ID Number

Title

Item Name

Culture

Material

Manufacturing Technique

Date Made

Place Made

Date Collected

Date Owned

Owner

Acquisition Date

Source

Measurements

Item Classes

Condition

Accession Number

Description

Short white jacket with striped sleeves. The jacket is made of shiny white fabric with a woven pattern of small flowers and stems in white and silver. The centre opening has front panels that overlap to the right when tied closed with two long striped ribbon ties. The front edges are extended with panels from the mid-point of the outer facing made of the same rainbow-striped fabric. The garment has a deep V neckline edged with an appliqué rainbow-striped facing. The left outer facing is rounded at the lower edge, while the right is straight and projects beyond the front edge of the garment. The neck is finished with a narrow outer facing or collar of white paper covered with sheer fabric. The long sleeves are deeply set in with a straight seam and a convex curve on the lower edge, narrowing to the wrist. They are made of brocade woven in six different colours stripes parallel to the body of the garment and embellished with flower, bat and butterfly motifs and stylized Chinese characters woven in red. Thin white inner ties are sewn to the inner right inner facing and the left underarm seam. The inner lining is white nylon mesh, with an interfacing of coarser nylon mesh.

Specific Techniques

The garment is machine sewn except for the stitches attaching the white collar, which are done by hand, and the stitches attaching the inner facing, facing at lower front edge, and the ribbon ties, which were sewn on with buttonhole stitches.

History Of Use

Such “Jo-go-ri”, made of synthetic fabrics and with very rounded rainbow “saek-dong” sleeves, were worn by girls and women on festivals and other special occasions in the late 1960s. A girl might wear such clothing on her first birthday. By this time the rainbow “saek-dong” sleeves were made of fabric woven in stripes, rather than being pieced as they had been previously. The Korean textile industry had developed to the point that it could produce such fabrics by this time. By the late 1960s, Korean people generally wore simple clothing so that they could work more efficiently. During the 18 years that Park, Chong-hee was president, the transformation of South Korea from an agricultural country to an industrial one was accomplished, and people were urged to work hard. In compensation, people wore elaborate clothing on special occasions. The jackets “Jo-go-ri were sometimes decorated with machine embroidery at that time, but are not now, and the sleeves and inset panels added decorative elements more elaborate than those used before or since. The “Jo-go-ri” at that time were shorter than those worn in the previous decade, with short underarm seams angled inward, and had longer ribbon ties and narrower outer facings. The V neck was deeply cut to show the wearer’s cleavage. The sleeves were very rounded and were deeply inset to show off more of the rainbow-striped fabric, which was used to the limit at that time. Graceful curves, like those at the lower edge of this garment, are important in Korean aesthetics and reflected in various forms, including architecture. Clothing of this kind was made in markets, and the relatively rough finishing, with the fabrics folded inside at the seams, is typical of that work. It also could be purchased ready-made or custom made, the latter being very expensive.