Potato in Seoul - Hanbok Studio / 한복 스투디오

As South Korea becomes an ever-more popular tourist destination, the country is more than willing to share its history and traditional culture with its visitors while also creating an atmosphere not unlike the busyness of other modern cities. Skyscrapers and large shopping malls are starting to take over Seoul's mom-and-pop shops while restaurants are starting to cater to a broader range of tastes. Certain areas of Seoul are known to cater to western tastes in food and music while other areas draw large crowds of Southeast Asians.

One thing that is popular among tourists from everywhere is trying on Korea's traditional hanbok/한복. The outfits are made out of colorful fabrics with more variations in patterns than you could ever look through in a day. There are now even photo studios that dedicate themselves entirely to letting people wear hanboks and have their photos taken professionally against dramatic backdrops for a fun souvenir. So, of course, my family and I had to go.

My two sisters and I were plopped into makeup chairs immediately after being called in, and the ladies working there set about making up our faces. Foundation that was too light, false eyelashes, eyebrow shaping and filling/coloring, and even styling our hair and adding false hair pieces (in black to cover up my purple/green/blonde hair) was all part of the included package. After we got made up, we were taken over to the long row of hanboks. We all got to choose the one we liked, and the ladies helped us put them on.

The hanboks were divided by size (and also length) ranging from XS-L. You could choose whichever one you wanted, but the key was finding one that touched the ground, not the top of your feet. This meant that the hanbok I fell in love with (at first sight) was not meant to be since it would have been too short (not that I'm even tall).

After you're dressed and primped, you're taken into the actual studio, which was a tiny room that could barely hold all of us. The guy working there worked quickly, using basic English words like "here", "there", "like this", and "smile!" He moved us around, put us against different backdrops, and took photos in rapid-fire succession. (I was surprised my mother didn't have more to say about which backdrops he used.)

After we finished our photoshoot, we were ushered out of the studio and headed into another area of the two-floor studio. The studio included a "self-photo" or "selfie" area, which consisted of props and fake grass where you could take your own photos using whatever cameras or phones you brought with you. So many selfie-sticks.

We ended up spending more time in this area than in the actual studio where we had our photos taken, but it was all very fun. It was a bit hard to maneuver around considering the size of the hanboks and with all the other people in there, but we managed.

After we had spent some time taking all of our photos, we went to the changing area to return the hanboks and hair pieces, and take off the makeup. At the makeup removal area, they even had a sink with bottles of face wash and toner you could use, which was a nice gesture, but probably not necessarily the most hygienic.

The final photos were handed to us in shiny paper photo holders before we left. The photos were photoshopped to beauty camera perfection, which was slightly unexpected although not that surprising. It took no more than two hours to go through the whole process including the wait time and our time in the selfie room. It was actually quite a relief to be inside that stuffy, little studio after being out in the hot sun and humidity all that morning and early afternoon.

In the end, do I recommend this particular place? I'm not sure. If you want a high quality photo of you looking like a pale ghost, sure! Maybe you're into that kind of look. However, I think the general experience is something really fun and worthwhile. Wearing a hanbok is really fun (for a while) and it's a great way to get another glimpse at something that's so unique to and yet normal for South Korea. So perhaps it would be good to look into different studios that do the same thing but maybe without the ghostly pale faces.