{{Short description|Traditional Korean wig laden with accessories}} {{Redirect|Gache|the cake|Guernsey Gâche}} {{italic title|reason= }} {{infobox Korean name/auto |image=Korean women wearing hanbok and gache.jpg |hangul=가체 |hanja=加髢 |}}
The {{Transliteration|ko|mr|'''kach'e'''}} ({{korean|hangul=가체|hanja=加髢}}) is a traditional Korean wig worn by women. Historically, {{Transliteration|ko|kach'e}} were expensive accessories worn only by women of high social standing, alongside {{Transliteration|ko|mr|kisaeng}}. They were decorated with silk objects, gold, jewels, silver, coral, jade, and other expensive materials. Certain decorations were reserved for royalty.
==History== Historically, women of high social backgrounds and {{Transliteration|ko|mr|kisaeng}} wore ''kach'e'', with larger and heavier wigs considered to be more aesthetically pleasing. Due to the expense of purchasing a new ''kach'e'', some lower-class families took up to 6–7 years preparing a new ''kach'e'' wig for their new daughter-in-law.<ref>{{langx|ko|무거운 '가체' 때문에 사망한 사람이 있다!}} http://kdaq.empas.com/knowhow/view.html?num=451347l</ref>
Use of the ''kach'e'' flourished in Goryeo, the Three Kingdoms, Balhae, the Gaya confederacy, and Gojoseon. ''Kach'e'' were known for their relatively heavy weight, totalling around {{convert|3|-|4|kg}} with accessories; one record reports an incident where a heavy ''kach'e'' wig led to the death of a 13-year-old bride, as the heavy wig compromised her neck as she was getting up to greet her father-in-law entering the room.<ref name="f918">{{cite book | last1=Pyun | first1=Kyunghee | last2=Kim | first2=Minjee | title=Dress History of Korea: Critical Perspectives on Primary Sources | publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing | date=20 April 2023 | isbn=978-1-350-14338-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-USyEAAAQBAJ&q=wigs%25201788%2520Jeongjo&pg=PA100 | access-date=17 October 2025 | page=100}}</ref> ''Kach'e'' were banned by the government in 1788.<ref name="f918"/>
In the 19th century, {{Transliteration|ko|mr|yangban}} women began to wear the {{Transliteration|ko|jokduri}}, a small hat that substituted for the ''kach'e''. However, ''kach'e'' were still popular in ''kisaeng'' circles and traditional weddings.
==Gallery== <gallery> File:Empress Sunjeong, 1909.jpg|Empress Sunjeong of the Korean Empire, 1909 File:Korean hairpin-Tteoljam-01.jpg|Modern representation File:Gache002.jpg|18th-century illustration of a ''kach'e'' File:Gache004.jpg|Illustration from the late 18th-century </gallery>
==See also== * Hanbok
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category|Gache}} *{{in lang|ko}} [http://100.empas.com/dicsearch/pentry.html?i=110011 Brief information about kach'e]
Category:Korean headgear Category:Wigs Category:Hairdressing