• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.39
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• pp.113-123
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• 1998

This study focuses on the effects of the clothes worn by kisaeng; courtesans trained in singing and dancing, on changes in female psychology as reflected in general women's fashions during the later years of the Chosun dynasty. During this period, the social order had broken down considerable, due in part to the introduction of Roman Catholicism, and in part to the actions of Sil-hak, who emphasized open-ness and practicality in the organization of social affairs. This freer social environment disrup-ted the established social hierarchies. The kisaeng were among the first to respond to the new social mores by adopting more colorful, sensual, and individualized fashions. Their social position allowed them to reflect the new aesthetics of the time right away. Those aesthetics seemed to lay great emphasis on the artistic effects of contrast. The kisaeng would adorn their heads with large Kache (an elaborate wig or hairdo typically reserved for use by women in full formal dress). In contrast to this conspicuous hairstyle, they typically wore very tight-fitting Jogori (short-cropped Korean traditional jackets for women) around their upper torsos. The long skirts emerging from beneath these short jackets would typically flare out dramatically, with the aid of petticoats. However, these skirts would be bound at the waist with a sash, increasing the sexual suggestiveness of the clothing by drawing at-tention to the hips, and by exposing the bottom frills of the petticoats, or the wide pantal-oons and other undergarments the kisaeng wore to add volume to their skirts. The relative freedom enjoyed by the kisaeng to experiment with new fashions was not widely shared by most women. This generated envy from women of the noble classes, who were more bound by convention, and restrained from adopting such a mode of dress. It also generated envy from women of the humble classes, who saw the kisaeng as working little for their wealth, and yet dressing every day in finery that the average women would only ever be able to afford on her wedding day. This envy directed at the relative freedom/wealth of the kisaeng by women who faced greater socioeconomic constraints was given cultural expression through the adoption of elements of the kisaeng's fashion in the fashions of both noblewomen and humble women in old korea. The luxurious Kache sported by the kisaeng had in fact been borrowed from the habitual attire of upper-class women. So to distinguish themeselves from the kisaeng, they began to abandon these elaborate hairstyles in favor of traditional ceremonial hoods (Nel-ul-a thin black women's hood) and coronets (Suegaechima). This supposed reaction to the abuse of the Kache by the kisaeng still remained influenced by the kisaeng still remained influence by the kisaeng, however, as these headdresses became adorned with many more jewels and decorations, in imitation of the kisaeng's adaptations of the coronet. At the same time, noblewomen began sporting the Jangwue ; a headdress previously worn only by kisaeng and lower class women, and lower class women were then permitted to wear the Kache at weddings. All women behan to wear shorter, tighter Jogori jackets, and to add volume to their skirts. They also attached frills to their under-garments in imitation of the kisaeng's exposed petticoats and pantaloons. The impact of kisaeng fashions was thus deep and widespread, and can be understood as an expression of women's longing for freedom from socioeconomic constraints in the late Chosun dynasty. This study adopts an interdisciplinary ap-proach to the understanding of historical changes in women's fashions. Such interdisciplinary work can greatly enrich the study of fashion, often narrowly focused on clothing morphology and broad generalizations about society. For this reason, specific dynamics of feminine psychology in the late Chosun dynasty were elaborated in this study, to provide a deeper under-standing of the changes in fashion underpinned by them. If more such detailed analyses are undertaken, a whole new understanding of changes in fashion can be generated, and perhaps a transformation of the field of fashion history can be ultimately achieved.