Is there a hanbok day we weren’t aware of?
WHAT DOES HANBOK SYMBOLIZE?
An article of clothing that has aesthetic, bright, and pastel colors symbolized the social position of a person and the marital status of a woman.
The children and especially girls used to wear bright colors, whereas middle-aged men and women would switch on to soft, gentle, low saturated colors.
However, do you know Hanbok goes back 1600 years ago? And it also represents various forms of beauty that the world knows by Eight Beauty Of Hanbok.
And they are, Beauty of Structure, Beauty of Form, Beauty of Creativity, Beauty of Harmony, Beauty of Color, Beauty of Nature, Beauty of Empty space, and last but not the least, Beauty of Personal character.
Hanbok which is also known as Joseonot is considered to have structural beauty,
CAN FOREIGNERS WEAR HANBOK?
Yes, definitely foreigners can wear Hanbok. In fact in Seoul alone, there are thousands of foreigners who try Hanbok in a day.
Just handle it carefully, with grace and you will look beautiful in it.
Infact, there are special villages like Buckchon Hanok Village, Jeongju Hanok Village, made by the Korean government where you can see different beautiful monuments, the old Korean houses, and yes, the perk and everybody’s favorite thing - Hanbok.
Yes, you get to rent it there and capture beautiful you while roaming the villages.
WHAT ARE THE PARTS OF HANBOK?
The parts of Hanbok include several items.
Women’s Hanbok
Jeogri
It is the upper part of the Hanbok. Men’s Jeogri is longer than women’s Jeogri.
Image Credit: Antiquealive
Chima
The outer long skirt is referred to as Chima. In modernized Korean, a Chima is all kinds of skirts, from short to long.
Image credit: Wooree tree
Otgeoreum
Looks like a race or a ribbon, which is considered a women’s ornament in Hanbok. It is a cloth string.
The red cloth string is Otgeoreum
Men’s Hanbok
Gat
The men’s hat in Hanbok is known as Gat. Usually, too, Gat is a hat in Korea.
Kkotsin
There’s men’s chima too, so to complete this attire gracefully they wear Kkotsin. That is the pair of silk shoes, and flowers embroidered on them.
Credits to the rightful owner
Baji
Refers to the lower part, pant of the Hanbok. Unlike today’s fit pants, these have roomy nature. These were made keeping in mind the ease of sitting.
Image credit: KoreaDaebak
WHEN WAS HANBOK INVENTED?
Many historic things that represent Korea today have been invented in between the three dynasties period, even Kimchi.
Hanbok also came into existence during Goguryeo Dynasty which was from 38 BC. The designers back then really thought this out.
They did not only create it to look good or anything. But it was also meant to be comfortable for the ladies to relax and also work efficiently.
WHEN DID KOREA STOP WEARING HANBOK?
It was the early 20th century when western outfits became more popular and people slowly started shifting towards the respective clothing.
This somewhere resulted in Hanbok getting out of fashion.
However, it still holds the respective position of national clothing of Korea, and people do wear it on traditional holidays like Chuseok and Seolnal.
DOES HANBOK DAY EXIST?
I have to be honest here, I was not really sure about Hanbok Day either. So I dig deep into it. And found out that on April 4, a metropolis of New Jersey known as Tenafly, and also a suburb of New York, announced October 21 as “Korean Hanbok Day”.
It is the Asian American Youth council governed by Asian teens that stated that the day will be celebrated to honor the traditional national Korean attire.
There’s one “Hanbok Day” in Korea too - celebrated on the very same day, October 21.
MODERN HANBOK IN K-POP
Where there are Korean dramas filled with Hanbok(s) such as Hwarang, 100 Days My Prince, Mr. Queen, and many more. You will come across this attire in historical dramas.
There comes K-pop, which a couple of times presented Modern Hanbok in front of an audience. And they absolutely loved it.
One such innovation was worn by BTS’s Jimin which outfit was even considered to be sold in an auction. He wore it on the “Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”.
Credits to the rightful owner
Another one was when Blackpink’s Jisoo wore it. She was mesmerizing in it.
As we discussed earlier, Hanbok was created for ease of movement back in the day.
And now, the reason behind customizing it is the same - for the ease of movement. Today we can also rent, or even buy it.
Credits to the rightful owner
The Hanbok has been modernized for ease of movement today.
Would you like to try wearing Hanbok? Also, let us know about your nation’s traditional clothing.
Author- Akshita
