on the colors, embroideries, and material of its fabric. The hanbok does not just involve pants and skirts but has many accessories as well as vibrant hanboks worn on special occasions. There many things to learn from the traditional Korean clothes as the history is so long.