When talking about Hanbok, everything revolves around a special Korean clothing, which originated many centuries ago. Today, this special type of clothing has almost completely disappeared from everyday life.
What is Hanbok? Meaning, definition, explanation
However, the people in Korea, especially in the democratic South Korea, love to maintain certain traditions and so clothes and costumes, which can be assigned to the area of hanbok, are often still used for very specific celebrations. Here, the annual harvest festival, traditional weddings, the Korean New Year, and in some cases even funerals are of particular importance.
Although hanbok plays an increasingly subordinate role in the everyday life of the Korean population, there are now some areas where traditional clothing, such as hanbok is increasingly used again.
Among other things, many people use this traditional clothing for visits to ancient palaces and temples. These rituals can be seen increasingly in China as well as Korea.
See: K-Pop / Korean dictionary
Hanbok Day
To further fuel and maintain the tradition surrounding hanbok, an official Hanbok Day was introduced in 1996. On such a day, more traditional costumes of this kind should be worn. On this day it is thus recommended to visit certain relevant temples or palaces. Some Koreans also meet with their costumes then in the big cities (especially Seoul) to spend a nice day.
Even though hanbok is an important tradition and it is a special day, it cannot be compared with the New Year’s Day, Buddha’s birthday or the day of the founding of the state. The so-called hanbok day is not a public holiday in the sense of a work stoppage, and yet it is celebrated intensively, especially increasingly by young people.
The composition of the costume
Looking at the composition of the clothing, despite quite different colors, patterns and cuts, many similarities can be seen in the structure:
hanbok woman:
Skirt (referred to as chima), jacket/top (jeogori), in addition, this costume includes a petticoat.
hanbok man:
Jacket/top (jeogori), pants (baji), sometimes this costume is complemented by a robe (butt).
Especially for the man, trousers and top are cut quite wide. Thus, there should be enough freedom of movement and a pleasant wearing comfort. If men wear a robe, however, it is often tighter and emphasizes the figure, because it is reinforced with a band around the waist and thus emphasizes the figure.
To the classic costume with the above-mentioned components and features, men and also women can resort to alternatives,or sensibly complement the existing set. Here there is a special vest (Jokki), which is especially popular in winter, because it protects against the cold to a special extent.
Hanbok: Make your own clothes using instructions from the net
Sometimes people in Korea want to make their own hanbok. However, this is not so easy. However, if you don’t know how to help yourself, you can refer to a suitable instruction from the Internet. Here, the procedure is explained step by step. Not infrequently, 10 to 15, or even up to 20 different steps are necessary until the costume is finally ready and can be worn. The material used here is, among other things, square paper. This can be colorful and also more or less strongly patterned, so that in the end, for example, a beautiful, colorful skirt for women can be created.
However, without prior knowledge, this clothing is often not easy to make. For the folding of the paper is sometimes required any amount of manual talent. If you are not very talented here, it is better to resort to ready-made clothes, which is offered in many places.
Additional headgear makes the outfit perfect
Hanbok is often supplemented in Korea. Here are especially headgear to mention. For men, some headgear can almost look like a crown. For women, there are also a number of attractive headpieces. However, especially on Hanbok Day, women wear special upswept hairstyles that can be fixed with sticks made of simple wood or bamboo. In addition, women, as well as men in relation to hanbok often not infrequently wear additional headbands.
Disappeared from everyday life but still extremely significant
Korea (here especially South Korea) is a country with many traditions that are maintained over generations and do not simply lose their importance. With a view to hanbok, however, very interesting tendencies and developments of its own can be discerned here.
As a style of dress, hanbok has almost completely disappeared from everyday life, and this has been the case for many decades. The situation is completely different with regard to a number of ceremonial occasions. Hardly any Korean wedding or harvest festival can do without these attractive traditional costumes. Here, it is mainly young people who are particularly fond of this tradition. Hanbok is not old-fashioned and dusty, but is considered very attractive and exciting.