A study on the interpretations of woman's body in western clothing

서양복식에 표현된 여성인체의 해석에 관한 고찰

In western clothing, woman's body was port-rayed sexually as the distinction of sex was appeared, and the parts of body contain some kind of symbol of sex. Woman's body was diversly accentuated according to the divers ideal beauty concepts pursuits in the different periods. Today, in a Post-industrial Society whose social structure is very divers and complicated, the interpretation of woman's body reveals so various as the complex social structure. The purpose of this study is to comprehend the various interpretations of woman's body in the contemporary clothing. The concrete purposes of this study is as follows. First, this study is to define the concept of natural body and built body by differentiating the parts of body and searching for the sexual symbols accentuated in the western clothing. Second this study aims to review, the histori-cal process of prejudged distinction of sex in the western clothing, and to analyse the con-temporary sociocultural which forced to change this prejudged distinction of sex. Third, on the bases of this analses, this study also aims to present various interpretation on divers aspects of woman's body portrayed in the contemporary clothing. The interpretation of woman's body in the contemporary clothing were as follow. First, it is a body interpreted as a natural and neutral body which is based not so much on prejudged division of sex as on the expression of the body structure. And, it is a decomposed and recomposed body which is based on plastic principles. This body is portrayed by a layer-ing and wrapping which interrogated such traditional symbols of western clothing as collar, sleeve or trousers, skirt, etc. Second, it is a sexually symbolized body. This body is display-ed by exposure or sexual accentuation in the clothing. To conclude, a body interpreted in the contemporary clothing is no more a body accentuated by division of sex, but a body which per-mits indefinite hypotheses and interpretations under synthetic imagination.