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Description

A straight-cut robe that goes with sash (2503/3 b). It is made of light green gauze with a front opening and high side slits, which are faced on the inside with red binding. The sleeves are made of bands of cloth that are vertical when the arms are extended, in (from the body outwards) red, pale pink, medium blue, pink, light green, red, cream, and blue. The sleeve ends have red facings. The lower ends of the sleeves are rounded. Two front panels meet at the centre and do not overlap. Neck opening is edged in red silk and has narrower edging of white silk pasted to paper which is somewhat soiled. Front edges, bottom edge, side slits, and neck are all faced with bands of red gauze.

History Of Use

Such bridal robes derive from those worn by princesses in court. The highest ranking court robe was yellow or red with a dragon pattern woven in gold thread on the sleeve and at the waist; the second ranking court robe “won-sam” was red with a peony pattern woven in gold; the third ranking court robe “won-cam” was green with flowers woven in gold. The cut of the sleeves of court robes was wider, with squared ends, and they had only two bands of colour on the sleeves. If the body of the robe was green, the bands would be red and yellow. The front panels of the court robes were cut differently and overlapped at the front, whereas the front panels of a bride’s robe meet at the front and fasten with a button or buckle. The fact that the red edging is on the inside makes this robe rare. If it were on the outside, the robe would be in the style of Gaesung Wonsam. This robe is called "Nok Wonsam", which means "green wonsam". If there were belt loops, the sash could be tied loosely around the robe, as was done with official court wonsam, but in this case it would have been tied tightly, as there are no loops to hold it. Generally in the court the sash was tied at the back, with one knot at the level of the underarms, and a second knot at the level of her hips. The high slits at the sides are to show the skirt underneath. The bride wore a green or yellow jacket “chogori” and red skirt “chima”. On her head she wore a headdress made of artificial flowers and ornaments of gold, coral, and amber, called “kaesung hwagwan”. Long black ribbons with stamped or embroidered gold characters were attached to the ends of her large hairpin “bi-nyeo” worn at the back of her head. In places other than Gaesung she would wear a simple black headdress called “jok doori”. On her feet she wore shoes with embroidered flowers “kot-sin”. Those worn in court and by higher class ladies “dang-hae” were more simple, and made of more expensive materials. The bride wore the robe during the whole wedding ceremony, until the bridegroom took it off. Such a robe would be made by a seamstress, who might have been employed full-time in the bride’s family’s home. Sometimes the groom’s family provided the robe for the bride, or she might wear one owned by the whole community. If the bride’s mother was skilled, she might make the robe. A bride might wear the robe her mother had worn if it was of good quality and clean. In the Chosun Dynasty, there were five favourite colours: yellow, blue, red, black, and white. Over time these changed, as people associated black and white with death, so other colours were used. Generally such robes are no longer used. Those worn “hwal-ot” now have embroidered flowers and auspicious couplets.

Specific Techniques

Both machine sewing and hand sewing were used, with invisible sewing of the hem. The facings are partially pasted in place. The sleeve bands and seams were machine sewn, with the seams sewn at the selvedges so that no further finishing was needed. The lower edge of the neck facing was also formed from the selvedge. The edges of the neckband were hand-sewn. The dyes used are synthetic, not natural.

Iconographic Meaning

Such robes were symbolic of the palace and court. Only the robes of lower-ranking officials could be imitated by the ordinary people for weddings; that is why this bride’s robe is green. Pink represents flowers, spring, good luck. Blue represents blue hope, spring, life. Red represents the sun, fire, and passion, and also is believed to repel devils. Black represents water, God, and winter. White represents autumn, the rays of the sun, humility, and purity. Yellow represents soil and the centre. Bright colours are more animated and appropriate for weddings.

Item History

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