Seoul Urban Life Museum takes a look back at fashions gone by

A photograph taken by photographer Shin Sang-woo in the 1950s shows females sporting polka-dot or flower-patterned attire with heels. [SEOUL URBAN LIFE MUSEUM]

 
To get a glimpse at what vogue trends in Seoul were like in the past and how they have advanced, the Korea JoongAng Day-to-day frequented the Seoul City Life Museum in Nowon District, northern Seoul, on Feb. 10. The museum is presently holding an exhibition titled “Manner and Seoul,” displaying trend products and historical data from 1945 to 2020, and checking out how culture motivated the changes in fashion traits.
 
After 1945, submit-liberation Korea struggled with poverty and industrialization, not to point out the Korean War (1950-53). When folks largely wore hanbok, or Korean common garments, prior to the war, it later on became hard to manufacture, as effectively as unaffordable. In the 1960s, the government proposed that men and women opt for everyday Western apparel, advertising these styles by way of manner exhibits that showcased stars in less difficult work outfits.
 

In the 1960s, a lot of boutiques for tailor-built outfits crowded to Myeongdong in central Seoul. In this article reveals Songok Gown Shop in the 1960s. [SEOUL URBAN LIFE MUSEUM]

 
Myeongdong in central Seoul grew to become a mecca for boutiques of tailor-designed dresses. Choi Kyung-ja (1911-2010), regarded as 1 of Korea’s very first style designers, launched the Kookje Boutique and the Kookje Manner Structure Institute.
 
“Choi’s protégés later on on ongoing the vogue institute, which grew to become the Kookje Trend Structure Occupational Education Faculty now,” Park Hye-lim, curator of the exhibition, instructed the Korea JoongAng Everyday. “She has numerous learners that have afterwards on highly contributed to Korean manner — a person case in point becoming André Kim.”
 

An op artwork costume that was preferred through the 1970s. [SHIN MIN-HEE]

André Kim (1935-2010), whose serious title is Kim Bong-nam, was a Korean vogue designer based in Seoul who is very best recognized for his night and wedding gown collections.

 
In the 1970s, Korea underwent immediate financial development, with the country’s exports surging to $10 billion in 1977.  
 
The younger generation, who were in their 20s and 30s, begun bustling into the central Seoul spots like Shinchon. The acoustic music lounge “C’est si bon” (French for “it’s so good”) in Mugyo-dong was just one position where by the craze of donning mini skirts and jeans could be seen. Op artwork dresses, patterned with colourful geometric shapes like squares and ovals, also proved well-liked at the time.
 

A person receives his hair lower in the 1970s immediately after becoming caught with a type that was viewed as far too lengthy. [JOONGANG PHOTO]

 
Nevertheless, Korea was less than a military regime and greatly censored tunes and dresses like miniskirts. If adult males with extensive hair ended up caught on the streets, soldiers slash their hair correct on the spot.  
 
“In documents you can see that miniskirts had been banned thanks to ‘overexposure’ and men’s lengthy hair mainly because of ‘indiscernible gender,’” Park stated.
 
Nonetheless, the 1970s was the time period which saw people no extended wearing personalized apparel.
 
Seoul went by a radical adjust in the 1980s. Colour televisions were ultimately launched and Seoul hosted the 1988 Summer Olympics, major to an explosion of pop lifestyle. Athleisure have on manufacturers like Nike and Adidas turned well known amid the standard general public as they obsessed in excess of athletics activities.
 
“Fashion commercials started out surging in the 1980s,” Park explained. “Before then, ads were being generally about food stuff. But now that tv was in colour, it inspired manner models to leap into advertisements as nicely.”
 

Manner adverts began to increase in the 1980s thanks to color tv. [SHIN MIN-HEE]

 
In 1983, the authorities abolished college uniforms and hairstyle laws for college students, which served as an prospect for them to categorical on their own far more freely.
 
“This is why in tv shows like tvN’s ‘Reply 1988,’ which was set in Seoul of 1988, the principal figures are not putting on uniforms,” Park explained. “It’s humorous, sociologists say that when school uniforms have been abolished, pupils turned a lot less interested in protesting and additional centered on their own types and currently being individualistic. Probably it was one particular of the government’s tactics to attract the public’s focus in other places.”
 
Then in the 1990s, Technology X, which refers to all those born in between 1965 and 1980, found on their own on the forefront of fashion tendencies. Hip-hop was in type many thanks to boy bands like Search engine optimization Taiji and Boys. Amongst Gen X, there had been persons who have been children of prosperous families and normally resided in Apgujeong-dong, southern Seoul, dubbed the “orange clan.”
 

This Chanel classic bag is a traditional instance of some thing the “orange clan” would have worn in the 1990s. [SHIN MIN-HEE]

 
A Chosun Ilbo articled dated Feb. 2, 1992 explained that the regular type of the orange clan as “swede jackets with miniskirts and leather boots.” They were also recognised for owning extravagant models as they usually wore substantial-end luxury brands.
 
Exactly where the title the orange clan comes from is even now debated, with some stating that it was due to the fact oranges were an highly-priced fruit in the 1990s, though some others proclaiming it represented how orange clans analyzed overseas with the support of their abundant families in cities like Los Angeles, where by most oranges had been imported from.
 
The streets of universities, like Ewha Womans University and Hongik College, Dongdaemun, Apgujeong-dong and Myeongdong became significant fashion hubs as significant procuring malls, section suppliers and wholesale markets popped up in these locations.
 

In the 1990s, boy band Search engine optimisation Taiji and Boys had a significant effects on the attractiveness of hip-hop manner. [JOONGANG PHOTO]

 
“The industrial streets in entrance of Hongik College are reworking into a manner location for the new era […] As the youth today assert that they ‘don’t want to look like some others,’ the apparel being sold listed here are catered to their preferences,” a JoongAng Ilbo short article dated April 21, 1995 explained.
 
“Fashion and Seoul” proceeds until finally March 27. The Seoul City Life Museum is open up Tuesdays to Sundays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., which includes holiday seasons. Admission is free of charge.
 

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [[email protected]]