Special features of Hanbok

• Composition: Women’s hanbok is often called chima-jeogori, 'chima' being the Korean word for skirt and 'jeogori' the word for jacket. It is rich in curves and lines. The chima is a rectangular or tubular skirt with a high, pleated waistband. It is tied above the breasts with long sashes. By flowing over the rest of the body, it completely hides the female shape, strongly influenced by the Confucian society. It has no pocket so you have to carry a purse.
• Wearing: For proper appearance the chima should be pulled tight so that it presses the breasts flat and the slit should be just under the shoulder blade. The left side of the chima should be held when walking to keep it from flapping open and revealing the undergarments. Old women often hold the left side up beside the left breast. Several layers of under garments are worn to give hanbok a fuller appearance. Women put on layers of clothing because of the Confucian edict that "females should never reveal their flesh to other people." Under their skirts, women wore baggy pants over three pairs of increasingly smaller pants and a loin cloth. The layers of undergarments resulted in a voluminous lower body with a curvaceous silhouette. Because a woman wore a tight-fitting blouse under her chogori her overall appearance was of a figure with a narrow, tight upper body and a flaring, voluminous lower body. To make her skirt even more voluminous and also to support her waist, an upper-class woman would wear two kinds of underskirts when she dressed for formal occasions.
• Length:The hanbok is composed of a bolero-style blouse and a long skirt, uniquely proportioned. In some cases, the skirt is four times longer than the blouse. As a result, even a short woman looks taller in it.
• Colour: Ancient Koreans had such a great predilection for white that they were long known as "the white-clad people." White was used in both men's and women's clothing because it contrasts well with black hair. In fact, today's sartorial experts concur that black and white is one of the best color schemes for Koreans. They reason that the black and white contrast becomes Koreans because the tonal values of their hair color and skin color differ so radically. combinations of strong colors are another feature of the hanbok as evidenced by such oft-cited descriptions as "a green blouse over a red skirt," "a yellow blouse over a red skirt," and "a green blouse over a blue skirt."
• Reflection of class and status: Women wear red chima and yellow jeogori prior to marriage and red chima and green jeogori after marriage. The Yangban, a hereditary aristocratic class based on scholarship and official position rather than on wealth, wore brightly colored hanbok of plain and patterned silk in cold weather and closely woven ramie cloth or other high-grade, light weight materials in warm weather. Commoners, on the other hand, were restricted by law as well as finances to bleach hemp and cotton, and could only wear white, pale pink, light green, gray or charcoal colors.
• Beauty: The beauty of the hanbok lies in the harmony of its colors and its bold, simple lines. It is also enhanced by its practical design. Since the hanbok is generally made of natural fibers, it can easily be worn year-round. The hanbok has subtle curves and simple lines. The sleeves of the blouse open up like wings, while the skirt flares out from the bosom and flows elegantly to the floor. Accentuating the breastline is an unusual type of bow, with its two ends trailing out from the knot and down the front of the blouse, nearly reaching the ankles. Many hanboks also have beautiful geometric and floral designs embroidered around the cuffs and the neckline of the blouse as well as on the skirt.