A late 15th -early 16th century hanbok for Valeria

 

The jeogori isn't as lopsided as it looks on the photo from behind, I was trying to take photos without having to get my shoes.

As I said in a blog post when I started the project, all my daughters are fond of K-pop (though different bands) and this has led to an interest in other parts of Korean culture. One thing led to another, and here we are. I actually want to read so much more about  Korean history now.

I had the help of several online sources, as well as the excellent book Traditional Korean Costume by Kyŏng-ja Yi, Na-yŏng Hong, Suk-hwan Chang and Mi-ryang Yi (Folkstone 2005). All the patterns for the garments are made from pictures and diagrams in that book.

A lot of help to figure out both changes in silhoutte during the centuries, and which pieces the outfit consisted of was had from DeviantArt user Glimja, who speciealizes in drawing historical Koreand dress.

Underwear - jeoksam and dansokgot

 They are a bit wrinkled after Kingdom University.

The jeoksam, i.e. blouse, is made from the same cut as the jeogori, jacket. It is made from cotton and while the cosntructions seams are done by machine they are all hand felled and the hemming is of course also made by hand.

A preserved silk jeoksam from the 15th century

And a cotton jeoksam from the 15th century. 

Both these images are from the web site of the Korean Society of Costume.

When the jeogori got shorter in the 18th century women started wearing breastbands to cover the gap between chima and jeogori, but they don't appear to have been a thing in the 16th century. I used the same pattern for the jeoksam as the jeogori, which can be seen below, only that I made it shorter and a little narrower.

The dansokgot or sokgot are trousers worn under the chima. Working women sometimes wore only the trousers. These are a pair of late 17th century woman's underpants, but the construction of sokgot appears to have been the same for a long time: made up of rectangles for legs and a triangular piece from the waist to the crotch.

Men wore trousers cut in the same way, these were found in the grave of Konfucian scholar Go Un, who died in 1530.

Images from the  Seok Juseon Memorial Museum at Dankook University, South Korea.

Chima
Over the jeoksam and dansokgot you wear a chima (wrap skirt). This one is made from a linen/cotton blend. Ideally it should be hemp or cotton for lower class garb, and ramie or silk for higher class, but this is such a lovely fabric. And it has stripes, which was popular for unmarried girls and women.

There are several preserved chimas from this period, found in graves, such as these:

A chima made for Jung, On (1481~1538), a 5th class officer in the reign of King Joongjong. It is made of fine tabby silk and has various Buddhist scriptures around the knee portion. This suggests that this Chima was specially made for a placement in coffin as an element of the burial, and also as an offering for the late husband’s soul to rest in peace.

From Google Arts&Culture

This unlined ceremonial Chima was worn by Lady Han of Cheongju (region), a great-grand child of King Joongjong. It is made of satin damask with a lotus and seven treasures pattern and is decorated with two lines of satin tapes made with supplementary golden wefts to create a lotus and child pattern.

From Google Arts&Culture

Here you can see Valeria wearing jeoksam and chima:

The chima could be tied higher up, over the bust, but this was more comfortable.

Jeogori
The jeogori is a jacket worn over the jeoksam and chima. Nowadays it is a very short jacket, a fashion that started in the 18th century, but in the 15th and 16th centuryies, and before that, it was longer and reached below the waist.

Preserved jeogori of Madam Song (1509-1580):

The jang-jeogori (long jackket) of Lady Kim, 1520s

 The jeogori of Madam Kim, 1520s

Like the images of dansokgot these images are taken from the Seok Juseon Memorial Museum at Dankook University, South Korea. I really recommend that you follow that link, it is a treasure trove.

As you can see, the earlier 16th century jeogoris are longer than the later one, so I went for a long one.

Valeria's jeogori is made from linen, with cuffs and collar from cotton. Again ramie, hemp or cotton would have been the period choice for this social class, but I was using fabric that I already had at home. The blue cotton has a printed pattern in red that I made with commercial fabric paint.

Pattern pieces. The back is with a fold at the centre back, the front has extra pieces sewn to it to make it wrap over.

Left front:

Right front.

It also has a collar which is made from a strip of the blue printed cotton, slightly shaped at the bottom, and a strip of white cotton sewn on top of it.


Socks - beoseon
The cut of the beoseon I used is taken from Traditional Korean Costume and it is really cool, with one triangular piece for the leg and two pieces with a seam under the foot. The pattern looks like this:

Valeria's beoseon are made from off white cotton. Unlike the preserved boseon below they are not lined.

These early 16th century beoseon belonged to Go Un (1479-1530), and I found the image here.

I didn't make shoes, but bought Chinese shoes which look reasonably okay in shape, though they should have been simpler with this costume.

A woman's shoes from the 1520s.

Also from from the Seok Juseon Memorial Museum at Dankook University, South Korea.


Sources and links

Traditional Korean Costume by Kyŏng-ja Yi, Na-yŏng Hong, Suk-hwan Chang and Mi-ryang Yi (Folkstone 2005)

Seok Juseon Memorial Museum

A hanbok fit for a 16th century Gisaeng.

So steady as she sews

Glimja at DeviantArt

And I am ever so grateful for the Metropolitan Museum of Art for making so many of their publications free to download. Like this: Art of the Korean Renaissance.

My Pinterest page on Korean dress, which includes later periods