Korean children's clothes have unique aesthetic characteristics distinguished from other countries'. Our folk beliefs handed down from ancient times always contained fortune - seeking thoughts and particularly mothers' earnest wishes for the happiness of their children were sublimated into the symbolic beauty of their children's clothes. The present study examined children's clothes in the royal family and among the people for 50 years of the transitional period from the late Joseon Dynasty to modern times, by classifying them into ritual dress for new-born babies, festival dress and everyday dress. Male children's clothes included caps such as Bokgeon(복건), Hogeon(호건) and Gulle(굴레) topcoats such as Durumagi(두루마기), Sagyusam(사규삼) Koija(쾌자) and Jeonbok(전복) and others such as Magoja(마고자), Baeja(배자), Joggi(조끼) and Bajijeogori(바지저고리), Female children's clothes included caps and head ornaments such as Gulle, Jobawi(조바위) and Daenggi(댕기) and others such as Durumagi, Jegori and Chima(치마). What is interesting is that old clothes handed down to the present are mostly boys' and few of them are girls'. This is probably because of the strong preference for boys rather than girls that continued until the end of the 20th century. Ordinary people dressed their new - born babies with simple white clothes until Samchilil (the 21st day) or Baekil (the 100thday) but, for these occasions, the royal family prepared clothes as formal as those for the