Our four-day weekend spent in Seoul was a truly incredible experience. It was stressful and exciting and eye-opening in so many ways. Most of our children probably won’t remember the full extent of our trip. But renting hanboks and walking around Seoul will likely be a memory that even some of our younger kids will retain for a very long time.
What is a Hanbok?
Hanbok (한복) literally translates to “Korean Clothing.” Simply put, it is the national clothing of the country – and it is absolutely beautiful! But don’t get caught up only in the beauty of the colors and the fabrics, there is so much more to the clothing that just general aesthetics.
Today, Hanboks are used for special occasions like weddings, Lunar New Year, and a child’s first birthday (Dol or 돌 in Hangeul). However, up until the late 19th century, Hanboks were worn as the everyday clothing for Koreans. It was only in the late 19th century that Western clothing styles became more popular in Korea, and they continued to influence the styles until Hanboks as daily wear became a thing of the past.
As visitors in South Korea, we always try to be respectful of Korean culture, while also celebrating it. And so when my friend recommended that we make renting Hanboks a part of our Seoul trip, I gritted my teeth just a little. I was hesitant to do anything that could come across as disrespectful. However, my friend – along with many Koreans that I know – reassured me that renting Hanboks (even as white people) is not frowned upon and is seen as a celebration and embracing of Korean culture! I was sold!
We arrived at Hanbok Day in Jongno District. I had contacted the store a few days prior to our arrival to let them know I was coming (details on how to rent from this store are at the bottom of this post). As soon as the male worker saw us with our hoard of children, he smiled and said “You must be Ashley!” And they immediately got to work helping us choose our hanboks. We each chose Hanboks in our favorite colors and then all of the girls (minus H who couldn’t have cared less) sat down and got our hair fixed.
Each employee that we worked with was amazing. They were kind and patient and so encouraging as we chose our Hanboks and hairstyles. They were patient with our toddlers – who were very done with the entire process about five minutes into it – and gave our kids juice to tie them over. In my last post I mentioned the kindness of everyone we met in Seoul, but I feel I would be ungrateful if I didn’t mention the kindness we have experienced again and again and again.
Once we were all dressed up, we headed over to Gyeongbokgung Palace – which is conveniently just across the street from Hanbok Day. It didn’t take long for the Ooh’s and Aww’s to start as M and H ran ahead of us at the palace. There really is nothing cuter than a toddler in a Hanbok.
Gyeongbokgung Palace (경복궁)
Gyeongbokgung Palace was originally built in 1395 as one of five palaces in Seoul and was the main royal palace of the Joseon Dynasty (the last dynastic kingdom in Korea before it was replaced in 1897 by the Korean Empire). During the palace’s existence, it was destroyed and rebuilt twice. In the 1590’s, during the Imjin War, it was burned down and left until the mid-late 1800’s when it was largely rebuilt. Then, in the early 1900’s, it was destroyed again during the Japanese Imperial rule. Ever since 1990, the grounds have been under reconstruction, with the main gates built in their original location and style.
As we walked around the palace grounds, we were pleased to see MANY people (Korean and tourists alike) wearing the beautiful Hanboks. I’d say about half of the people there were wearing them, and it was truly an incredible sight! M was in a mood and was entertaining people with all of the funny faces she was making and H had multiple people grab her to take her picture. A few people handed me their phones and asked me to take a picture of them with H. And a woman even grabbed H and me and asked if she could get a picture of the two of us together in our Hanboks. This is something that absolutely would NOT fly in the United States, but here it is a regular occurrence any time we go anywhere with our kids – and it was even more common with the kids in their beautiful Hanboks!
Meaning behind the Hanbok
As I said earlier, Hanboks are more than just beautiful outfits. Hanboks used to be the normal daily clothing in Korea before Western influence changed the styles.
Various colors represented different things on the Hanbok. Black represented creation, intelligence, wisdom, and death. This was typically worn by intellectuals and was also donned for funerals. In contrast, white symbolized purity, peace, patriotism, modesty, and life. Green was used to represent a new beginning and youth – and was typically worn only by married women. I won’t get into every color and what they all represent, but even with very traditional Hanboks, there were many varieties of colors.
