The place to get the best hanbok rental in Seoul near Gyeonbokgung Palace is named below. Hanbok is a traditional Korean dress for semi-formal or formal attire during traditional occasions such as festivals, celebrations, and ceremonies. Hanbok is the traditional attire of the Korean people. It was worn daily up until just 100 years ago and it was originally designed to facilitate ease of movement. Now, it is only worn on festive occasions or special anniversaries. As a tourist in South Korea, you will likely wear hanbok while visiting Seoul’s palaces and Bukchon Hanok Village. Hanbok literally means “Korean clothing”.
Best Hanbok Rental in Seoul, South Korea
The Hanbok Guide
Women’s hanbok:
Jeogori, a blouse shirt or a jacket
Chima, a wrap-around skirt, which is usually worn full.
The ensemble is often called Chima Jeogori.
Men’s hanbok:
Jeogori
Baji loose-fitting trousers
Gat, hat made from horsehair with a bamboo frame and is partly transparent in black color.
Children’s hanbok:
Jeogori, a jacket
Jokki, a vest
Kkachi durumagi, overcoat
Bokgeon, a peaked cloth hat
Wearing hanbok while out and about will not only make you feel royal, but it will also help you save on entrance fees, as many places accept hanbok outfits as a form of payment. How awesome?! So when you visit these popular places, you will see many people wearing them, making the whole experience even more fun.
Renting a hanbok in Seoul near Bukchon Hanok Village or Gyeonbokgung Palace is easy. Avoiding the tourist trap places with high prices – not so much. We got a great local tip for beautiful and intricate designs with three times less the price and here I will share this place with you.
Where to Rent Cheap Hanbok
Hanbok rental prices can get very steep if you don’t know where to look. Luckily, we met some locals who gave us a tip for the cheapest and nicest hanbok rental in Seoul. What you need to do after getting off the subway is just walk past all the hanbok rental shops. Don’t get lured by the prices outside, they get up to a double amount if you choose nicer clothes and want a hairstyle and accessories to go with it.
The place we went to is called The Artist Hanbok and it will have you covered with prices much lower than the shops 2 minutes down the tourist road. You will find their address in the link that leads to their FB page, or you can click here to get it on Google.
Besides the great prices, the girls who work there are just the sweetest and they let you take all the time you need to choose a well-matched chima jeogori. I would go for bright colours and shimmery styles all over again – they look so great in the photos!
The prices of the rental are as follows:
1 hour 3,000 KRW
2 hours 5,000 KRW
3 hours 7,000 KRW
4 hours 9,000 KRW (on tourist roads 4 hours go for 17,000 KRW!)
All Day 15,000 KRW or $13 USD
– hair accessories+1,000 KRW / hairstyling +1,000 KRW
– After 4/5 change – 4 hours free for hair accessories
– Korean traditional hats: 3,000 KRW
– handbag or skirt accessory: 1,000 KRW
We were greeted by a really friendly girl who helped us choose both outfits. I chose the jeogori (the top) and the chima (skirt) and they also provide a petticoat to make the skirt appear fuller. Mike chose his jeogori and baji and in the end added the gat. Since we decided to opt for a 4-hour rental, I received the hair accessories and style for free. They were also kind enough to give me the little pink bag in the deal too.
We stored our clothes and other things we had with us to the locker in the shop and wandered off to the Gyeonbokgung Palace, which was just a 2-minute walk away. The 4-hour rental was just enough for us to spend 1.5 hours at the palace as well as a similar amount of time at Bukchon Hanok Village. The only time we felt out of place was when we went to a bakery to get some sandwiches for lunch. Otherwise, we entered everywhere for free and had a blast! A lot of strangers approached me as well and wanted to take photos with me. Looks like I rented a good hanbok hehe!
Renting hanbok to walk around Gyeonbokgung palace and Bukchon Hanok Village was really a highlight of our trip and if there is anything you need to do while you are in South Korea‘s capital, it’s going to a hanbok rental.
Emly
Thursday 6th of July 2023
Thanks for sharing this . We went here !!
sarah
Wednesday 15th of March 2023
hi quick update, this place is permanently closed
Emly
Thursday 6th of July 2023
@sarah,
Today we rented three handbok . Definitely the cheapest !!
Peggy
Tuesday 30th of May 2023
@sarah, Hi the latest update, they reopened and it located in 60-2 Chebu-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Sia
Thursday 16th of March 2023
Ah I know, I was there in 2019 before the you-know-what and then when I went back to Korea in 2022 I saw it was closed :( I even went all the way to the doors to see if they really did close because I was in disbelief. But I am working on an update for renting a hanbok, we rented at another place this time around :) It was not as cheap though, but sadly only the pricier places remained open.
Claire
Thursday 14th of November 2019
I didn’t even know this was a thing, I’d never heard about the traditional dress in South Korea before. Thanks for the education! The style isn’t what I would have expected, maybe my vision of the country is too stereotypical. The outfit reminds me of old England almost, except much more colorful and flowy. You look cute!
Patricija
Thursday 14th of November 2019
It's so beautiful and with so many different colors! Not what I expected either, actually - the whole country surprised us (positively) and we are already looking forward to coming back one day!
Kirstie
Thursday 14th of November 2019
Love this post. So interesting!
Patricija
Thursday 14th of November 2019
Thanks Kirstie, glad you found it interesting!
Meghan Emcee
Thursday 14th of November 2019
This is so interesting, thanks for all these great tips!
Patricija
Thursday 14th of November 2019
You're welcome Meghan!