Creative Hair Illustrations

I wanted to start a kind of series called Meaning of Hair because I think that since my blog is about hair illustrations it was thoughtful to explain the many reasons why a simple hairstyle or just hair in general is crucial or for my case quite an obsessive type of art.

I am from Korea and I have always found hair in the olden days quite interesting. Depending on their social status or occasion, hairstyles were changed. This was shown in both Western and Eastern cultures but more prominently in that of Asian cultures.

I wanted to explain/ help people understand the different culture backgrounds and beliefs in order for them to further understand and have an eye for hair related arts.

There are many variations to traditional Korean hairstyles, especially considering that Korea has a long history and just like the modern days, they also had trends that often changed. For all of the hairstyles, you would notice that the word Meori being used a lot. Meori means “head”, “hair on the head” (as opposed to hair on any other body parts), or “hairstyle”.

Daeng’gi Meori (댕기머리)

Daeng’gi Meori is one of the most classic hairdos, easily seen all the way into 1960s. Long hair is braided into a single braid, and accessorized with a bright colored ribbon (daeng’gi) at the end. Only unmarried women wore daeng’gi meori. Notable thing is that in traditional Korea, unmarried man also wore daeng’gi meori, only with a different colored daeng’gi. This was because Confucianism required that you do not cut your hair, as it is a part of you that is given from your parents.

Jjokjin Meori (쪽진 머리)

Jjokjin meori is probably the most classic Korean hairstyle. Jjokjin meori was for married women, formed by first parting and holding down the front part of the hair and then tying the hair into a bun in the back of the neck.

The large pin that holds the bun together is called bi’nyeo (비녀). The material and the design for bi’nyeo significantly varied, and offered a point of style for traditional women. Bi’nyeo could be made with gold, silver, jade, wood, bamboo, animal bones, etc., and the design included symbols for phoenix, dragon, wild ducks, lotus flowers, etc. The size of the bi’nyeo can also vary significantly.

Eon’jeun Meori (얹은 머리)

Also a popular option among married women in traditional Korea. Instead of the bun being on the back of the neck, it “rested” (eon’jeun) on the top of the head.

Notable thing about this hairdo is that often, women used wigs to make their hair much more fuller. They were heavy and very expensive because it took human hair to make the wigs, and most people refused to cut their hair. Because of that, there was a royal order in the mid-Joseon era prohibiting the use of wigs as they were deemed to be promoting wasteful spending as well as neck injury.

Eo’yeo Meori (어여머리)

Now we are moving on the hair worn by women in the palace. This hair is made almost exclusively with wigs. These are worn by queens, other kings’ wives and queen mothers. Additional decoration (called tteoljam 떨잠) were added to create a more luxurious look.

Keun Meori (큰머리)

This is the mother of all traditional Korean hairdos. On top of the eo’yeo meori, a gigantic addition called tteoguji (떠구지) is affixed for emphasis. Originally the addition used to be made with actual human hair, but after the prohibition on wigs, it was made with carved wood painted in black in order to make it resemble human hair. Apparently the wooden addition was actually lighter than the addition made with human hair.

This is all I’m going to talk about, actually there are lots of traditional hairstyles but these were the main and most popular ones. Non the less, I hope this was informational. Next I think I will talk about China, Japan or India