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At present, attire can be divided into Western-style dress,
which has become the common form of attire throughout the world, and various
forms of traditional dress. In Korea, as elsewhere, Western-style clothing is so
pervasive that one rarely comes across anyone wearing Korean hanbok in
public. The hanbok presently worn can be classified, according to use, as
everyday attire, ritual attire and special attire.
First, the hanbok worn by women as everyday attire
consists chiefly of: a dress, a petite coat, and undergarments, such as an
undershirt (sok chogori), under pants (kojaeng-i),
inner skirt (sok ch'ima) and socks (poson).
Men's hanbok are made up of chogori,
pants, an overcoat (turumagi), vest, outer coat (magoja) and socks
(poson). Western
accessories such as shoes and handbag are also used. In recent times, Korea's
Ministry of Culture and Tourism has launched a campaign encouraging people to
wear hanbok. Facilitated by Koreans' fondness for their own traditions,
the campaign has promoted the creation of new hanbok styles that are practical
for everyday use. At present, hanbok, as everyday attire, is worn chiefly
by people over 70-years old and by the general population during special
occasions such as holidays, weddings and 60th birthday celebrations.
Second, there is a hanbok worn during rites of passage.
Examples include paenae chogori worn by
newborn infants, hwarot (loose robe decorated with peonies) worn by a
groom as the bride presents gifts to her new parents-in law, wonsam (ritual
attire worn by a married woman), chokturi (black, silk headpiece worn by
women), hairpieces, taenggi (pigtail ribbons), and soon. During
traditional weddings, the man wears a large robe known as a tannyong over
his other clothing, a kaktae (traditional belt) and samo (tall cap
with round projections of the left and right).
During funerals, the corpse is clothed in special attire. The
clothing design is the same as that of weddings, but natural-colored hemp is
used instead. Women from the deceased person's family wear white skirts and
coats. Third, there is special attire worn during all traditional rituals and
related events.
As seen above, the hanbok design is characterized by a
two-piece outfit without pockets and buttons that is held closed with strings,
belts or cords. In traditional ondol houses, people sit on the warm
floor, thus the legs of the lower garment tend to be baggy. Hanbok colors
are based on naturl hues which are interpreted according to East Asian theories
of Cum-yang (Chin., yin-yang) and the
five elements. The female aspect is represented by Cum,
yin and likewise the lower garment is given an Cum,
yin color. Yang represents the male aspect as well as upper and outer
garments. White garments, which the Korean people have always been very fond of,
indicate the Koreans' simple and pure aesthetic sense.
Unlike most of the world's peoples, Koreans have managed to
preserve the basic design of their traditional attire up through the modern
period. Their ability to do so can be attributed to their strong sense of
national identity.
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Information
provided by the Korean Embassy
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