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Specific Techniques

This garment is completely hand-sewn. The layers of cloth are lightly pasted together. The join between lining and outer layer at the lower edge appears to be pasted.

Iconographic Meaning

The burgundy cloth and red collar of the collar and ties indicate that the blouse was worn by a girl. If it was for a boy, these areas would be deep blue, and the garment would be longer, with a wider neck band. The many good colours express the wish for good luck. White represents purity. The front gored panels are yellow to express a wish for long life and good fortune.

Description

Light green silk blouse with striped sleeves. The blouse is short and flared with long sleeves. The centre opening has gores of yellow silk on the front edges and is tied closed with red silk ties. The neck is finished with a burgundy silk band, which has an inner neck band of white silk called “dong-jeong”. The sleeves are made of bands of coloured silk stitched together, called “seak-dong”, that are vertical when the arms are extended. The bands are yellow, blue, red, green, white, red, yellow, pink, white, and burgundy. The lower edge of the straight sleeves curves upwards slightly at the end. The blouse is completely lined with fine white cotton cloth that is pasted to the outer layer with no exposed seams. There is a faint blue floral pattern stamped on the lining of the front panel, which overlaps the right front panel when tied.

History Of Use

From the early Chosun Dynasty, blouses “chogori” were made in this shape, except for the shape of the collar, the length, and the width. The length varied during the Chosun Dynasty. At the beginning, the “chogori” was longer than waist-length. By the middle of the Chosun Dynasty it was shorter than naval-length. After that it was shorter, as people needed to be active to fight the Japanese. It then became very short, just under the bust. By then there was instability and the status system was broken, so ordinary people had more freedom of dress and could express their sexuality. Prostitutes wore very short, tight chogori at that time. After Korea opened to the outside world, missionaries criticized this, and women then wore somewhat longer “chogori”. Such a blouse might have been made by hand by a mother for her precious child. The neck band is softer than that in an adult’s “chogori” so that it would be comfortable for a child. It is not stiffened with paste. Ordinarily the burgundy neck band “dong-jeong” would be folder under to make a facing, but that was not done in this case. Such a “chogori” might have been worn for everyday use by a girl in a wealthy family. In an ordinary family, it would be worn on special occasions such as a banquet celebrating a grandparent’s birthday, lunar Thanksgiving, or the girl’s birthday. A thicker “chogori” would have been worn at New Year. In addition to the skirt “chima”, it could have been worn with a robe of the same colours called “ohbangjang doorumagi”.