Upper-Class Hanbok in Modern Joseon Folk Customs Photo Postcards

The Joseon Folk Customs photo postcards were tourist souvenirs created and sold to introduce the customs and culture of Joseon through photography. Produced by Japanese individuals between the 1900s and 1930s, these postcards were primarily sold to foreigners, including Japanese visitors. The Hanbok depicted in these photo postcards reflects the fashions of the time and provides insights not available in textual sources. However, inaccuracies occasionally arise due to improper attire during photography or errors in the postcard production process —often stemming from insufficient historical knowledge of costume—resulting in distorted representations and the dissemination of inaccurate information. This study analyzes the hanbok of the upper class as depicted in these photo postcards from a costume history perspective. Research materials were collected from digital archives in Korea and Japan, yielding a dataset of 116 postcards. The Hanbok was categorized into three types: official attire, wedding attire, and attire for sixtieth-birthday celebrations. The analysis revealed several previously undocumented original black-and-white photographs and identified four distinctive characteristics of the garments. First, the term gu (舊, meaning &quotold&quot or &quotformer&quot) in the titles reflects changes in the modern clothing system. After the reform of the official attire system, the term gu was used to distinguish traditional official garments from newly established ones. Second, photographs of the six-ryang official hat provide evidence of the actual implementation of the clothing system during the Korean Empire. Third, variations in men's wedding attire were observed. Notably, the Soryebok—a simplified ceremonial outfit consisting of a Danryeong robe without a rank badge—was newly introduced during the reform of the official attire system and adopted as wedding attire, demonstrating a representative case of how official attire reforms influenced wedding customs. Fourth, the 90-degree rotation of the rank badge attachment method allows for an estimation of variations in the customs of seopseong (a specific regional or cultural practice).