Surface Design in East Asian Costume

Curator: Dr. Linda Arthur CTAHR Historic Costume Collection Exhibit Location: Yokiyushi Room, Krauss Hall Date: Dec. 7 (Mon) ~ Dec. 11 (Fri) 1998 The Exhibit: This exhibit was mounted by the senior class on East Asian Cultures and Costumes (TxCl 416). The focus of this exhibition is to display the wide variety of surface design techniques used throughout East Asia. Some of the dominant methods used to embellish textiles include embroidery, applique, resist dye techniques, textile painting, couching, tie-dye, and the application of gold leaf.

I. CHINA

Student Exhibitors:Valerie Garcia, K.B. Kim, Caprice Ribuca, Jeannelle Wat

DATE: Late Ch’ing dynasty:

DONOR: Oma Umbel

Accession #: A80.06.05.a/b

Description: Paired aprons. This is worn under the ch’i-fu and is constructed of a straight panel with a pleated section to the left. The panels were arranged at the center front and back with pleated section flaring at the sides. Decoration was concentrated at the bottom, just enough to be seen from under the ch’i-fu.

DATE: Mid- 20th century DONOR: Lola Stone Accession #: A1979.10.04a/b Description: This is a traditional female wedding dress ensemble consisting of a red silk satin paneled skirt that is intricately detailed with embroidered dragons and phoenix accompanied with a black, high collared jacket. The designs are worked in gold-wrapped threads applied to the garment through couching. The dragons are stuffed in a method similar to trapunto.

CHINA- YI MINORITY GROUP

II. KOREA

Student Exhibitors: Lance Chong, Chris Chu, YuKung Han, Maile Hoff, Sun Ryong Lim, Gi Sook So.

This display is a representation of Korean family in traditional Korean outfits. There are outfits for family members consisting of: grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, son, and daughter.

Most of the information and all of the photos in this section of the brochure were taken from Koreana’s special issue on Hanbok, and this website: http://amsterdam.park.org/Korea/Sponsors/Samsung/clothing

1) A Little Something About Korean Outfits…

The type of hanbok currently worn by Koreans can be divided into daily wear, ritual wear, and costumes for special purposes. Nowadays, it is mostly the older generation who wear hanbok as their daily apparel. Women wear chogori, a bolero-like blouse, chi’ma, a skirt, a sok chogori (undershirt) under the chogori, kojaeng-i (bloomers) under the chi’ma, and thick padded socks called poson.

1. Chogori and Paji

The traditional male costume features a chogori top and paji, loose-fitting pants. The chogori appears to have been quite long in ancient times, but gradually has evolved. Changes in paji styles have reflected transformations in lifestyles. Early paji had narrow legs, but as Koreans gave up their nomadic hunting life, the legs grew wider. The murals from Koguryo tombs suggest that both men and women wore loose-fitting paji. The width or length of the pants and color may have indicated social status.

While women's paji gradually evolved into undergarments in the Shilla period, men continued to wear them, though there have been many changes in the structure of these garments. In recent times, men's trousers have been quite baggy, which facilitates the Korean custom of sitting on the floor.

b)Turumagi or Top’o

As revealed in Koguryo murals, the long overcoat or turumagi has been part of the Korean wardrobe since ancient times. These overgarments were originally worn to fend off the winter cold, but as time passed, they were included in a growing category of ceremonial attire, and later adapted for use by the general population. The overcoats were similar to chogori, but their tie-closures were higher on the chest and did not overlap with the closure of the chogori.

Turumagi were standard attire for royalty, courtiers and government officials and were worn by commoners on special occasions and for family rites. The white hemp top'o has long been a symbol of the gentleman-scholar and remains a matter of pride for the people of the Andong region where many old yangban families still live. The top'o is like the turumagi except it is cut more fully and is usually made of the finest hemp cloth from the Andong area.

c) Chogori

The modern woman's hanbok consists of a chogori, (a bolero-like blouse), and a ch'ima (or a wrap-type long skirt). The chogori is made up of two front panels, with sleeves extending from drop shoulders, a stand-up collar with a detachable collar strip, and front sashes. The chogori has undergone many changes over the centuries, especially in length, collar treatment and use of sashes. In ancient times, chogori hung to the hips or longer, had contrasting borders at the collar and sleeves, and were tied at the waist. Paintings from the mid-Choson period show women wearing chogori cut to the waist, but by the late Choson period, chogori stopped at the armpit and had longer front panels to cover the breasts. By the mid-20^th century the chogori had lengthened somewhat.

d) Chima

The traditional Korean skirt is called ch'ima. It has a high, pleated waistband which is wrapped with long sashes above the chest. The result is a voluminous garment that provides the freedom of movement necessary for the traditional lifestyle which involves sitting on the floor and doing many household chores in a squatting position. The skirt also provides body coverage that retains body heat and modesty in Korea's traditional Confucian society.

e) Undergarments

Women's pants gradually evolved into bloomer-like undergarments in the Shilla period. Women wore a hybrid pant-skirt undergarment called son-gun or malgun, and after the Japanese invasions of the late sixteenth century women began to wear tansokkot, bloomers with front and back openings, from which the hakama, the voluminous ceremonial trousers worn by Japanese men, are thought to have derived. Women's undergarments were often layered. Petticoats, or sok ch'ima, made a woman's hanbok seem fuller. Since the petticoat often peeked through the folds of the hanbok in back or at the hem, women took special care to sew finer fabric or embroidery to the back and hems of their petticoats.

