Figure 1.--This press photograph was taken in March 20, 1956. The caption read, "The Davy Crockett craze by-passed South Korean youngsters but an equally popular--and probably more practical fad has been with them for several years now. It's the Army winter earlap gats with UN and OKon them which the lads break out every fall when the frost hits. But the lads aren't outdone in the comic book department as you can plainly see."

Everything changed with the Korea War. Most of the Korean images we see during and in the aftermath of the War show children wearing traditional clothing. Very rarely do we see children in western clothing. This gradually began to change and by the 1950s, Western clothing became predominate in Korea. We know this to be the cawe in South Korea. We have much less infomation from the Commuinist North. In terms of clothing in the South, there were two major cultural influences. One was the Americans who poured into America to defend the country and remained after the War to ensure that there would not be be another invasion. The other was Japan. As a result of the often brutal Japanese occupation, the Japanese were widely disliked in Korea. Japan was, however, a huge economic force. And the strength of the Japanese economy had an enormous impact, including fashion. Lorean children began wearing Western styles, but this often meant Western styles which developed in Japan.

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main Korean 1950s page]
[Return to the Mian Korean chronology page]
[Return to the Main country page]
[Australia] [Canada] [England] [France] [Germany] [Ireland] [Italy] [Korea] [New Zealand] [Scotland] [United States]

Crerated: 11:42 PM 3/5/2011
Last updated: 11:42 PM 3/5/2011