• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.64 no.8
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• pp.124-137
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• 2014

The purpose of this study is to produce an essential guideline for making costumes for traditional Korean mask plays by doing a comparative analysis between traditional Korean mask plays and Italian 'Commedia dell'arte'. The results of this study are as follow. The costumes of Korea's mask plays were mainly used to show difference in social status. Analysis showed that costume features, such as color, fabric, and silhouette, were not important to the traits of the character. On the other hand, the costumes in the Italian 'Commedia dell'arte' were used to express the characters' traits. The colors, fabric and silhouettes were exaggerated compared to everyday wear. This enhanced the looks of the character, and it kept on developing with the demands of the culture consumer. This study was performed to support further development and success of traditional Korean mask plays.