• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.1019-1034
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• 2008

The purpose of this study is to grasp creation background and social position of courtesan which is treated in social and cultural context and its effect on fashion and research representative courtesans from ancient hetaera to the 19th century and their costume characteristics. Its another purpose is to analyze the costume of Violetta, who is a heroine of opera and its costume characteristic as a courtesan. Most Courtesan clothing were made from bright color, silk and lace which were light, or transparent materials. Using silk and cashmere which were the symbols of class, she took the cutting edge fashion and struggled to break the social barriers. The clothing which the Courtesan wore always became a gossip among people and popular to the designers who could show their creativities because the Courtesan boldly wore the cloth like movie actresses or stars. The Courtesan who led the fashion not only showed the fashion as a simple expression of the beauty but also as a socio-cultural phenomenon which reflected their social awareness with arts, and changed according to the situations of the time and people. Violetta's party dress which was shown in the first and third acts of showed the shoulders and chest because of the deep and wide cut decollete, the waist was tightened with a corset as much as possible, and the opulent hips were inflated by the crinoline so when they walked it was swaying. Also it was decorated with splendid materials such as silk and lace, and sparkling jewels, fans, and neckless and even in case of the general clothing in the second act, it was decorated with braids and lace, frills and ribbons. In the third act, the weakness of the sick woman who was closing her life as the splendid Courtesan was emphasized by using colors of white and light purple and thin transparent materials.

• 중국학논총
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• no.62
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• pp.71-84
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• 2019

Brothel in China is another word of origin and a noble expression at the same time. Brothel has long been used as a symbol of prestige and wealth as a synonym for integrity innocence. According to documentary records, brothel was used as a place where people with a lot of power and wealth. This meaning in the literature continued until the Late Tang period. In addition, the brothel was also used to refer to the place where the King resides. Therefore, the meaning of Brothel in the Tang period is generally understood as a place where people with high status symbolize the integrity of innocence. However, the image of the brothel, which is connected to the characteristics of a lot of young and beautiful women is increasingly recognized as a place where young ladies reside. For this reason, entering the Tang period the brothel eventually turned into a dwelling of a young woman in a prestigious and wealthy house. Since the time of Ming-Qing, brothel has already been used to refer to prostitute and brothel. In this article, we will look at the historical process of the change of brothel, and examine the process of brothel culture through the environment of brothel and cultural literacy of residents. We hope that this study will provide new perspectives and data to the study of women's cultural history in China.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.382-396
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• 2008

The purpose of this study is to analyze the transition of glamour style expressed in modern fashion throughout the history. The glamour style in modern fashion was categorized into five periods which are Hollywood glamour(H), Feminine glamour(F), Rich glamour(R), Decadent glamour(D), and Trash glamour(T). These categories were analyzed and compared in the viewpoint of aesthetic values deduced on the previous study. As a method of analysis, literature study and case study through the publications in aesthetics, history and preceding theses were used. The results of analysis are: Ostentatious luxury was suggested by extravagance of the movie star in H, the splendid American lifestyle in F, conspicuous consumption in R, fin de siecle bad taste in D and self-assured exposure in T. Mysterious idolatry was studied as exaggerated goddesshood of the movie star in H. It was expanded to celebrities including fashion models, television actresses, pop singers and young couture designers in the other periods. Artificial sensuality was originated from the femme fatale image of the courtesan as well as the traditional femininity of Victorian era in H. It was developed through exaggerated hourglass silhouette of the wife dressing in F. But an aggressiveness in R, a hyper-sexual femme fatale in D, an independent and defiant image of the showgirl in T were observed. Playful queerness stood out clearly by the fin de siecle phenomena. Though it was embodied in sexual perversive subculture, it emerged as hi fashion by young designers in the late R and became a crucial aesthetic value throughout D and T. It is more connected with the origins of glamour which arouses sexual ambiguity, crudity, aggressiveness and death. The continuity and discontinuity of the glamour style based on the theory of 'linked solution' were also analyzed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.57 no.4 s.113
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• pp.173-187
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• 2007

The purpose of this study is to analyze the fetishist characteristics and the aesthetic values of glamour style based on the premise that fetishism is the theoretical root of glamour style expressed in fashion throughout history. The following results are from analysing fetishist characteristics of glamour style. First, luxury was analysed from an angle of commodity fetishism. Every culture develops images and stories that portray a world in which its ideals are realized: a paradise, a utopia, a golden age, etc. Consumer goods often serve as 'bridges to these ideals'. People thus can fantasize about owning the perfect life. Crucially, however, they must never get everything they picture. That is why luxuries often take on displaced meaning. Glamour gives the displaced meaning visual form, making it beautiful and real. Second, the attention on the glamour of luxury goods as a bridge to ideals is connected to the glamour icon who is simultaneously a consumer of these luxury goods and a producer of cultural goods. Glamour icons including the courtesan of the late 19th century, the actress of the 1930s' Hollywood golden age and today's celebrities appear to efface the traces of production and create fetishist images in culture. Through this artificial principle, the commodity-cum-glamour icon comes to life as a splendid image of spectacle. Third, masquerade and seduction were analysed from an angle of sexual fetishism. A magnificent image of masquerade as sexual fetishism is often equated with femininity, especially in Hollywood movies, because the artificial seduction of the feminine -namely glamour- can be effected by the absence or silence of being. That is to say, the aesthetic revelation of femininity coincides with the fleshing out of artificial signs. Masquerade and the seduction of the feminine are connected with glamour's artificial sensuality from this point. Fourth, since 1980's when homosexuality as sexual deviation resurfaced as a hot topic, sexual ambiguity and bisexual image have gained attention as perverse sexuality. Next came queer theory, which reduced gender itself to a matter of surface rather than depth. According to queer theory, gender itself can be revealed as a kind of drag act. Drag's imitative performance may reveal that womanliness is just about 'dragging up'. Queerness as a decadent play makes a connection with the wicked origins of glamour. From these characteristics, four aesthetic values were deduced: ostentatious luxury and mysterious idolatry by commodity fetishism, artificial sensuality and playful queerness by sexual fetishism.