(image Creative Commons via photopin)

H is for Hanbok.

So, we’re cruising along the Blogging from A to Z road with the theme Reading, (W)riting, and Research.

The hanbok falls into the writing and research categories. I researched the history of the hanbok for my time-slip novel Moonlight Dancer.

It’s so beautiful I just had to share it with you.

The hanbok is the traditional dress of Korea and can be traced to the third century BCE. Today I’m going to give you some details of the yangbang (upper class) women’s hanbok during the Joseon dynasty, a style still worn today for special occasions and festivals.

The basic parts consist of a short jacket (jeogori) and a full wrap around skirt (chima), both of which have long ties as fasteners. You can see in the pictures that the jeogori features a single breasted cross-over. I learned a traditional dance as part of the end of the year celebration at the Korean school where I studied. I took the “old wife” part, and I was replaced by a young wife who danced away with my husband! It was comic and sad at the same time; the audience laughed. Anyhow, I made my jeogori using a Butterick robe pattern that I modified by cutting above my waist and adding full, bell sleeves.

So what goes underneath, you ask? Scotsmen are asked that question about their kilts, so why not ask about the hanbok?

Underneath the hanbok you wear a petticoat that gives fullness to the skirt, and under that, you wear pantaloons. For my costume, I bought a pair of 80’s style silk evening pants at the thrift store and gathered the bottom of the legs to create pantaloons.

There you have it–the basic components of the Korean hanbok. I hope you agree that it is a stunning and flattering form of dress.

(image via Wikipedia)

Bonus question: Do you know what Scotsmen wear under their kilts?