Everyone likes to wear clothes that match their personality, style, shape and skin tone. In this article, we are going to talk about hanbok, which is a traditional attire of Korea. Now, let us know some more about hanbok.
What is hanbok?
A hanbok is a traditional dress worn by the people of Korea. People wear these traditional dresses on occasions like weddings, festivals and other ceremonies. Usually, these are of bright and vibrant colours. These do not have any pockets.
Hanbok means Korean clothing. However, nowadays, hanbok is specifically referred to as the clothing during Joseon dynasty.
It is being worn since the 3rd century. In today’s Korea, there are companies likes LESSEE, The Korean In Me that design modern hanbok. These dresses are a mixture of hanbok and modern clothing. Thus, such dresses are worn in day to day life.
The hanbok dresses consist of a skirt called chima and a top like a jacket called Jeogori. However, Jeogori is also worn by men. The couple usually wears this combination to look alike.
Just like any other culture, Koreans also have their theories about various colours. Let us discuss these different colours in depth.
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- Red: Red colour represents good fortune, wealth, love and passion. Thus, many girls choose this colour’s dresses for their wedding. Red is considered to be the most potent and positive colour. It does represent masculinity, but nowadays, people comprehend it as we discussed. Since it used to portray masculinity, it is mostly used for sports uniforms just to describe strength. The cardinal direction of the south is also indicated by this colour.
- Blue: Generally blue was the colour mostly used in court uniforms. According to the Korean mythology, blue colour represents feminism, new birth, brightness and clarity. This colour was worn mainly by women officials of court because of its feminist vibes. People believed it is the colour of the forests and the cardinal direction that is represented by this colour is east. In Korea, generally, all clothing stores have these blue skirts. Modern hanbok dresses are worn by ladies of the court and not the old traditional hanboks.
- White: This colour represents modesty, life, truth, patriotism, purity and peace. Usually, this is a metallic colour, and the cardinal direction represented by this colour is west. This colour is the patriotic colour was used for army officials.
- Yellow: Interestingly, this colour has the copyright of the noble families and the royal ones. Not like the others did not wear any yellow clothes, but the nobles were usually seen in yellow. The early Koreans thought that this colour represents the centre of the earth. This colour was associated with the element earth. It is also known that a few unmarried girls wore this colour to show their maidenhood.
- Black: Surprisingly, this colour was the symbol of intelligence, wisdom, creation and infinity. The intellects in the king’s meeting preferred to wear white clothes so that others would comprehend by seeing them that they are the ones who will give the best advice to the king. However, although this colour represents all kind of positive things, it also indicates darkness and death. Don’t know how but this black colour is also associated with water.
- Green: It was believed by many Koreans that green has been derived from blue and hence they kept the meaning just like the blue has. This colour represents freshness, starts, new energy and positive vibes. Thus this colour was the prime colour for many newly married ladies as their attires.
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Colours that suit your skin tone
Though these colours have lost their identity over the years, they still have some importance. Well, these are the mythological meaning of each colour so if you want you can choose your hanbok according to these symbolic colours.
Final Words:
Your skin tone is part of what makes you beautiful. There is no external colour that can surpass that beauty. However, you can choose the colour of your first hanbok according to the occasion. If it is your marriage, you can go for the red one. If you are newly married, then go for the green one. If it is a regular party and you are an unmarried girl you can choose the white one. We will recommend that if you have a partner, do wear the same colour as Jeogori top.
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