Day 4: Hanbok photos

We started this day with breakfast at Dunkin Donuts (we were actually on time for breakfast but skipped it because of the queue).  In a lot of restaurants in Korea you get a little device while waiting, it starts vibrating when your order is ready, so you can come to pick it up. The device at Dunkin Donuts even has advertisement being played on a small screen.

After breakfast we went on our way to the Goguan photo studio, where I had an appointment for a photo shoot in hanbok.

At this studio they have a large amount of Hanboks that can be used for taking photos. They have 4 different categories to choose from (normal, dancer, princess or wedding hanbok). I chose the wedding category because I love the big sleeved hanboks and as I already have a hanbok at home it wouldn't feel as special with a normal one. After choosing what kind of hanbok you want to wear (and if applicable what kind of wig) you are escorted to the changing room. You start with choosing which hanbok you want to wear. They have 2 huge walls full of hanbok, but luckily for me they only had 4 wedding hanboks (I'm really bad at making choices). After choosing your hanbok you put on the under hanbok and petticoat. Then they do your makup and hair (you can also choose not to have your makeup and hair done, everything is optional). After this they help you get dressed and put on the finishing touches. I had reserved a course with photo studio photos, so this was the moment a professional photographer took photos of me in their studio.

Afterwards you are allowed to use the sceneries they have available in their building to take your own photos.

I would definitely recommend going here, it might seem a bit expensive (though you can make it as expensive or inexpensive as you like), but it is well worth the price seeing as how much I enjoyed it and how much time I spend here.
We then decided to go to the Gwanghwamun flea market, a small flea market in front of the Gyeongbokgung palace. It is a fun little market, though I would only recommend going here if you really have enough time in Seoul. I unexpectedly bought a hanbok over here, beforehand I had decided I would not buy a hanbok in Korea as I already have a beautiful vintage one at home, but I gave in to my inner shopaholic.

We tried going to the Princess diary cafe, but we were urged back to the exit once we entered. I guess they were closing up, we'll try going again some other day. We decided to end our day (with a not so successful dinner, though dessert was wonderful) in Hongdae.

All photos can be found at my flickr page