This study explores the transformation of Korean clothing culture with a focus on the last period of the Chosôn Dynasty and Japanese colonial period. In 1895, as a result of Eulmi social reform, authorities allowed the wearing of Western clothing and...
This study explores the transformation of Korean clothing culture with a focus on the last period of the Chosôn Dynasty and Japanese colonial period. In 1895, as a result of Eulmi social reform, authorities allowed the wearing of Western clothing and in 1900 Western-style uniforms became the official attire of government officials.
This study examines the contextual background leading to these transformations in attire and the reasoning of those in support and those who resisted. For most people, wearing Western clothing and suits was first regarded as pro-Japanese and anti-patriotic, but gradually came to be objects of envy. After enlightenment period, the transformation of the Korean clothing culture led, on the one hand, to the introduction of the Western clothing, and on the other hand, to changes in Hanbok (Korean traditional clothes) wearing, which focused on enhancing women’s hanbok in particular. In these contexts, the transformation of clothing was both class and gender differentiated. The tailoring of Westernized clothing started from upper-class men to women. It then became a trend of middle-strata men and later middle-strata women. The male-to-female trend setting moved from upper to middle and later to lower classes. The research also shows that military and school uniforms played crucial role in the formation of habitus in the wearing of Western clothes. The standardization of Western-style school uniforms normalized Western-style suit wearing.