Jang-ot

A jang-ot (Korean: 장옷; Hanja: 長衣; lit. long gown), also known as janot, jang-eui, or jang-ui (장의; 長衣), is a type of po worn by women of the Joseon Dynasty period as a headdress or veil to cover their faces by the mid-18th century. They were mostly worn by commoners but not exclusively. Jang-ot was originally a form of men's po called jang-ui, which was worn in 15th century. The jang-ui started to be worn by women as an overcoat in early Joseon, even becoming a popular fashion item for women of high status. It was previously one of the most representative women's overcoats; it was worn as a women's overcoat when they would leave their house until the 17th century.

According to the principles of the Joseon Dynasty's Confucianism, women were ordered not to show their face to foreign men, so they would cover their faces in many ways while going out. The jang-ot became a headdress by the mid 18th century to conceal face and upper bodies when walking in public under this influence. Besides the jang-ot, women also used two other forms of headdress to cover their faces depending on their social standing; sseugaechima (which was worn first worn by the upper class women in the mid-Joseon and later used by all classes until the very late Joseon period) and the neoul.

Jang-ot was originally a form of men's po called jang-ui, which was worn in 15th century. The jang-ui (장의/長衣) originated from the Chinese jangui and shared the same role and name; it was then localized through the combination of the Chinese jangui and the Korean jangyu (長襦), a form of coat worn during the Three Kingdoms period, gaining its own characteristics.

The Jang-ot is known as women's clothing; however, there is a theory that says it was also worn by men. In the early years of the Joseon period, similar long coats that belonged to men and women in 16th century tombs. According to this, men started wearing jang-ot in the early years of the Joseon period to as an outerwear to add an extra layer to their clothing. Soon, women started to wear and use them as well, and jang-ot grew in popularity among them until it was worn exclusively by women by the late Joseon.

The other theory states that jang-ot was women's clothing from the beginning because of several unique characteristics that are only seen on women's headwear. Firstly, the front part is wider and longer than the men's po, so that a big skirt can fit under it. Secondly, the white cuffs at the end of the sleeves were rolled up; usually, on men's coats, the sleeves weren't rolled up, and the cuffs weren't white. Thirdly, there is no record on paintings of such men's clothing, and in the case of the 16th century graves, jang-ot was worn as shroud only by deceased women, not men.

The jang-ot is similar to durumagi, or the outer jacket of a hanbok. The difference is a jang-ot has a collar (git) and a ribbon for tying (goreum).

Jang-ot looks like a long coat with its two sleeves and collars. It has both outer and inner collars, the outer one is colorful while the inner one is white. They are both wide and straight, and called mokpangit (목판깃) and have an overall square shape. From the collars comes to both sides two or more ribbon, mainly red or purple, by which the headwear can be grabbed. The sleeves have the same width from shoulder to wrist, and has a white cuffs, called geodeulji (거들지 巨等乙只) at the end of them, which is worn rolled up. One of the main characteristic of the jang-ot is the mu (무) a different colored trapezoid shape fabric under on the armpit area. The purpose of the mu was to make the movements easier, even for using them as a headpiece. They did not change the process of the making, and kept this element until late Joseon. The front and back panel were long and they were made so that the width expanding till the lower part. It was quite a big clothing during the 16th century, but from the mid-17th century the headwear become shorter and narrower thus more stylish.

Mainly they used colors for the headwear like pink, purple, green, indigo, jade green and black. The fabric varied from season to season, they used raw silk, sheer silk and ramie cloth. Though, by the late Joseon they mostly made them with cotton or silk, with a red dye in the lining and green for the gown.