2) Items in the Korean exhibit:

Accession #: A82.06.01b

Garment Type: chogori; Bodice or upper body cover

Description: This modern 1976 garment was made in Korea for a student. Machine embroidery roundels carry the pattern found on a court lady’s on a queen’s traditional Chinese key pattern. In the center are two cranes and clouds which symbolize happiness. The placement of the three roundels are on each shoulder & one is on the center back.

Accession #: A82.06.01a

Garment Type: chima; Lower body cover or skirt

Description: Eight roundels are placed at the hem of the skirt

Accession #: Korea-15-3-FDM: Donor: Oma Umbel Garment Type: durumagi; topcoat Description: A modern version of the Korean woman’s top-coat. It is made of navy-blue satin which have Chinese character in hand has a white dong-jung, band of white fabric which has been stiffened with paper around the neck line.

III. JAPAN

Student Exhibitors: Sheryl Nakamura, Erin Nakano, Oanh Nguyen, Cynthia Yoon

The literal meaning of kimono is "things that are worn." Contemporarily, kimono is used to refer to the outer garment alone. During the 19^th and early 20^th centuries, the traditional kimono was a loosely cut outer garment with hanging sleeves and no ties of any kind. It is worn crossed left over right and secured in place by an obi or a sash. There were two main types of kimono of this era: the kosode (short-sleeved kimono) and the furisode (long-sleeved kimono). Surface design was very important in the construction and embellishment of the kimono.

Techniques for surface design include:

Accession #: A1980.0101ab

Garment Type: kimono

Description: variation of a silk crepe, blue background asymmetrical border print with gold, brown, gray, blue, green, peach, tan leaves, flowers, and boats. Some French knot, satin stitch and long stitch embroidery upper part lined in red and lower part lined in kimono fabric.

Accession #: A1998.6.9b Garment Type: tomesode - kimono Description: 1920s – 1930s wedding costume which was worn by Japanese immigrant in Honolulu. Black, unique suggests wealth, cranes and turtles in motif symbolize long-life. In bottom of kimono, inside and outside motif matches completely.

Accession #: A1979.0402 Garment Type: chu-furisode (formal wear) - kimono Description: This furisode (long sleeved kimono) is a formal kimono which was probably worn by a young unmarried woman. The yuzen process (max resist) was used to make the purple square spotted area. The waves on the kimono were created by a paste stencil technique.

Accession #: A1979.04.01a

Garment Type: tomesode - kimono

Description: This tomesode (short-sleeved kimono) is a formal wear for a married lady with mon family crest. Color: black with gold –pale orange & white hem: yuzen couching stitch, gold threads

Accession #: A1981.02.01 Garment Type: kosode - kimono Description: The "Perry Robe" is a traditional Japanese kosode, or short sleeved kimono dated back to 1825-1850. It was donated to the University of Hawaii Textiles and Clothing Costume Collection by Dr. and Mrs. Glenn Marders. The kimono was given to the Marders’ by an old friend who claimed that it was given to a member of her family at the time of Admiral Commodore Perry’s arrival in Japan in 1854. The kimono is couched with gold wrapped threads and features a shochikubai design which is a combination of plum, pine and bamboo.

THE AINU

The Ainu are an aboriginal tribe that inhabits the northern parts of Hokkaido, Japan. The life of the Ainu has remained in a simple, primitive state, enabling them to retain their traditional forms and designs. Although they wore clothing made of "bird skin" and hide, the only traditional clothing still worn today are bark clothes. Among bark clothes, attush fabrics are most popular. The attush fabrics are obtained from the fibers of trees such as the elm. Ainu textiles are exclusively known for their yarn-dyed fabric on which various designs are made. These designs are made either by applique or embroidery.

This exhibit on surface designs displays the different techniques that were once used throughout East Asia. The Ainu, particularly of Hokkaido, Japan, used two main surface design techniques – embroidery & applique.

Date: early 20th century; Donor: Robert Hemphilll Accession #: A.1992. 05.01 Description: The Ainu Elm Bark robe shown consists of indigo-dyed cotton fabric appliqued to the elm bark and indigo bands embroidered using the chain stitch in red, white, and gray cotton threads.

Student exhibitors: DJ Cabalo, Keri Murakami

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