A Study on the Symbolic Meaning in the 20th Century Men's Fashion

20세기 남성패션에 나타난 상징적 의미에 관한 연구

The purpose of this study is to review the symbolic meaning in 20th century men’s fashion through analyzing of social environment factors. After recent industrial society, men had expressed their privilege, prestige and social power according to fashion. Men's fashion at the beginning of the 20th century was emerged as the images of robustness and strictness with perfect cutting, thick and stick fabric and dark color that were influenced by british style. It was symbolic meaning of authority orientation which showed the superiorities of social and sex classes. It was beginning of change according to social phenomena. The world war Ⅰ,Ⅱ and change of lifestyle by material affluence in automobile industry mollified rules of men's fashion. It showed a serenity of living. Also, the growth of young culture changed trickle-down of men's fashion into bottom-up and showed opposition for elite culture in fashion. These change particularly became acceleration by Individualism, open-society and the collapse of sex class. Men expressed sexual and inherent desire for fashion that was no longer concerned with symbolizing of authority but rather with pleasure pursuit.