Modesty in Women’s Clothing, Sumptuary Laws

1087 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The influence of Chinese confucianism on Korean culture

Women’s hanbok reflected the Confucian ideal of modesty. Although people generally considered that modesty could be achieved by concealing the female form, the hanbok’s unique design was concealing, yet revealing at the same time. According to Kyung (2010) “the status and rank of their husbands defined the dress of women during the Joseon dynasty” (para. 17). Sumptuary laws mandated that certain fabrics and accessories could be worn only by those who held an appropriate rank. Nonetheless, the categories were eroded over time, and restricted articles came into general use. Kyung (2010) found that geumseonhye, high-quality silk shoes once reserved for members of the royal family, became popular among ordinary people during the nineteenth century (para. 17). Confucian tenets stressing the importance of brides to families as the bearers of sons of the next generations resulted in elaborate marriage clothing that copied the court’s, such as the wearing of marten fur or deep-green-dyed clothes along with jokduri, coronets, and binyu, hairpins, both of which were prohibited several times by special edicts. When women went out in public, a seugae, or veil, was worn to hide their faces from men. Jangot, a long coat, was another type of face-covering headdress used by upper-class women, as it was worn over their heads to cover their faces in public (Kyung, 2010, para.21).

Accessories and Color

Paper fans, while made out of paper and seemingly simple, were not. Because fans were carried by both men and women and throughout all seasons, they were highly significant. First used as a helpful device, they quickly became an accessory. (Lawrence, Oen & Oka, 2005). Often, they were decorated simply with the five cardinal colors, dire...

... middle of paper ...

...rom http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2943135

Hanbok Embodies Old-Age Philosophies. (2014). Retrieved 17 Feb. 2014, from http://www.homestaykorea.com/?document_srl=148938

Cha , F., & Eun, E. (2013, November 26). How 'hanbok' is influencing biggest fashion names - CNN.com. Retrieved 5 Feb. 2014, from http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/13/travel/korean-hanbok-fashion/

Dano. (2012). Retrieved 15 Feb. 2014, from http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/CU/CU_EN_8_4_1_14.jsp

Fashion: Volume 6 – East Asia . Retrieved 18 Feb. 2014, from

Hanbok for Women. (n.d.). the talking cupboard. Retrieved March 11, 2014, from http://thetalkingcupboard.wordpress.com/2013/04/10/hanbok-for-women-lee-se-ryungs-style/

South ❤ korea. (n.d.). South korea. Retrieved March 10, 2014, from https://coreesud.wordpress.com/tag/culture-2/

Show More
Related

  • Lularoe Leggings Research Paper

    625 Words  | 2 Pages

    "For the most part, headdresses are restricted items. In particular, the headdress worn by most non-natives imitate those worn by various Plains nations. These headdresses are further restricted within the cultures to men who have done certain things to earn them. It is very rare for women in Plains cultures to wear these headdresses, and their ability to do so is again quite restricted."

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Anne Meneley's Tournament Of Values

    904 Words  | 2 Pages

    In “The Meaning of Adornment,” a sub-chapter within “Distinction and Display in the Visiting Scene,” Meneley explains how important adornment (fashion) is for Zabidi women. The women made sure that they publicly dress too impressed because they know that their families and themselves will be judged (Meneley 1996: 109). Zabidi women become the active participators when they dress appropriately to their culture to ensure their families’

    Read More

  • Gender Hierarchies In Tang And Song China

    885 Words  | 2 Pages

    Following a rough period of half a century, the Song dynasty took power in 960. This began a “Golden Age” of Chinese society. However, the role of women did not advance all across the board. It was more in the northern regions that were influenced by nomads. Unfortunately, the new Neo-Confucian influences held almost everywhere else, with the new influences of Buddhism and Daoism. (Strayer 371) In fact, conditions were terrible everywhere else, if not more so than they ever had been before. One example of the terrible factors women had to deal with was foot binding. Foot binding involved the wrapping feet tightly with gauze and stuffing them into specially designed “lotus shoes”. (Foreman) his process, repeated over many years, shrunk a woman’s feet at the expenditure of vast amounts of pain and broken bones. An outside onlooker would ask themselves ‘Why would people do this to their daughters?’, and the answer is quite

    Read More

  • The Hippie and Other Movements in The 1970s

    1962 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...d women’s fashion to break free from convention. Bras and corsets were seen as symbols of oppression and conformity. They were discarded by many women as many new fads appeared,(). Women also exhibited their newfound freedom by wearing traditional male clothing such as baggy trousers, men's jackets, vests, over-sized shirts, ties and hats.

    Read More

  • History of the Navajo People

    1780 Words  | 4 Pages

    Clothing for both men and women initially was deerskin for shirts and skirts. The men later wore cotton or velvet shirts with no collars, breeches below the knee, and moccasins. Women gradually wore the "squaw dress", made of plain dark blankets.

    Read More

  • Roles Of Women In Ancient Rome

    590 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tunics were are two rectangles tied together by the top. Making clothing required labor in which slaves did, was very expensive. Women developed different styles of fashion like the “stola”, and different hairdos. There were different categories of slaves, the ones who did clothing labor and hair in which lived pleasant lives unlike the regular slave that worked on farms or for citizens. Many slaves sacrificed their hair to make wigs. Citizens often complained because “…slaves often went out on their own and citizens complained that they were unable to tell a difference”. Many women tried to fit because when a new emperors’ wife developed a new hairdo republican women citizens started to copy her and create their own styles, especially when Augustus wrote “The Art of Love – in which it taught men and women how to be attractive to be each other”.