It’s also worth pointing out that traditionally, the “working class” was only allowed to wear white and off-white Hanboks, but would wear pale pink, green, or grey during special occasions. In addition, working class was limited to only cotton Hanboks, whereas the upper-class Koreans wore ramie or silk (depending on the time of year).
But it wasn’t just the color or material that was symbolic for Koreans. In addition to that symbolism, the embroidered patterns on the skirts and robes also held special meaning. These patterns were typically meant to show the desires of the one wearing the Hanbok. It was difficult to find much information on specific patterns, but I did find that peonies symbolized honor and wealth, while pomegranates symbolized fertility. Dragons, phoenixes, and tigers (or other powerful symbols) were reserved only for royalty or the very upper-class.
Besides being absolutely beautiful, the Hanboks we rented were also insanely comfortable (although Brandon would say that his hat was VERY uncomfortable). Because Hanboks used to be the daily clothing for Koreans, they were made to encourage movement, as well as to provide an aesthetically pleasing appearance.
While walking around Seoul, we treated ourselves to some Dalgona candy – which was delicious and tasted like a roasted marshmallow – as well as a marshmallow kabob, before heading toward our favorite KFC for lunch. I mentioned in my previous post that we weren’t super adventurous with food while in Seoul, and we are okay with that. It was more important to us that our kids eat than it was for us to try lots of new things. Some day when our kids are older we can be more crazy with our food decisions! And besides, if you haven’t had KFC in Korea, I highly recommend it. They took the KFC recipes and made them about 50 times better. Yummm!
We had such a fun time wearing our Hanboks around Gyeongbokgung Palace and other places in Seoul. Not only did we feel beautiful and fancy, but it was also so fun to show our kids one way for us to celebrate and embrace Korean culture – even if only in a small way. If you find yourself in Seoul and you have a few hours to kill, I highly recommend renting Hanboks and spending some time in any of the five main palaces in Seoul!
’til next time…
Ash
How to Rent Hanboks and visit Gyeongbukgong Palace
Renting Hanboks
Directions: We rented our Hanboks from a little boutique called Hanbok Day that is located just across the street from Gyeongbokgung Palace. We pasted 서울시 종로구 효자로 7 into Naver and then followed Naver’s directions for public transportation to get there. There were many other Hanbok rental boutiques along the same street as Hanbok Day. If we had wanted to spend more time looking, it is possible that we could have found a place that was cheaper than where we went. However, we felt the cost of Hanbok Day was reasonable and so we decided to use them.
Reservations: While I don’t believe reservations are required for Hanbok rental, it is a good idea to contact your desired boutique ahead of time, especially if you have large group of people. I contacted Hanbok Day through their website and was able to let them know what day and time we would be showing up. When we showed up, they were quite busy, but they knew we were coming so it wasn’t a problem.
Cost: The cost to rent a basic Hanbok (top and bottom and hoop skirt for girls and women) for two hours is ₩20,000. If you would like to add a hat (for boys and men) or a handbag and hairstyle (for girls and women), it is ₩5,000 more per person. Because we knew we would probably only do this one time, we opted to get the extras for each of us (except for H who doesn’t really have enough hair for a real hairstyle and who wouldn’t have cared either way). We paid with cash, but they also accept American credit cards.
Recommendation: We would absolutely use Hanbok Day again. They were kind and professional and so patient with our large group and out young kids. M and H were really struggling by the end and just wanted to run around. The workers were so kind and even gave each of our kids a bottle of juice to tie them over until everyone was ready. As I said above, it is possible that Hanbok Day was not the least expensive Hanbok rental boutique, but we would use them again and again just for the experience.
Visiting Gyeongbokgung Palace
Directions: If you rent Hanboks from Hanbok Day, simply walk out of the boutique, turn left and cross the street at the next crosswalk. There is an entrance to the museum for Gyeongbokgung Palace right there with easy access to the palace grounds. If you are coming from somewhere else, pasting 경복궁 into Naver should get you there.
Cost: The cost to enter Gyeongbokgung Palace is ₩3,000 for adults and ₩1,500 for kids ages 7-18. If you wear a Hanbok, admission into any of the main palaces in Seoul is free.
*Hours: Generally you can expect the palace grounds to be open 9:00am – 5:00pm, or until 6:30pm during the summer. Tuesdays the palace is closed, but is typically open every other day of the week.
*Hours are subject to change with no notice. This information is true according to what was available at the time this post was made.
