Like most Filipinos, I love watching Korean dramas and I am particularly fond of period drama where the costumes they wear are hanboks, Korea’s traditional dress. This is why part of our itinerary when we went to South Korea was to try on a hanbok.
There are several hanbok rentals in South Korea. They are mostly located near Korean palaces. We visited Changdeokgung Palace on our last day at South Korea and scheduled my hanbok wearing experience on the same day. This is because you can enter for free at Korean Palaces when you are wearing a hanbok. And not just that, wearing hanbok on your palace visit will give you really nice photos. 😊
Hanbok Rental cost varies per hour of rent and the design of hanbok you will choose. You can rent for a minimum of 2 hours and a maximum of 4 hours. A 2-hour rental would normally cost you KRW20,000. Korean period drama fanatic like me would know that hanbok design classifies the status of a person. Cool color and regular looking hanbok rental cost lower; these are normally worn by servants and regular people during Joseon era. Warm color and intricately designed hanboks rental cost more; these are normally worn by upper class men during old times. Accessories are sometimes included in the rental price. However, you have to pay a separate fee for hair styling and hair accessories.
There are only two pieces of clothing in a hanbok: the petticoat and the vest. You will not need to remove your clothing since you can put in over your regular clothes. But in case you need to remove some of your clothing, like winter clothes, you can leave it at the rental shops as they have lockers to accommodate it.
Since we won’t be staying too long at Changdeokgung Palace, the kind lady who manages the hanbok rental shop in front of this palace allowed me to rent the hanbok for an hour at the price of KRW10,000. Hairstyling cost KRW5,000 in her shop.
I highly recommend the hanbok rental shop in front of Changdeokgung Palace. They offer a wide array of hanbok design you can choose from. They will also help you choose the right hanbok color that would suit your skin color. They will help you wear the hanbok as well. You are not required to pay for hairstyling, but I suggest you do. Wearing hanboks goes nicely well with proper hairstyle. Again, it looks nice in photos.
If we had more time in our schedule, I would rent the hanbok for 4 hours and stayed longer inside Changdeokgung Palace, or maybe visit a couple more palaces (since it is free entrance for hanbok-wearing visitors). We could also have visited Bukchon Hanok Village wearing a hanbok for more nice photos 😊
The hubby and the little boy indulged me in my hanbok wearing experience. They begged off even though I asked them to wear hanboks with me. I guess, not everyone is a fan of Korean dresses after all. 😉
