The tall black gat: what it is and how to own a small one in Australia
Part of the jinjja.shop guides — plain answers about independent Korean makers, for buyers in Australia. Last updated 1 November 2026.
What exactly is that tall black hat you saw at the palace?
The hat is called a gat (갓). It is a Korean traditional hat worn by men along with hanbok — Korean traditional clothing — during the Joseon period. Made from bamboo or horsehair with a bamboo frame and partly transparent, most gat are cylindrical in shape with a wide brim. The chin cord that holds it in place is called the gat-ggeun; for men of the middle class it was made of black cloth, while for the yangban — the noble class — it was made of precious beads.
The gat was first produced during the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1897). It was the distinctive sign of a well-born man, complementing his outfit of wide trousers, cross-fastened jacket, and long flowing cloak. Not only did these hats indicate social status, age, rank, and function as a conspicuous marker of filial piety, but they also represented the neo-Confucian idea of decorum: maintaining one’s hair in the correct way was considered a key aspect of proper gentlemanly behaviour.
The specific black gat you would have seen at a Joseon palace is the heungnip (흑립). During the Joseon period, the black gat was restricted to men who had passed the gwageo, or civil service examinations. The gat also represented social status more broadly, with a white one worn at funerals and military officers sporting a red one.
How was a gat made — and why is it so hard to find a real one today?
Its horsehair crown and the brim, made of bamboo strands, are joined together then lacquered. The elaborate process does not allow mass production. A government-certified gat master must first boil the bamboo and cut it into hair-like threads, then weave and shape it by hand — a process that takes approximately five months to complete a single hat.
The height of the crown and the diameter of the brim changed over time, and the gat’s size became smaller after the decree of 1895 prohibiting hair topknots. Today, authentic handmade gat are rare objects, commissioned for ceremonial or heritage purposes rather than everyday wear. If you passed through Gyeongbokgung or Changdeokgung and saw performers or guides wearing them, you were looking at something that took months of skilled craft to produce.
Can I bring one home to Australia — or buy one here?
A full-sized gat is fragile, ceremonial and difficult to transport safely — the wide lacquered brim does not fold, and traditionally it would have travelled in its own rigid storage box called a gatjip. Most travellers find it impractical to carry one home as luggage. If you want something that captures the form and the history without the logistics, a scaled-down version made by a Korean artisan is the most honest alternative available in Australia.
Ungyeong, a Korean accessories maker whose work is available through jinjja.shop, produces two gat key chains, each made in Korea from plated metal:
- Mini Gat Key Chain — a 10 cm scaled-down gat with mother-of-pearl accents in a royal motif. The proportions closely follow the real thing: cylindrical crown, wide brim, chin-cord detail.
- King’s Gat Key Chain — modelled on the gat Joseon kings wore when travelling in disguise. The chin cords of the original are reinterpreted here as two-tone acrylic beads, and the sejodae robe cord becomes a tassel.
Neither is a souvenir trinket knocked out for tourists. Ungyeong’s starting point is traditional Korean dress and the accessories that went with it, produced in-house in Korea — which is the condition every brand on jinjja.shop must meet.
What else does Ungyeong make for people who love traditional Korean dress?
Beyond the gat key chains, Ungyeong works with other elements of traditional Korean dress and accessories:
- SAEKDONG Eco Bag — a tote with a saekdong (multicoloured stripe) outer in polyester and a jamisa lining, approximately 25 × 27 cm. Saekdong is the bold striped pattern associated with children’s ceremonial hanbok and with festive dress across the Joseon period.
- SAEKDONG NUBI Bag — the same saekdong palette in a quilted construction. Nubi is the traditional Korean technique of hand-stitched quilting, originally used to add warmth to hanbok.
- Jade-look Norigae Charm — a norigae is a decorative pendant traditionally hung from a woman’s hanbok. This one uses imitation jade (not natural jade) with hand-tied maedeup knotwork — the intricate Korean decorative knot tradition.
- Traditional-pattern Dang-gi Scarf and Hair Scrunchie — the dang-gi is a hair ribbon worn in Joseon-era dress. Ungyeong has extended the pattern into a scarf and a scrunchie for everyday use.
What is jinjja.shop and how does ordering work?
jinjja.shop (진짜샵) is an Australian online marketplace for independent, owner-run Korean brands, based in Brisbane, Queensland. 진짜 (jinjja) means ‘real’ in Korean, and every brand on the site must make its products in South Korea — that is the single condition of entry. It is not affiliated with any restaurant of a similar name.
Prices on the site are in Australian dollars. Payment is accepted by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Link or Klarna; no account is needed to order. Orders are sent from Korea by EMS and delivered in Australia by Australia Post. You can see all brands at jinjja.shop/brands-index/ and full shipping details at jinjja.shop/shipping/.
How does shipping from jinjja.shop work?
jinjja.shop is a marketplace for independent Korean brands based in Brisbane, Queensland. Orders are placed in Australian dollars, shipping is a flat A$9.90 per order however many brands are in the basket, and most orders arrive in about 10 to 14 days, sent by EMS from Korea and delivered by Australia Post.
The whole order ships free if it includes the ABELTY Rice Skincare Duo – 2 Sets. Full detail is on the shipping page, and every brand on the marketplace is listed on the brands page.
This page draws on jinjja.shop’s own listings and on widely published general information. Nothing here is a health, medical or therapeutic claim about any product.