What is hanbok? The parts of Korean traditional dress explained
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Hanbok is the traditional dress of Korea. You see it in palace photos, at weddings and on holiday mornings, and more and more often on the street in a modern, simplified form. If you are new to it, the names of the pieces can feel like a vocabulary list, so this guide goes through them one at a time and then gives a short sense of where the clothes came from.
The basic idea
Hanbok is built from a few separate garments rather than one piece. The top is short and wraps across the body, the bottom is full and roomy, and an outer coat goes over everything in cold weather. Clean lines, soft curves (especially at the sleeve and the collar) and blocks of colour are what most people notice first.
In 2022 Korea's heritage authority designated hanbok saenghwal, the culture of making and wearing hanbok and the customs around it, as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage. Notably, it was recognised as something kept alive by ordinary people rather than by a specialist group of masters.
Women's hanbok
- Jeogori: a short jacket that crosses over at the front and closes with a long ribbon tie. It usually has a white detachable collar strip along the neckline, called the dongjeong.
- Goreum: the pair of ribbons that tie the jeogori shut. The bow it makes is one of the most recognisable features of hanbok.
- Chima: a long, full wrap skirt fastened high, so the line of the dress falls from just under the arms or at the chest. This is what gives women's hanbok its bell-like silhouette.
- Sokchima and sokbaji: underskirts and underlayers worn beneath the chima to give it volume and keep it from clinging.
- Durumagi: a long outer coat for going out, worn over everything.
Men's hanbok
- Jeogori: the men's version is longer and looser than the women's, but crosses and ties the same way.
- Baji: very roomy trousers, gathered at the waist with a sash or band and often tied at the ankle with daenim (ankle ties).
- Jokki and magoja: a vest and a short jacket that sit over the jeogori. The vest is a later addition, and handy because it adds pockets.
- Durumagi: the same long outer coat women wear. For formal occasions, a man would not traditionally go out without one.
Accessories
- Beoseon: padded white cotton socks with a slightly pointed toe.
- Gomusin: rubber shoes with an upturned toe, which replaced older leather and straw shoes.
- Norigae: a decorative pendant with tassels, hung from the goreum or the skirt band.
- Hair ornaments such as the binyeo (a long hairpin through a bun) and, for children and brides, special headpieces.
A short history
Clothing with a short jacket and trousers or a skirt appears in tomb murals from the Three Kingdoms period, long before the name hanbok existed. Over the centuries the proportions changed a great deal. What most people now picture as hanbok, with a very short jeogori and a high, full skirt, reflects late Joseon dynasty fashion, which itself shortened the jacket steadily over time.
In daily life, Western clothes gradually replaced hanbok during the 20th century. The word hanbok itself came into common use in the modern period, partly to distinguish Korean clothing from Western dress. Today it is mainly worn for holidays, weddings, first birthdays, ancestral rites and performances, while modernised everyday versions have their own following.
Words to know
- Hanbok: Korean dress in general
- Jeogori: jacket
- Chima: skirt
- Baji: trousers
- Durumagi: overcoat
- Goreum: ribbon tie
Do you own a hanbok, or are you planning to wear one for the first time? Share your questions or stories in the comments.