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Writer's pictureJudy T

Men in Dresses

I've now watched a few Kdramas that are set in the Joseon Period and I've come to appreciate what the men wear! Of course the nobility wears especially nice clothes; typically luscious colors of silk in either a kaftan kind of look or the 'dresses' I've shown below. But, in addition to nobility, even the palace guards wear stylish clothes. Men's clothes usually consists of a crossover top and a mid calf 'skirt' with some sort of leggings below and boots that look kind of like uggs. For palace guards they are all the same color depending on their jobs; it probably helps when they get into fights so they can identify the 'good' guys' versus the 'bad' guys. These dresses look very manly and athletic because they provide lots of movement to the men and swish about when fighting.


You can spot the palace guards because their hats are different than others & frequently sport feathers. Again, I believe that these slight differences in clothing signify different things in their society such as class or status.




Most men wear long hair with a topknot. The hat shown here is a 'classic' look for the hip Joseon man. It consists of 2 parts; a mesh headband that is worn above the brow and keeps the hair very tidy. Then, the wide brimmed hat (called a Gat) is added on top at a forward tilt and tied under the neck. These hats are made of a stiff netting material and will oftentimes have a beaded ornamental tie that hangs loose.


Couple these great Man Dresses with the Women's Hanboks and you've got some beautiful clothes....lots of color and beautiful fabrics!





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dbootes50
Jun 06, 2023
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

So interesting!! The colors, as you mention, are beautifully vibrant. Another cultural part of Korean and it's history that I wasn't aware of. Thanks for the history lesson.

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