jeogori (Shirt)

Hemp clothing was worn in the summer for comfort. The cloth (sambe) was hand-woven by members of special guilds, to a narrow loom-width. A man’s hemp jeogori was longer than those worn by women. After 1955, buttons were often used rather than the ribbon ties that had been used until then. In this period of industrialization, it was considered important to have clothing that made it easy to move so, for example, if western clothing was not worn, then at least the Korean clothing should be more practical. Eliminating the stiff inner collar was another move towards practicality. Hemp clothing is also used for the dead, and often is prepared by children for parents who reach the age of 60, but in that case the best quality hemp fabric is used and it is left roughly finished, as knots used in finishing the fabric are considered to prevent the ascent of the soul to heaven.

Most of the clothing in the J. McRee Elrod Collection was made for him and his family by friends while they were living in Korea, much of it by Kim, Sung Sook. She and her family lived cooperatively in the same house as the Elrod family. While they were there, the Elrods preferred to wear Korean clothing on very cold days and for social occasions. They found it to be more comfortable than western clothing in cold weather, as public buildings were unheated in the period immediately following the Korean War. It also was more comfortable for floor seating in Korean homes, and easier to store with limited furniture than western clothing. The children’s clothing was worn by their children Mark and Lona.

The cloth is hand-woven. Seams and hems are machine-sewn. Facing is hand-sewn with invisible stitching.

Man’s summer shirt of natural hemp cloth. The shirt is waist-length and opens at the front, with the left side lapping over the right when closed. Panels are added to the front edge on each side to extend the overlap. The deep V-neckline is edged on the outside with a facing 7 cm wide, with rounded corners at the bottom. A tab with a buttonhole is attached to the place where the facing joins the front edge and this aligns to a tab on the right side with a knotted button. The lower edge of the garment curves downward to the centre front. There is a centre back seam. The sleeves are inset with a straight seam and join with another seam between elbow and wrist. The lower edges of the sleeves have convex curves, narrowing towards the wrist. There is a square reinforcement sewn to the inside of each underarm. All the hems are very narrow.