“They are playful ornaments that could contain conventionally feminine things such as perfume or sewing kits. For Samantha Yun, who has a tattoo by Kwak of a norigae trailing from a moon-shaped wreath of flowers with a magpie perched on top, the tassels actually represent feminine resiliency. Though the word norigae simply means “a playful object”, they were more than just decoration. Depending on their design motifs, they expressed the wearer’s artistic taste and wish for longevity, happiness, wealth, fortune and fertility.Ī black moon norigae with peony.🌙. Minjee Kim, a fashion historian and lecturer at San Francisco’s Academy of Arts University, explains that “just as hats completed the look in western fashion, norigae completed the look of women’s hanbok, or traditional Korean dress.” The knotted adornments were tied to the high waist of the chima skirt, and were worn by women regardless of class-though the most luxurious were made of jade, amber, coral, gold, and silver. “It was pretty profound for me to see a very Korean image as a tattoo.” I immediately recognized the norigae and that was an even stronger draw for me,” says An, whose parents came from Korea to the U.S. “I was drawn to the intense color and details. The algorithm had led her to the feed of Sion Kwak, a Seoul-based tattoo artist whose delicate tattoos of norigae, a traditional Korean women’s accessory popular during the 18th century, have earned her over 100,000 followers. Then one day on Instagram she was stopped mid-scroll by an image of red strings looped into intricate knots, a dangling beaded charm, fluttering tassels.

Yujin An was resolved to get her first tattoo-she just didn’t know of what.

Heachi dash meaning