Vitals

Ha Jung-woo as Count Fujiwara, conniving con artist

Japanese-occupied Korea, Summer 1930

Film: The Handmaiden
(Korean title: 아가씨)
Release Date: June 1, 2016
Director: Park Chan-wook
Costume Designer: Jo Sang-gyeong

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Considered one of the best South Korean movies of all time, The Handmaiden premiered nine years ago this month during the 69th Cannes Film Festival in May 2016, just weeks before it was released to theaters on June 1st. Director and co-screenwriter Park Chan-wook was inspired by Sarah Waters’ 2002 novel Fingersmith, reimagining the setting from Victorian-era England to Japanese-occupied Korea in the years leading up to World War II.

The eponymous handmaiden is Nam Sook-hee (Kim Tae-ri), a Korean pickpocket recruited by the smooth con artist known as “Count Fujiwara” (Ha Jung-woo) to work for the aloof Japanese heiress Izumi Hideko (Kim Min-hee), helping the Count gain Hideko’s favor so she ultimately agree to marry him—only for him to commit her to an asylum and inherit her fortune.

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What’d He Wear?

As depicted in movies from The Sting to Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, dressing the part is crucial for a swindler to gain their mark’s confidence and Count Fujiwara fully commits, relying on a smartly tailored wardrobe of sharp suits, sport jackets, and full evening dress to project his fabricated nobility. One of his most significant and frequently seen costumes is a light, shiny tan three-piece suit that the Count wears across several key scenes like his initial recruitment of Sook-hee to the tense visit to the Japanese asylum during the final stages of his scheme.

The suit’s luminous finish suggests Solaro, a herringbone-woven worsted wool distinguished by its signature iridescence. Solaro was invented in 1907 by Louis Westenra Sambonn of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in a well-intended but ill-informed attempts to develop a tropical fabric for British military uniforms that would protect wearers from UV rays. Though it failed in function as mere wool would not have this protective capability, the shiny fabric found favor among stylish civilians as a distinctive warm-weather suiting.

“Solaro achieves its look as a result weaving brick red and light olive green yarns together, often in a herringbone weave. The overall color effect is rich and complex, and its iridescence is charmingly subtle,” describes the Henry A. Davidsen website. “You’ll see hues of red, green, tan, and or even orange depending on the light. Sometimes there’s a hint of a purplish hue present—a solaro suit is at once serious and whimsical, a difficult balance to strike.”

From the cloth to its cut, the Count’s suit reflects contemporary trends in British tailoring, highlighting the influence of Western fashions on Japanese style through the early 20th century. The dramatic roped shoulders of his single-breasted suit jacket are another British military detail, harmonizing with the origins of Solaro cloth. The jacket’s notch lapels roll to a two-button front, made from contrasting dark-brown four-hole buttons that match the four smaller brown buttons decorating each cuff. The non-vented skirt is consistent with early 20th century tailoring—especially British tailoring—and the jacket features the usual welted breast pocket and straight flapped hip pockets, though the flaps are initially tucked in for the Count’s first scene.

The single-breasted waistcoat (vest) echoes the matching jacket with its six dark-brown buttons, which the Count often wears with the lowest button (correctly) undone… as well as the top button (rakishly) undone. Unlike many tailored waistcoats with backs crafted from Bemberg or satin to match the lining, this waistcoat is backed with the same Solaro fabric as the rest of the suit and rigged with an adjustable strap across the lower back. The waistcoat has four narrowly welted pockets—two on each side—with his gold pocket-watch tucked into the lower left pocket, attached to a gold chain strung “single Albert”-style across the left side of his waistcoat and looped through the third buttonhole.

The suit’s matching trousers are shaped through the hips with double sets of shallow forward-facing pleats and an extended tab across the waistband that closes through a single button. Following convention with three-piece suits, the trousers are designed to be worn without a belt, though the lack of belt or braces occasionally pushes the trousers lower than the preferred rise at Ha Jung-woo’s natural waist—a detail consistent with the Count’s inauthenticity and true nature, as he’s merely a con artist who may have the right clothes but doesn’t know (or care) to wear them as correctly as a true nobleman would. The trousers also have side pockets, jetted back pockets, and turn-ups (cuffs) at the bottoms.

The Count maintains tonal harmony with his walnut-brown calf leather brogues, worn with beige socks that continue the leg-lines from his tan suit trousers. Oxford-laced through five sets of eyelets, these shoes balance sophistication with an appropriately dressed-down sportiness due to the wingtip toes and broguing.

Unlike the colorful pink and blue shirts he wears to liven up his pale summer suiting, the Count always wears plain white shirts with this tan Solaro suit. These cotton shirts are styled with a semi-spread collar and squared double (French) cuffs that he fastens with round gold cuff links—each with a ridged center that splits them into two semi-circles.

The Count’s first tie is patterned with a repeating coral medallion print against a light-brown ground.

When the Count returns to presumably finalize his scheme with Sook-hee to commit Hideko to an asylum, he wears the same suit and shirt but with a striped tie in light fern-green, printed with alternating uphill-facing bar stripes in baby-blue and pale-yellow—each flanked with narrower white stripes bordering each side.

The Count initially wears a gray fedora and dark-brown topcoat to protect his Solaro suit from the rain when making his first on-screen appearance to recruit Sook-hee.

Later, as the action transitions to the warmer climate of a Japanese summer, he wears a wide-brimmed Panama hat that better harmonizes with the spirit of his suit. Made from an off-white natural straw in either a Montecristi or Brisa weave, the hat is shaped with a low, round telescope-style crown. The black grosgrain band is finished with a minimalist keeper loop at the back instead of the traditional side bow.

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How to Get the Look

Showcasing the con artist’s awareness of the power of appearance, “Count Fujiwara” maintains a flashy wardrobe epitomized by a tan three-piece suit made from the distinctively shiny Solaro worsted wool—complemented by his wide-brimmed Panama hat, bright patterned ties, and brown oxford brogues.

• Iridescent tan Solaro herringbone worsted wool three-piece suit:
  • Single-breasted 2-button jacket with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, 4-button cuffs, and ventless back
  • Single-breasted 6-button waistcoat with four welted pockets, self-lined back, and adjustable back strap
  • Double forward-pleated trousers with self-suspended waistband, side pockets, jetted back pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
• White cotton shirt with semi-spread collar and squared double/French cuffs
• Fern-green striped silk tie with white-bordered alternating baby-blue and pale-yellow uphill-directional bar stripes
• Walnut-brown calf leather 5-eyelet wingtip oxford brogue shoes
• Beige cotton lisle socks
• Off-white natural straw wide-brimmed Panama hat with round telescope-style crown and black grosgrain band (with rear keeper loop)
• Gold pocket-watch on gold “single Albert” chain

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Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.