Minjee Kim, PhD
Business and Liberal Arts Center, Room B634
Education
BS, MS, PhD, Seoul National University
Biography
Minjee Kim is a scholar of dress, fashion, and textiles. Dr. Kim's spans scholarly publication, period costume reproduction, exhibition planning and review, object appraisal, and translation for global audiences. This breadth of experience has shaped her interdisciplinary and transnational approach to fashion history, connecting theoretical inquiry with material analysis, curatorial practice, and pedagogy. Her research interests include the historiography of Korean dress and fashion, research methodology, fashion history pedagogy, and archival practices.
Since 2018, Dr. Kim has served as a Council Member and Social Media Coordinator for the Western Region of the Costume Society of America. She joined the Tracing Patterns Foundation as a Research Associate in April 2022 and founded Fashion History Consulting, Inc. in August 2023 to expand her service to academic and cultural communities. She is co-editor of Dress History of Korea: Critical Perspectives on Primary Sources (Bloomsbury, 2023) and has extensive experience editing and translating scholarship on non-Western dress traditions for English-language audiences.
Dr. Kim earned BS, MS, and PhD degrees from Seoul National University and has taught since 1993 across a wide range of educational settings, including community colleges, undergraduate and graduate programs, and public and museum-based education, in both South Korea and the United States.
Selected Publications
“A global view of hanbok.” 2023 Infokorea: An Essential Guide for Educators. 2023.
“Identity and Fashion in the Ancient Dress of Korea.” Dress History of Korea: Critical Perspectives on Primary Sources. 2023.
“Acquisition of a Replica and Identification of Mystery Items: Case Studies in Scotland.” Dress History of Korea: Critical Perspectives on Primary Sources. 2023.
“Korean Fashion: From Royal Court to Runway: The George Washington University Museum and the Textile Museum, August 19- December 22, 2022; Hallyu! The Korean Wave, Victoria and Albert Museum in London, September 24, 2022-June 25, 2023.” West 86th: A Journal of Decorative Arts, Design History, and Material Culture 30–1. 2023.
“A Review of the Dictionary Definitions of Hanbok.” Journal of the Korean Society of Costume 72–6. 2022.
“A Post COVID-19 Outlook: Research and Education in Korean Dress Studies.” Journal of the Korean Society of Costume 70–6. 2020.
“Couture Korea (우리의 옷, 한복), The Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, November 3, 2017–February 4, 2018.” West 86th: A Journal of Decorative Arts, Design History, and Material Culture, April 4, 2018.
“Reproduction of Costume for the Creation of the National Standardized Portrait of Dae Jo-Yeong, the First King of the Balhae Dynasty (698–926).” Report on the Creation of the National Standard Portrait of Dae Jo-Yeong, the First King of the Balhae Dynasty 발해 고왕 대조영 영정 제작 경과보고 백서. The Committee for the Creation of the National Standard Portrait of Dae Jo-Yeong, Sookmyung Women’s University, Dept. of Painting, Korean Painting Division. Seoul: Korea. 2012.
“A Refutation on the view of the Balhae Marek's Origin as from Goguryeo.” Journal of the Korean Society of Costume 59–5. 2009.
“A Study on the Costume of the Kumseong-li Fresco in North Korea.” Journal of the Korean Society of Costume 57–9. 2007.
“A Study on the Costumes of Two Women Statuettes in Three-color Ceramic of the Balhae Dynasty, Excavated from the Tomb in Shiguo, Chilin province, China.” Journal of the Korean Society of Costume 50–3. 2000.
“Stylistic Changes in Chinese Female Dress in Relation to the Ideal Type of Body: From Prehistoric Period to the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912).” Journal of the Korean Society of Costume 32. 1997.
“A Study on the Costumes of the Balhae Dynasty (II) -Focused on the Bronze Statue Excavated from the Maritime Provinces of Russia.” Journal of the Korean Society of Costume 22 1994.
“A Study on the Costumes of the Balhae Dynasty (I) Focused on the Mural Tomb of Princess Junghyo,” Journal of Human Ecology 18. Seoul National University Research Institute of Human Ecology. 1993.
Conferences and Presentations
Crossing Boundaries: For the Awareness of East Asian Aesthetics in Global Fashion, Keynote Address 27th International Costume Congress, Seoul, South Korea, August 24, 2016
Discussant of Conservation and Historical Inquiry, Reframing Heritage: Conservation and Multidimensional Interpretation of PEM’s Korean Art Collection, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA, February 14, 2026
Hanbok as Nation: Cultural Paradoxes of Korean Dress, Scholarly Workshop: The Politics of National Costumes in Asia, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA, November 7–8, 2025
Fleurs-de-lis in East Asia: An Object-Based Study, 9th International Association for the Study of Silk Road Textiles Conference, Beyond the Silk Road, Across the Seas: Circulations of Textiles, Ideas, and Techniques Pre-1900s, University of California at Berkeley, CA, October 9–12, 2025
Toward a (Re-)Definition of Hanbok/Korean Dress, Korean Society of Costume International Conference, Fashion for Human, Peace, and the Future, Seoul, South Korea & online, October 23, 2021
Dissolving Sartorial Borders between East and West: Incorporation of Western Elements into Hanbok, Costume Society of America 45th Symposium, The Pacific Rim & Beyond: Diffusion and Diversity in Dress, Seattle, WA, April 20, 2019
Paradox of Hanbok: What We Perceive as Tradition, Picturing Identities and Ideologies in Modern Korea: Transnational Perspectives for Visual Culture, Center for Korean Studies, University of California, Berkeley, CA, March 14, 2019
Korean Patchwork Textiles: From Traditional Women’s Crafts to Global Collections, Textile Society of America 16th Biennial Symposium, The Social Fabric: Deep Local to Pan Global, Vancouver, Canada, September 21, 2018
Sartorial Borderlands between East and West: Assimilating Western Tailoring Techniques into Hanbok, 6th Conference of the Asian Borderlands Research Network, Ruins, Revival(s) and Resources, American University of Central Asia, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, August 13, 2018
Koreanness of Korean Dress: From a Bizarre Look to the Runway, Fashioning Asian Identity, University of San Francisco, Asia Pacific Studies. CA, April 5, 2018
Courses
- HA 118 Introduction to Fashion History: Materials, Motifs & Meanings
- HA 204 History of East Asian Dress
- FT 692 Independent Study