A Study on the Types and Characteristics of Women's Costume Excavated in the Early Joseon Dynasty

조선전기 출토 여성복식의 유형과 특징에 관한 연구

This study examines the types and characteristics of women's garments excavated in the early Joseon Dynasty before 1592. The study sorts out headgear, jacket, skirt and trousers, and coats from the historical texts in the early Joseon Dynasty and excavated women's wears in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and analyzes their textiles and patterns. The Joseon women's garments convey several features. They are wide across the chest and square shaped collar with virtually straight sleeves. While their breast-ties are extremely little for the size of clothes, they do not have any inner-tie. They have broad and short dongjeongs which seem to be hard to be adjusted. There are a variety of headgear. Jang-Jeogori slit down in both sides. The Jeogori after the seventeenth century transformed a more practical form of a fitting dress to an individual body in comparison with the sixteenth jeogori. It is identified that the fabrics in the early Joseon period were woven more diversely and colorfully than the late Joseon period. Most of the excavated fabrics in the sixteenth century were in silk. Materials for adornments before 1592 were not much diverse and their designs mostly contained patterns of lotus flowers, patterns of cloud and treasures with oblique lines. The colors are mainly brown, navy and green. The Joseon women's clothes were comprised of skirts with folded hem, coat with round collars, wide leg pants, Jangot, long-sleeved coat with folding collars, and quadrangular pieces of cloth in various sizes, or mu and so forth. Joseon women's clothes, like men's wears, partake of active functions in their headgears, wide leg pants, styles in short front and long back, and coat with round collars.