Oneday Hanbok: Roaming the Streets of Seoul in Hanbok

I have a fatal weakness for traditional clothing. My closet back home is filled up with my collection of traditional clothings, ranging from Peranakan Kebaya, Cheongsam, Korean Hanbok, Japanese Yukata and revolutionary ensembles of gorgeous batik prints. I just simply love traditions, the way things were, especially when it comes to fashion.

So when Sangjun ofOneday Hanbok contacted me for the idea of roaming the streets of Seoul in Hanbok, I was actually thrilled with the proposal. Travelling around in traditional Hanbok might sound peculiar, inconvenient or too touristy for some of you, especially for people who have been in the country so long that sometimes we don’t consider ourselves as “tourist” anymore. Well, I just could not resist the beauty of traditional Korean clothing, so I decided on trying out this very interesting Hanbok rental service provided by Oneday Hanbok.

Disclaimer: This is a review based on an invitation from Oneday Hanbok to try out their service. I am not paid for the review. Opinions are my own. 

Oneday Hanbok is a cozy little hanbok rental shop located conveniently in downtown Seoul that provides friendly hanbok rental service. There are about 100 to 110 sets of hanbok in the shop, ranging from traditional hanboks to the more modern designs, for both sexes.

If there is one word to describe their hanbok selection, it would be “quality”.

For the Korea-Travel-Pros (and perhaps for those who joined any tour packages to Seoul) you might encounter hanbok trying sessions at least once in your trip. It could be at the entrance of certain performance hall, folk village or right after you finish your kimchi making class. However, I believe none of these agencies provide hanbok which the quality is on par with hanbok available at Oneday Hanbok.

Hanboks here are carefully selected through different possible ways, including direct purchase from hanbok makers and through networks of newly weds. Some of the collections in the shop are purchased from Korean newlyweds, who custom made their hanbok for their wedding and decided to sell them off after the wedding. This means the hanbok here is of the latest design possible!

Here are some of my picks from their websites. They look lovely, aren’t they?

If you are visiting Seoul with your significant other, rent a set of couple hanbok while exploring the city (especially the older part of Seoul such as Samcheong-Dong and Bukchon) would be something fun and meaningful.

These hanboks comes in various sizes (S-XL) and designs. Visitors can try 3 sets of hanbok before concluding on the design they would like to rent for. After deciding your hanbok, it is time for some fun mixing and matching with their collection of hair accessories, hanbok handbags and a wide variety of Norigae (노리개), accessories to hang onto woman’s jeogori. 

Other than providing hanbok rental service, customers may engage professional photography service with Oneday Hanbok. All you need to do is to contact them regarding your concept, session duration and preferred locations for a price quote.

They also provide paid hanbok pick-up service should you have a tight schedule and felt burdensome to travel all the way back to the shop to return the hanbok after your rental session.

Feel like boosting your hanbok experience to the fullest? They provide necessities such as hair curler, bobby pins and hair bands, should you feel the need to DIY an updo for your hair to match your hanbok.

Since the shop does not provide hairdo service, I figured it is best to learn one or two DIY braiding or updo, just in case you like yourself in the hanbok so much that you wanted to create a neat and tidy image to coordinate the look. One very simple tip is to refer to YouTube! Haha. YouTube is really my savior, more so when I need instant solutions for makeup and hairdo. Here are two hairdos that I researched the night before our hanbok rental session. I must say these two hairstyles are super easy to do,  and you only need a couple of bobby pins to complete the look!

1. Hanbok Updo

2. Easy Low tail Hairdo:

So this is the hanbok I selected for the day. After a simple explanation about rules and regulations, we set off for our photo taking session at Unhyungung Palace 운현궁, one of the least popular historical sites very, very suitable for a photo shoot. (because we don’t want any unnecessary photo bombing LOL) Other royal residences at downtown with relatively lesser visitors could be found at my other posting: 6 Hidden Gems in Downtown Seoul here.

Just in case you are wondering, no, we are not restricted to the studio. We can just roam around any place we wanted within the rental time limit, without anyone from the shop accompanying us! 

It happened to be the coldest day this winter on the day we visited Oneday Hanbok — A minus 11 celsius degree, with the strong wind blowing, making it feels like minus 21 degree according to the report that day. We tried very hard to crack the brightest smile for the camera, but the outcome was like meh~ haha! Our initial plan was to first visit Unhyungung Palace, then walking around Samcheong-Dong, then get into a high school campus nearby for a few shoots. Unfortunately, the weather was so bad that we couldn’t help but hide into a tea house right after Unhyungung Palace. = (

Pictures are taken by Ke Chean Neoh, with slight editing done by me.

Writer’s note: My hanbok session with Oneday Hanbok was certainly enjoyable. Staffs at Oneday Hanbok are very friendly too!  While we roam around the royal residence, some of the locals asked if there was any event going on and complimented on our very beautiful hanbok. I guess it is because our hanbok look different from the usual rental hanbok at the palaces. If you are planning on an extraordinary trip to Seoul, a day in Hanbok around the downtown area could be ideal. For couples who want unique memories in Seoul, a “hanbok date” would be lovely too, no?

Excellent Location: The shop is located in the middle of the downtown Seoul– right at the underground shopping district of Euljiro 4 ga Station. With the direction provided on their official site, it was really easy to locate the store. More importantly, the shop is located a few subway stations from almost every major attraction. I did some research of the location of the shop to each attraction and here is the outcome: Gyeongbok Palace and Gwanghwamun are 4 subway stations away from the shop. Changyung Palace, Deoksu Palace,  Insadong, Samcheong-Dong and Bukchon are 3 subway stations away. Jongmyo is just one stop away. Super duper convenient!

Price: The rental goes as low as KRW4,500 per hour, with a minimum rental of 2 hrs. Currently they are having a 4 hrs promotion at KRW13,000. The set of hanbok will cost you at a reasonable KRW26,000, if you intend to rent the hanbok for a day. With KRW 4,500 per hour you get to dress in quality, beautiful hanbok (with accessories rental provided), I don’t think there are other better deals out there to be frank.

A big thank you to Oneday Hanbok for the 4 hours hanbok session. Hope you guys enjoy the post! And if you are interested in their service, here you go! Will you guys be trying their hanbok rental service in Seoul? ^^

Contact Details:

Oneday Hanbok (click me)
Il-Hong Building, Level 3, No.303, Chungmuro 4 (sa) ga, Jung-gu, Seoul.
서울특별시 중구 충무로4가 125-3 일흥빌딩 3층 303호
***Please note that from December 4th 2015 Oneday Hanbok will move from the current underground store to the above-mentioned address***
Email: onedayhb@naver.com
Tel: +8270-4202-4310
Operating Hours: 10am-8pm daily.
**Clear details on rules and regulations, rental and etc are written on their site**

Direction:

1. Coming out from Chungmuro Station Exit no.8, locate Il-Hong Building 일홍빌딩at your left-hand side. You’ll see KB Bank and KIA at the first floor of the building. (if you see the bank and KIA you are on the correct track!)
2. Go to the 3rd floor of the building and knock no. 303!