I'm too sexy for my Hanbok!

This unfortunately catchy song was stuck in my head on Saturday as I went to strut my stuff on the catwalk Korean-style. The city of Daegu put on another culture day for the foreigners, and this time they offered us the opportunity to wear traditional Korean clothing. What is traditional Korean clothing you ask? Well, here's an internet excerpt on the subject:

Traditional Korean clothing has its roots extending back at least as far as the Three Kingdoms Period (57 B.C. - 668 A.D.). The Korean hanbok represents one of the most visable aspects of Korean culture. The top part called a jeogori is blouse-like with long sleeves with the men's version being longer, stretching down to the waist. Women wear skirts (chima) while men wear baggy pants (paji). Clothes for the upper classes were made of bright colors and indicated the wearer's social status.

So you can tell by the hot freakin pink they put me in, that they think pretty highly of my social status. :)

So we arrived at the local beauty college where we became guiney pigs for the students: full make-up and fabulous hair-dos were provided. Then we went downstairs where they had a real, elevated, light-up catwalk. It was awesome. The modelling students (who were gorgeous) taught us how to walk, turn, and gesture. (Even with lessons, I managed to wobble in my heels and make faces at the crowd...you try keeping a straight face on a catwalk!) A woman who does hanbok design brought in a bunch of her merchandise and dressed us up accordingly. And we really did a fashion show! We took turns strutting our stuff down the runway, we did a grand finale where we all filed down together, and of course we took our bows at the end. It was so much fun! I ended up on the news in a completely staged interview...I didn't see it, but I heard some of the teachers caught me and taped it. oh dear.

I came to the conclusion that one should be of the proper culture to wear that culture's clothing...otherwise you just look silly. The women who were of Asian descent looked so much more gracefull and appropriate in their hanbok. I decided that I looked like a moose: striking yet odd. The outfits were gorgeous though, and I certainly had a cultural experience that would be hard to replicate.