Traditional Korean Clothing
From Korea: The Land People and Customs by George Heber Jones, 1907.
Location: North Korea, South Korea
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
Clothing
From Korea: The Land People and Customs by George Heber Jones, 1907.
The costume of the men is generally white in color, and is designed on a plan to consume large quantities of cloth. In the old days, when clothing was made out of the narrow goods of native manufacture, it was not unusual to use a hundred yards or more of cotton, silk, and linen in making a man's winter costume. A gentleman dressed in this fashion passing along the road on a breezy day made an impressive sight. He reminded the observer of a full rigged ship under sail.
The Koreans until recently wore their hair long, the males not cutting the hair at all. In boyhood It is worn down the back, in a long luxuriant braid. Hats are the sole property and badge of manhood, boys always going bareheaded except in stormy weather.
The investiture of the male Korean with a hat is a very important part of the marriage ceremony. The prospective bridegroom is placed in the center of a group of the elders of his clan, his long black tresses gathered up over the head, a silken cord tied around the hair close to the crown, and then his hair is twisted and coiled until it is reduced to a small knot on top of the head. This is known as the top-knot, and like the scalp lock of the Indian and the ancient Japanese, and the queue of the Chinese, forms a very convenient handle by which the natives can seize each other in times of animated discussion. To hold the hair on top of the head, a band made of horsehair and linen thread goes around the forehead, binding it very tightly. On top of this the hat is placed, which is of interesting construction and consists of a large brim with a top to it like an inverted flower-pot.
The hats of to-day are very diminutive compared to the hats of years gone by, when the brims were so large that it is said that no more than three Koreans could get into an ordinary sized room at the same time with their hats on. There are many varieties of hats, probably the most remarkable being the sak-kat of the north, which is made of a kind of reed, and which is so large that it admirably serves the purpose of an umbrella.
The costume of the women is quite different from that of the men, being varied among the younger women with colors, and the most peculiar feature of which is that the waist line is placed just under the armpits, giving them the appearance of overgrown children.
The Korean costume is a very easy and comfortable one, having no buttons to it and being supported on the body by garters and girdles. In appearance the Koreans, in spite of the strange form of their interesting and remarkable costume, are a dignified and impressive people, and possessing as they do many of the graces and accomplishments which attend genuine hospitality and courtesy, they are a delightful people with whom to become acquainted.
Jones, George Heber. Korea; The Land, People, and Customs. Jennings and Graham, 1907.
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