Samuel Songhoon Lee - Hanbok: Timeless Fashion Tradition

Hanboks origins can be traced back to the Three Kingdoms period (57 BCAD 668) when Goguryeo, Silla, and Baekje occupied the northern, southeastern, and southwestern parts of the Korean Peninsula, respectively. Artifacts show both men and women wearing the jeogori, or upper garment. Men wore wide and roomy trousers called baji, and women were clad in chima, or long skirts.

Koreans today often wear hanbok during traditional holidays such as Seollal and Chuseok.

Gamudo from Muyongchong, Goguyeo-period grave

The length of the jeogori stretched to the hip and had wide, extended sleeves. This garment was folded on the left side, and the neckline, sleeve cuffs, hem line, and the front opening were sewn with bindings of different colors. The ways in which a jeogori was folded underwent changes over the years. Initially, the frontal folds of the jeogori closed at the front center similar to a caftan, then changed to the left side, and finally to the right, a practice accepted as the standard since the sixth century AD.

A womans jeogori showed variation in length and width of the sleeves. A Goguryeo mural estimated to date back to the late fifth century shows a womans jeogori as shorter in length than a mans, with shorter and narrower sleeves. Other murals also support the idea that jeogori had varying lengths throughout the Three Kingdoms period.

At the time, a jeogori was fastened at the waist using a ttwi, a sash-like belt. But over time, as the length of the jeogori decreased over the Goryeo (9351392) and Joseon (13921897) periods, a jeogori was fastened using a goreum, an extending ribbon tied up on the right side in conjunction with the closing of a jeogori.

The type of baji worn by Goguryeo men showed great diversity in style. From a holtae baji (tight-fitting pants) to a daegugo (long pants with wide room in the crotch) and jambang-ee (unlined shorts), the differing styles catered to different uses and occasions. Murals from the Goguryeo period depict both men and women wearing baji under the outer garment or under the womens skirt chima. The roomy nature of baji suited the Goguryeo people, who were nomadic and often rode horses.

Murals also show that both men and women wore chima. The type worn by both for formal occasions was sang and that worn only by women was goon, which had long and wide dimensions. The origin of durumagi, the long outer coat worn over a jeogori, goes back to the Goguryeo period. The durumagi emanates from the long coat worn by northern Chinese to fend off cold weather in ancient times. The long coats reached mid-calf and had bindings similar to those used for jeogori. Later, this was adopted by the Goguryeo upper class in various forms for ceremonies and rituals, and the modified form worn by the general populace came to be known as durumagi.