What to Wear to Seollal 2027

Packing philosophy

Dress for the floor and the doorway. Seollal falls on Sunday 7 February 2027, and the Korea AeroSpace Administration's almanac makes Saturday 6 to Tuesday 9 February a holiday. NOAA's record for the Korea Meteorological Administration's Seoul station gives February 5.0°C by day and −3.8°C at night, but the first ten days, which hold Seollal, average 3.0°C and −5.7°C. Indoors it is warm: families gather on heated floors, and after the ancestral rite the younger generation performs sebae, a full bow to each elder. So the coat is long and warm for the street, and everything under it has to kneel: wide wool trousers or a long skirt, a knit, good socks for a shoes-off day and boots that pull on at the door.

What the dress code actually is

Seollal has no dress code, but it has customs, and the National Folk Museum of Korea's Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture describes them. Seolbim are the new clothes put on early on Seollal morning; sebae is the New Year bow to elders, oldest first, after the ancestral rite, with the greeting saehae bok mani badeuseyo, and elders answer with a word of blessing and sebaetdon, New Year money. Many families wear hanbok for it, and a guest is welcome to; the Korea Heritage Service's palace rules count as hanbok only a jeogori worn with a chima or baji, so a hanbok top over jeans will not get you free palace entry. Rent from a shop that dresses you. In ordinary clothes, choose something neat and warm, and a skirt or trousers loose enough for a full bow. Shoes come off at the door of every home.

The capsule

1. 
   01

   Sand single-breasted wool overcoat, knee length

   The first ten days of February average −5.7°C at night on NOAA's Seoul record, and Seollal sits in them. A knee-length wool coat covers you on the walk to relatives and off-street at a palace gate. Sand is a warm neutral that lets the jade knit show when it opens.

2. 
   02

   Oat long-sleeve merino crew base layer

   Outside is below freezing and inside is a heated floor, so the layers under the coat have to come off. A merino base keeps you warm on the street and thin enough under a knit when the room is hot.

3. 
   03

   Jade lambswool crew-neck sweater

   The colour of the outfit, in a knit elders will see once the coat is off. Jade lifts a sand coat and oat trousers, and lambswool is warm without the bulk that gets in the way of a bow.

4. 
   04

   Heather-oat pleated wool trousers, roomy straight leg

   Sebae is a full bow, kneeling to the floor, and it asks for room at the knee. Roomy pleated wool trousers kneel without pulling and stay warm at −6°C outside. A long skirt does the same job.

5. 
   05

   Dark brown leather Chelsea boots

   Every home you visit takes shoes off at the door, and a Chelsea boot comes off without unlacing and goes back on in a cold hallway. Leather keeps your feet warm on the street.

6. 
   06

   Cream chunky ribbed wool socks

   With shoes off all day, your socks are part of the outfit, and they are what touches the floor when you bow. Thick wool socks are warm on a cold hallway floor and tidy on a heated one.

7. 
   07

   Camel lambswool knit mittens, fleece lined

   Hands go first at −6°C on the walk between homes or in a palace queue. Mittens are warmer than gloves and come off in one pull at the door.

8. 
   08

   Long oatmeal wool scarf, fringed

   Wind it twice for the walk and it closes the gap at the coat collar, where the cold gets in. Oatmeal goes with sand and jade.

A suggested look — sand wool overcoat, jade crew-neck sweater, oat wide-leg wool trousers, dark brown chelsea boots with cream wool socks, oatmeal scarf and camel knit mittens.

What to avoid

• Lace-ups on a shoes-off day
• A short or tight skirt for sebae
• Socks with holes
• A thin coat at −6°C
• A half-hanbok for free palace entry