Traditional Korean Clothing – 10 Beautiful Korean Outfits
Traditional Korean Outfits Korea’s traditional folk costumes and outfits leaves the visitors in awe. With a brilliant display of color, art, and style, the Traditional Korean Clothing portfolio has left many wide-eyed. Korean traditional outfits are collectively called Hanbok, which included everything from tops, undergarments, overcoats, headgear, shoes, and even hairpins.
Every piece of the Korean culture is embedded with a rich history and a story behind it. Different pieces of Korean clothing represent the status of the wearer or his rank. Even the colors of specific pieces are for special occasions or people. For example, a commoner is not allowed to wear any color except green when wearing a wonsam.
All you need to Know About Traditional Korean Outfits
Hanbok
Hanbok refers to the entire Korean traditional clothing. It is also known as ‘joseonot.’ It includes everything from blouses to headgear, footwear, accessories for different occasions. Other than a few changes in the material, fabric, and colors, the hanbok’s fundamental design has remained almost the same as they were 16 centuries ago. You should also have a look at these Best Botswana Traditional Outfits For Women.
Dopo
Dopo is a sort of robe worn by Korean scholars during the Goryeo and Joseon period. These scholars are known as Seonbi. Seonbi used dopo as an everyday garment. It was also used by government officers. According to some historians, the robe was influenced by Buddhism. Others associate it with a monk’s robe, called qwontu.
Baji
A Baji refers to traditional baggy pants, worn by Korean men. It is like loose pants, tied around the waist. A Baji is tied around the waist and is paired with a jeogori. Initially, it was worn by women too but now they have limited it as an undergarment to be worn under chima, which is a flowy skirt.
Chima
Chima is what you commonly know as a skirt. It is a long skirt that goes all the way from your chest to your ankles. The length of the skirt depends on the social status of the wearer. An upper-class woman’s skirt will drop down to the floor. On the other hand, women from the lower class are restricted from wearing a calf-length skirt. The skirt is loose and goes into an A-line. This covers the woman’s shape, keeping the code of modesty. Confucianism’s teachings advise followers to observe modest clothing. Moreover, the loose skirt makes it easier to wear Traditional Korean Clothing wear, as the wearer is easy to move around and do normal chores.
Dangui
Dangui, also known as dang-jeogori, is a type of upper garment worn by Korean women. It was worn by the queen consort the king’s concubines, and nobility over the short jacket, the jeogori. The most common color is yellowish-green, though other colors are observed as well, for example purple, white, and navy. The danguri worn by women in the court showed their ranks and status. Dangui for royalty had gold leaf patterns that decorated the shoulders, the sleeves, the front, and the back of the garment. The patterns on the garment represent different traits such as happiness, fortunes, and longevity. Ones worn by commoners could not have any style, like the ones worn by the people of the court. Commoners wore danguri on weddings as well, paired with other traditional accessories.
Garot
Garot originated from Jeju Island, where the local farmers and fishermen wore it as an everyday dress. Jeju locals’ fishing lines were dyed by unripe persimmons because it made them stronger than the undyed ones. This is how they realized that dyeing could make cotton stronger and hence began doing it. Garot, therefore, refers to clothes dues by unripe persimmons.
Gwanbok
Also known as Guanfu, Gwanbok is a term given to all business attire worn by business officials. A rank badge on the attire shows the different ranks of the officers. Gwanbok varies based on the rank and status of the wearer. Not only that, but it is also different for different occasions. The numerous types of gwanbok include: jobok, jebok, sangbok, gongbok, yungbok, and gunbok. To sum it all up in one sentence, gwanbok can be broadly called as a robe with a round collar, worn by Korean offiicals.
Hwarot
Hwarot was initially worn only by royal women, but later commoners adopted it for their wedding ceremonies. Today, it is still part of Korean weddings, particularly the p’yebaek phase. The gown is paired with a jokduri or hwagwan, binyeo or daenggi, and yeongigonji, which is the trend of putting red and black makeup spots on the girl’s cheek and brow.
The hwarot refers to a long robe with wide sleeves covering the wearer’s hands. It has detailed embroidery on it, which makes it very fancy. Panels and long side slits are common features of a Hwarot. It looks quite similar to a hanbok, except that a hwarot has straight symmetrical lines. Moreover, it closes in the front instead of the right side like the rest of the hanbok materials. Hwarots are red on the outside and blue on the inside. The particular reason behind that is that the two colors represent the yin and yang relationship between the groom and his bride. The sleeves are wide and long, going all the way from shoulders to the fingers. They also have three silk strips, in colors red, blue, and yellow with a white cuff at the end of the sleeve. The robe is often embellished with motifs believed to bring wealth, good fortune, and fertility to the new couple such as flora and fauna represent the bridal couple.
Jeogori
Jeogori is the most worn traditional clothing, used both by men and women. Though, the style of both genders differs slightly from one another. Men usually pair jeogori with baji pants, whereas women wear it with chima, the long skirt.
Jeogori covers the arms and upper body. Traditionally, it was made of silk, ramie or hemp, but today all sorts of different fabrics, including lace, is used. If you look at the composition of a jeogori, there are many parts to it. Firstly, there is the gil which is the largest part of the jacket. It covers the front and back of the jeogori. The git of the jeogori refers to the part of fabric which trims the collar. It has dongjeong, or a white replaceable white collar placed at its end. The coat strings, which are attached to the chest part of the jacket are called goreum. Women’s Women’s jeogori also have kkeutdong which is a colored at the end of the sleeves.
Jeogori, along with the rest of the Hanbok, is not worn on an everyday basis. Instead, it is left for ceremonies and special events. Women wear pink jeogori on their engagement parties, usually. Indigo colored jeogori is the most common color after women get married.
Jeonbok
In traditional Korean outfits, Jeonbok is worn by military personnel. It is a long vest without overlapped columns like rest of the articles of the hanbok. It is worn over dongdari, which is a single layer overcoat worn by men.