The History of Clothing

Created with AI assistance and human review. How we check our sources · Corrections

Early Modern · East Asia · 1500 - 1800

Gat

The gat is the black, wide-brimmed Korean men's hat of the Joseon dynasty, woven from horsehair with bamboo and lacquer and worn in public over the topknot.

By Dan Schnau · Last updated

A gat is the black, wide-brimmed hat worn by men in Korea during the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910), woven from horsehair, with bamboo, and coated with lacquer.1 The Victoria and Albert Museum describes the gat as "the distinctive sign of a well-born man" of the Joseon dynasty, and Korean men wore hats woven from horsehair in public.1,2

Studio photograph of Korean envoys, three seated in wide-sleeved official robes with embroidered rank badges and five standing in robes and tall black gat hats, beside an American in a Western suit

Members of the Korean special mission to the United States, 1883; seated from left, Hong Yong Sik, Min Yong Ik, Soh Kong Pom, and their escort Percival Lowell. From George Clayton Foulk's photographs of Korea, American Geographical Society Library, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.

Materials and Decoration

A gat of 1880–1910 in the Victoria and Albert Museum is "woven out of horsehair in a fine open mesh"; its materials are horsehair, bamboo, and lacquer, the brim and crown rims are edged with lacquer, and two ties of black silk gauze are attached to the crown with short pieces of white string.1 It measures 26 centimeters in diameter and 11 centimeters in height, with a brim 5.5 centimeters wide.1 A nineteenth-century bead string in the Cleveland Museum of Art, of agarwood or red sandalwood, was once attached to a gat; each bead bears an inscribed image of fish, birds, frogs, flowers, or a boy holding a peach, or characters with auspicious meanings such as longevity and good fortune.3

Meaning and Status

The height of the crown and the diameter of the brim changed over time, and the gat became smaller after the 1895 decree banning topknots.1 The Victoria and Albert Museum acquired its example, with its storage box, after a staff member spotted it in a London second-hand shop.1

On This Site

Sources

  1. Gat (hat) — Victoria and Albert Museum, FE.1852:1-1993, Korea, late Joseon dynasty, 1880–1910 (horsehair mesh, bamboo, lacquer, silk gauze ties, dimensions, sign of a well-born man, changing size, the 1895 topknot decree, and acquisition).
    Return to text (6 references)Reference 1 Reference 2 Reference 3 Reference 4 Reference 5 Reference 6
  2. Hanbok: traditional Korean dress — Jenny Kim, Victoria and Albert Museum, updated 17 April 2024 (men wore hats woven from horsehair in public).Reference 1
  3. String for Men's Hat — Cleveland Museum of Art, 1921.669, Korea, Joseon dynasty, 1800s (bead string attached to a gat, wood, and inscribed motifs).Reference 1