Korean Wedding Dresses

Wedding dresses used in Korea in the 19th century were colorful, heavily embroidered and expensive. A rich bride wore a lavish dress, then rented it to a middle-class bride. The red silk dress with gold embroidery shown in a recent museum exhibition of Korean art had a removable paper collar and cuffs that were changed for each bride. Renting wedding dresses is back, but modern gowns don’t have removable parts and are dry-cleaned between brides.