Hanbok back on the streets

Renewed interest comes from young, tourists

By Kim Ji-soo

At about half past 9 a.m., the streets of Seoul are usually empty, as office workers are hunkered down at their desks and tourists are not yet out and about. But the street that begins from Anguk Station leading toward the Constitutional Court and into Bukchon Hanok Village is already crowded with tourists relishing the city in autumn.

On Tuesday morning, tourists flocked to 3355, a hanbok (traditional Korean attire) rental shop.

A huge number of Chinese tourists are in the country for a short vacation as China marks its National Day Golden Week holiday. Two friends from Shanghai ― Zhang Yan and Li Jinxia, both 32 ― have already selected an elegant-looking ivory-and-blue hanbok in the store.

“We wanted to experience Korean culture and also the ambience,” Zhang and Li told The Korea Times. Gyeongbok Palace was closed that day, but Changdeok Palace was open and they planned to tour its courts later that day.

Zhang and Li, who arrived in Seoul Oct. 1 for a five-day holiday, said they first learned about the traditional garments through Korean historical dramas ike “Jewel in the Palace.” The two remain avid fans of Korean dramas, including “W” and “Jealousy Incarnate.”

Renting a traditional dress at 3355 costs between 30,000 won and 50,000 won depending on the style, which is affordable considering that purchasing a tailored hanbok can cost anywhere from several hundred thousand won to 1 million won. Yet until last year, in particular in Seoul, not many Koreans or tourists had rushed to rental stores like 3355 to try one on.

“We also try to tell them how to put on the complete outfit, from the underskirt to the outer jeogori (jacket) and the skirt. We don’t tell them that the underskirt is an option,” said 3355 employee Shin Hyun-ji. “And for those who are interested, we also style their hair according to the hanbok silhouette for an additional charge of 5,000 won,” she said.

This is what Li and Zhang were doing.

Hanbok at 3355 are available only for daily rental and the store dry cleans them each time they are returned. It has about 600 hanbok and four employees assisting customers.

Such rental shops in the Bukchon and the large Jongno area _ about 70 according to some news reports _ are easily spotted. Hwang So-jung, 39, recently opened her shop Choyeon in the same neighborhood in April this year. She decided to open a hanbok rental shop after seeing a group of young people wearing colorful, vibrant hanbok in Gwanghwamun. For the past six months, she has immersed herself in her new business by dressing up her main customers, tourists. She said she wants to convey the singular role that hanbok played in Korean life.

Unlike 3355 which charges only by the day, her store charges 15,000 won for four-hour hanbok rental and 30,000 won for the whole day. But there are other stores that rent by the hour or a few hours at lower prices, and Shin at 3355 believes these shops also play their role in promoting the hanbok. Both Hwang and Shin seemed proud and hopeful that the interest in wearing hanbok could spread, just like wearing a kimono or yukata in Japan.

The trend is said to have been prompted by the government’s policy of offering free entry for anyone dressed in hanbok to the four major palaces of Gyeongbok, Changdeok, Changgyeong and Deoksu starting in late 2013. But Shin also saw the powerful effect on social media of the photos of young people wearing hanbok.

In general, there has been a more heightened awareness that the traditional Korean attire doesn’t have to remain in the closet or be worn only to important family occasions. Heudereojida, a club at Ewha Womans University, hosted a two-day hanbok-wearing event in September on its campus in western Seoul.

The general public sentiment seems to be that people are interested in returning to their roots. Hanbok designers, however, are skeptical; they have noted that the hanbok has been disappearing from cultural events and rituals such as the “pyebaek” in marriage ceremonies, where the bride and groom dress traditionally and pay their respects to each other’s parents.

“I do see more young people wearing hanbok especially around the palaces, but I question whether they ponder the meaning of this traditional attire, which was (in modern times) worn on important occasions,” said Lee Hye-soon, hanbok designer and head of hanbok shop Damyeon. “Our hanbok is about the line, the silhouette, where it starts from the underskirt. It is about beauty … where it shows our body lines only down to the shoulders. Then the silhouette changes from there depending on whether it is for daily wear, whether it is for a major family event or for when greeting family elders,” Lee said.

Lee expressed concern that avid wearers of hanbok on the street may be doing so for fun. As a designer, she hopes that the people who rent out these hanbok teach the wearers about its cultural origins and its significance, as she did recently when she saw some customers incorrectly tie the bows on their rented hanbok at Jeonju Hanok Village in North Jeolla Province.

Kim Ye-jin, designer and owner of Kim Ye-jin Hanbok, sees the positive side of the hanbok-wearing trend in that the stellar quality of the traditional dress is becoming more broadly known. Yet like Lee, Kim wants people to know the proper way to wear the hanbok, which begins with the underpants, followed by the underskirt, petticoat and wearing in layers.