• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.23-40
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to explore the aesthetic characteristics of outerization phenomenon of contemporary fashion. Outerization, transforming underwear as outerwear, is one of the most dominant and widespread fashion trends in the dawning of new millenium. Fashion always exists for living body and tributes to express idealized beauty of human body and aesthetics of the era. If so, exploring the formative expressions and aesthetic characteristics of outerization would be an meaningful guideline to deduce changed relationship between fashion and body of the 21st century. The methodology of this study is to research of fashion collections such as Paris, Milan and New York which were held the first decade of new millenium, from 2000 Spring/Summer to 2009 Spring/Summer. The styles expressing outerization were selected and assorted based on the main formative expression. Then the aesthetic characteristics were classified. The way of expression of outerization is categorized into 4 parts ; Transition, Exposure, Transparency, and Deconstruction. Aesthetic Characters of outerization is classified 4 assortments as well ; Eroticism, Fun with parody and kitch, cyber culture, Gender politics, and Power fetish. Eroticism is the most clearly identified one. Coming out of underwear imply naked body itself, so it has erotic appeal. Fun is the second character. A pleasant sensation from the outerization of undergarments maximizes a disposition of play from parody, kitch, and cyber culture. The third is Gender Politics and it introspects how the society consumes woman body in history and modern times. Power Fetish, the last one, speaks for the female body with changed vision for femininity underneath the sphere of influence of feminism and post modernism, then emphasizes the subjectivity and independence of woman. From the research above, this study will help to understand the overwhelming outerization phenomenon and contribute to expansion of the horizon of the study of fashion aesthetics. It will serve fashion creative source through various outerization cases as well.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.165-180
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• 2000

Since fashion is considered to be a cultural product and belongs to the formative art as well, the changes in fashion reflect those of society. Modern fashion has emerged from the period when people would follow the popular fashion uniformly, and moved toward the age of diversity, expressing not only the inner desires and aesthetic sensibility of individuals but also the freedom from formality and traditional restrictions. This kind of changes in expression became important motives for modern dress design following the present cultural phenomena, and, so called "outerwearization" of the undergarment or "infra apparel" exemplifies this situation. Corset especially has been playing a vital role in exaggerating and emphasizing the beauty of female body and correction of its shape. Today, one can frequently witness corset in street fashion along with brassier, Its sister concept. This "outerwearization" of the undergarment is supplanted as a syndrome, and it is defined as "supra syndrome" using "supra" as the opposite meaning to "infra". This unique phenomenon of modern fashion cannot be explained by a single social aspect, but as a mixed state of eroticism, fetishism, feminism, demonstrationists and expressionism among several current phenomena. The advent of "supra syndrome" and its cultural background were illustrated and stand-out "supra syndrome" exhibited by many world-renowned designers were analyzed in this study. As the result of study, six design pieces were developed and produced in three groups, based on different corset motifs. This study reaffirms that creativity of design is limitless and the imaginative abilities alone cannot accomplish higher level of design and development of works of fashion unless they are accompanied by the understanding of historical background, periodical circumstances and cultural phenomena. In this study, utilizing the modern apparatus such as computer and the advent of the modern technology was also found helpful in creative fashion design process.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.35
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• pp.325-341
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• 1997

One of the noticeable trends of female wear in 1990s is the Outwearization of Underwear as it is called 'Lingerie look' This trend meaned 'Exposure Fashion' raised splendidly its head to the whole stage of fashion destrying the tradional concept having divided the fashion between outwear and underwear by Madonna an Americal populer singer showed up in front of the audience wearing the corset-dress as a stage custome. This corset-dress which can not be recognised whether it is underwear or outwear has been diffused into the mass as a fashionable trend re-gardless of any reason; therefore discrimi-nation of wear by space by far that is underwear should have the sstandard telling between private and public sector has been gradually tumbled. By the way what has propelled desigers to introduce the style continuously having the underwear motive such as outwear almost as same as underwear or underwear worn on out-wear etc. and has made it a fashion trends? How do we accept this "Ligerie look'fashion" The rearch on vogue of outwearization of underwear started by the questions above can be summarized as the followings The division between the sprit and the ma-terial-economic shrinkage by the collapse of the bubble economy in the late of 20 century and expectation for the next century doubt by changes of international politics dynamics for the next century and increasement of psycho-logical tention by the environmental destruc-tion etc, has been extended to break the sense of value down These frustration of the tra-ditional values and dissatisfaction on the pres-ent have reflected on the fashion pursuing some more sensational style to increase the ex-posure of the body. The revolution of wearing bouncing the con-servatismhas outwardly expressed underwear of the private sector. Therefore the spatial concept of wear which for the public sec-tor has been fallen into pieces and has broken the wall of the concept fixed by outwear on underwear. in addition the stage costome for the popular people like Madonna has not been limited by the specularity any more and has been assimilated with the normal wear on the street to take the distinction for away. The circumstances of the late of 20 century pursuing sensation and making sex commer-cialized have accordance with the outweari-zation of underwear. there it is on the basis of Minimalist's dogmatism has been expressed the maximization of expoure in the pubric space to popularize bra pants(knickers) as outwear. The reaction on the attribute of hiding and shanding has brought 'See-Through fashion' with the transparent materials, The contemporary doubt recalling the mem-ory of the past has sublimated corset which was an instument of toture for women into Romanticism to introduce it to fashion with the development of a new material not to be a tool of any oppression and maltretment any longer. The popularization of outwear like underwear what's more has brought high quality of underwear. There it has called for the variety of materials such as knit demin and velvet etc, and has urged the famous designers to enlarge their working boundaries to underwear designs, Besides outwearization of underwear has been popular even in the Orient which has the con-servative opinions on exposure ; so changes of the thoughts can be seen among the establish-ment generation on exposure of the body. As the more high tech information publi-cized and the more technology and media digitalized the more expression being analog the pursue for the new in fashion with vision never been seen and even though it is imprac-tical the experimental designers have drived the freedom beyond the traditional roles of the previous century. Consequently outwearization of underwear may be viewd as a trial as an expression responded the contemporary background. This trend in my opinion will have been lasted for a while by being proliperlated among lasted for a while by being proliperlated among the pub-lic who has the century-end anxiety and doubt and expectation for the next century.