Silhouette

The Chinese court clothing which were worn in China's Tang dynasty appears to have largely influenced the design of the women's hanbok.^[18][19] The chima is a floor length wrap around skirt with a wide waistband positioned above the chest. With the high placement of the waistband it allows the skirt to have a more billowy look, which can give greater freedom of movement.^[20] Traditionally, women needed to wear about five to seven layers of undergarments which consisted of pants and underskirts, this made the skirt look more voluminous and provide a more elegant look.^[20] However, modern women usually wear one layer of undergarment, typically panties.

There are different kinds of chima: single-layered, double-layered, and quilted. Furthermore, pul-chima refers to a chima with a separated back, whereas a tong-chima has a seamed back.^[21] The upper class usually use ramie as the fabric to make for summer chima while plain and patterned silks are used throughout the remainder of the year.^[22] By contrast, commoners were restricted to using cotton for their chima.^[22] Women in the upper class wore a long chima which falls down to the floor while women in the lower class wore a shorter chima which length reaches to the calf of the leg. Korean noblewomen wore full length chima to designate their social status.

Colour

Different colours and lengths indicated important social distinctions such as: age, marital status, and class.

The use of primary colours in hanbok, and more specifically in chima^{[citation needed]}, was typically preferred by the ruling class and people who came from the upper, privileged, social class.^[23][24] Korean commoners rarely wore primary coloured hanbok, and they were only allowed to wear it for special occasions, such as seasonal festivals, weddings, and for ceremonial events.^[23][24] Nowadays, the hanbok worn by Korean is colourful due to the Western influences which Korean to become a free society where Koreans could choose what and what colours they want to wear.^[24] Wearing colourful hanbok is, however, a clear contrast from the traditional use of white hanbok.^[24]

For thousands of years and nearly exclusively, most Koreans only wore white clothes. They donned colored clothing on special occasions.^[24][25] In Korean culture, white has traditionally been a symbol of nobility and innocence; and a result, Koreans would wear white during their lives from birth to death.^[24][26] Moreover, the Korean commoners' clothing were mainly un-dyed and plain. Korean people often being nicknamed "the white clad [people]".^[24] In Goryeo and Joseon, the use of white clothing was banned by King Chung Yeol in the 13th century and by many Joseon kings which even included King Sejong, but this did not stop the tradition of wearing white clothing to continue until the early 20th century.^[24] In Modern times, the use of white hanbok is often associated with resistance and is mostly worn for funerals.^[24]

Girls and unmarried women usually wore red skirts, while married women and middle-aged women wore blue skirts and elderly women wore gray skirts.^{[citation needed]} In addition, Goguryeo women also wore saekdong chima that is a colourfully striped skirt by patchworking, and a chima in form of gored skirt, made by sewing several pieces of fabric without gathering.^[27]