    Read More

  • A Plea for Help in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

    1572 Words  | 4 Pages

    were not subjected to regular health checks at school and took little physical exercise. Girls' bodies were hardly ever seen undressed, except perhaps by their mothers, sisters, or maid servants. In the higher socio-economic classes, women generally dressed elaborately, wearing corsets and other apparel which concealed and transformed their figures. (van't Hof 28)

    Read More

  • Renaissance Fashion Research Paper

    1265 Words  | 3 Pages

    Peasant women wore the cote of the earlier period and handkerchiefs or collars around their neck, to what we call the dress of the Puritans. Renaissance dress makers considered the human form in two parts-- hips and shoulders. The clothing was made to fit the wearer, yet on the outside it was padded to show the body in a completely different form than the natural one. Being the first, lace was woven into dresses. Women wore the low-crowned hat in the same fashion sense as men.

    Read More

  • Religious Women in Medieval Time

    1461 Words  | 3 Pages

    The production of sacred books, allowed women of this time more than one choice at the kind of creative work they wanted to do. One of these options was to work as an illuminator. There are many illuminations from these times, but none o...

    Read More

  • Significance of the Attire of Men and Women in the 18th Century

    1091 Words  | 3 Pages

    An aversion to cross-dressing has its roots in the Bible: "The women shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment; for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God" (qtd. in Garber, 28). On August 13, 1597 Queen Elizabeth announced a sumptuary (dealing with attire) proclamation which defined the "separate categories for men's and women's apparel: each took the form of a long list of proscribed items of dress with an indication of who alone was permitted to wear them" (Garber, 26). This law sought to prohibit the rise in classes that was transpiring - ambitious ind...

    Read More

  • Fashion During the Elizabethan Era

    1239 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the Elizabethan Era, there were a set of rules controlling which classes could wear which clothing called the Sumptuary Laws. The Sumptuary Laws controlled the colors and types of clothing a person could wear. This allowed an easy and immediate way to identify rank and privilege (Elizabethan Era | Clothing). Those found dressed in inappropriate clothing could be fined, lose property, lose rank, and even be killed (Elizabethan Dress Codes). Those of the upperclass wore clothing made of more expensive materials, and those of the lower class wore the same general outfits, but their's were made of less expensive materials. Fashion during the Elizabethan Era was disciplined by the Sumptuary Laws.

    Read More

  • The Anglo-Saxon Period

    1754 Words  | 4 Pages

    Everyone in the age would always wear extremely modest clothing. The common garment for a man was the robe gathered at the waist, completed by hose and soft sandals. The same was for the woman, except their dress extended to the feet. The most common materials used to make clothing were linen and woolens, though...

    Read More

  • The Evolution of Women’s Clothing

    1042 Words  | 3 Pages

    “For as long as men and women have been wearing clothing, there has been a hierarchy based on garments. The clearest example arose when the sexes were segregated into skirts and pants: women would only wear dresses (a symbol of submission) and men would only wear trousers (proof of domination). Women’s clothing was created to impede and hamper movement (through tight or many layered skirts), while men enjoyed the ease and comfort of pant legs.” (Meza, Echazarreta) Women’s fashion throughout the ages can be used to trace the history of equality between men and women. As women achieved greater independence, they claimed the right to choose what they wore, and that included women being able to wear pants. There are three things that were instrumental in making it socially acceptable for women to wear pants, they include: the invention of the bicycle, WWII, and influential women.

    Read More

  • Renaissance Influence on Modern Day Fashion

    1352 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Renaissance time period could be considered one of the most artistic eras of all time. Both men and women were encouraged to make a transition from the medieval time period to the Renaissance time period. This was done largely in part by their style of clothing and the way they expressed themselves. Some fashionable trends for the women of the Renaissance time period include corsets, layers, ruffled collars, and closely fitted gowns called cotes. “Corsets like the merry widow were necessary for parties, dances, and other formal occasions” (Hoobler 98). Unmarried girls, brides, and queens of the time were allowed to wear their hair down, while most other women were to wear tall cone-shaped hats called hennin. The men of the renaissance era typically wore their ...

    Read More

  • The Relationship Between Fashion and Lifestyle

    1735 Words  | 4 Pages

    From a historic point of view, Western travelers had remarked on the slow pace of lifestyle and fashion change in Turkey and Persia. On the other hand, many people were of the opinion that the western culture is getting out of hand in terms of dressing fashion (Cumming 234). In most cases, change of fashion and dressing style took place hand in hand with economic and social changes. In the developing world, changes in fashion began with the coming of the whites in Middle East. Changes began in the 11th century when the Turks came to central Asia and Far East. In Europe, continuous change in clothing fashion is believed to have started in middle 14th century. It started by a sudden introduction of shortening and tightening of male garments, it further brought the introduction of trousers and leggings that were worn by men (Cumming 235). After the advent of change in men fashion, it was followed by changes in female c...

    Read More

More about Modesty in Women’s Clothing, Sumptuary Laws

Open Document