Koreans are really proud of thier clothes;Hanbok. It's colorful and full of philosopy. From the siluet and the colors, hanbok reflect the korean peoples character.
Koreans wore an array of hanbok during their lives. A newborn baby wore a baenaet jeogori (a jacket for newborns without neckbands and gussets). On the first birthday or dol, the child wore a saekdong jeogori (rainbow-striped jacket). Saekdong is the sleeve of a jeogori (jacket) or durumagi (overcoat) made by patching cloth of various colors together or by dying the sleeves with different colors. The saekdong originate from the obangsaek (red, white, black, yellow and blue) highly emphasized by Koreans and indicate the five directions (east, west, south, north and center). The five colors were thought to drive away misfortune and evil. Recently, many families have their children wear this saekdongjeogori (colorful jackets) on national holidays. It can easily be seen that adult women also like to wear it on national holidays. On the seonginsik (coming-of-age ceremony), the relevant youngsters wore a gwanryebok (coming-of-age ceremony clothes). It is said that they changed clothes three times during the ceremony.
Suui (shroud for corpses after dressing) show that the shrouds used by upper class families were made of satin, while those by commoners were made of silk. Until the mid-Joseon Period, there were no special designs for the suui but rather the deceased family put on the body a full dress that the deceased wore. (Refer to the photo of the shroud found in a tomb of the Cheongju Han Family.) Toward the end of the Joseon Period, a new custom was adopted of wiping and then clothing a corpse for burial. Thus, the shroud was made for the procedure. Corpses were prepared fro burial, dressed, and tied with a cloth called ‘yeompo.’
During the Joseon Period, hemp cloth was rarely used to make a suui. Nowadays, many families use shrouds made of hemp cloth. In the past, family members of the deceased wore white or sosaek (the color of the cocoon yarn) or wore clothes made of hemp cloth. Nowadays, they wear black suits as in western countries, which are regarded to be in contrary with the tradition.
Suui (shroud for corpses after dressing) show that the shrouds used by upper class families were made of satin, while those by commoners were made of silk. Until the mid-Joseon Period, there were no special designs for the suui but rather the deceased family put on the body a full dress that the deceased wore. (Refer to the photo of the shroud found in a tomb of the Cheongju Han Family.) Toward the end of the Joseon Period, a new custom was adopted of wiping and then clothing a corpse for burial. Thus, the shroud was made for the procedure. Corpses were prepared fro burial, dressed, and tied with a cloth called ‘yeompo.’
During the Joseon Period, hemp cloth was rarely used to make a suui. Nowadays, many families use shrouds made of hemp cloth. In the past, family members of the deceased wore white or sosaek (the color of the cocoon yarn) or wore clothes made of hemp cloth. Nowadays, they wear black suits as in western countries, which are regarded to be in contrary with the tradition.
To preserve their traditions, designer combine the old fashioned hanbok with the modern peoples needs. The main reason why modern people prefer T-Shirt or jeans is the comfortability and the flexibility. The old-fashioned ones seems really un-practical and too hot for the modern life Hanbok now, come with more colorful idea. From the shortened chima to the bolero for replacing chogori.
Liu Yifei - sample of the traditional hanbok
4 minute - most of the modern hanbok siluete is a short chima
