• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
• /
• v.43
• /
• pp.203-224
• /
• 1999

As androgny presented by feminism still appear in contemporary fashion since mid 1980's feminism as a social phenomenon can be considered to habe influenced fashion history. This paper surveys the sex images of androgynous look that appeared in contemporary fashion into bisexual image and neutral images based on the feminist aspects of changes in contemporary fashion. As stated above bisexual images and neutral images of androgynous look shown in clothing are an attempt to reach one single integrated complete being by overacoming 'femininity' or 'masculinity' and combining the element of the two sexes. Consequently androgynous look creates new attraction by harmoniously coordinating characteristics of the two sexes instead of totally differentiating between masculinity and femininity that are represented in the form of clothing that has conceptual visual characteristics. Following are the conclusions of the reseach of this paper. First 'androgynous' as a feminist sex concept reflects the spirit of the times. Since the sex roles are divided and diversified and the concept of femininity is changing the concept of androgyny requiring both masculine and feminine characteristics in an essential sex concept for sucessful conduct of roles in a complex modern society. Second the integrated human image of androgynous look has led to a new culture with fashion trends that has been ahead of times by curing the functions of fashion to differentiate between men and women. Third androgynous look at the turn-of-the-centuy will not cease to exist but be a lasting fashion phenomenon while the sex concept presented by feminism has become the core to destrov the dichotomous fashion style of the 20th century. Fourth androgynous look is expressed in various manners in contemporary fashion since it shown how human beings accipt the adaptation method desperately required by the contemporary times. Androgynous look can be viewd as the desire for ultimate freedom that can be acquired by destroying the dichotomous sex concept and as the will to become a subject of the world as integrated human being. As we look into fashion culture creation of fashion is not the result of an accidental cause or an individual's work but the reflection of the spirit of the times. In this sense androgynous look introduced by a new sex concept to contemporary fashion has reflected the spirit of the times and led the cultural atmosphere and moreover it is an important fashion style that can characterize the contemporary times while lasting in the future.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.63-79
• /
• 1999

The essence of Feminism is to establish the women＇s subjecthood as representing women＇s sexual characteristic and emerging from the fixed idea about women in our androcentric society. Feminism has been developed in various stages : the homogeneous theory which emphasized the similarity between men and women, the heterogeneous theory which persisted in he difference between men and women and underscored womanhood as an unique quality, androgynous theory which insisted on the common of two sexes since 1980＇s. The purpose of the thesis is to discuss the correlation between the feminism and the fashion, to examine its influence on shaping the contemporary fashion, and to infer what the women＇s fashion be like in the coming 21st century. The result of the thesis is as follows : First, the Mannish Look had been developed from the masculinization of female clothing by borrowing the style of women from that of men clothes since 1970＇s. Second, the Glamor Look has been stressed as the feminism began to swing toward which emphasized the difference between men and women, and women＇s sexual characteristics from the late 1970＇s. Third, from the late 19th century, the Fetish Look is still employed in various ways by the avant-garde designers, which impowered to increase the visualization of sex. Fourth, the Androgynous Look was born, androgynous image and neutral image, by the influence of the socio-cultural aspect of gender rather than the physical aspect from the middle 1980＇s.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
• /
• v.13 no.5 s.58
• /
• pp.790-803
• /
• 2005

This study purposes to examine the background of the sexual concept and femininity, masculinity and gender role in the fields of social psychology and cultural anthropology and investigate the traditional gender role and the fashion's changes according to its role and the examples of the masculinity and femininity expressed in the contemporary fashion and finally analyze the gender identity expressed in fashion. The image changes which appeared in the modern fashion can be considered to be Masculine Look, Garconne Look, Feminine Look, Unisex Look, Androgynous Look and Genderless Look. The Garconne Look caused lots of changes to masculinity in the 1920's along with the changes of femininity. With the effect of feminism, many females wore clothing which had been thought as male's clothing by the appearance of Masculine Look. The major formation reason of Unisex Look can be regarded as the attitude change of the society toward to females and a meaning which doesn't want the differences of the distinction of gender to appear any longer as a characteristic external factor is implied. Androgynous Look which appeared in the 1980's means the integration of femininity and masculinity which is the same meaning with 'androgyny' in itself, Not denying its gender characteristics individually, the Androgynous Look means that women aim at the masculine image in men's clothing or men do at the feminine image in women's clothing. Genderless Look can be considered to a look with a notion to wear clothing freely even in fashion transcending the border of masculinity and femininity differentiated socially and culturally.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
• /
• v.36
• /
• pp.239-262
• /
• 1998

The pursuit of freedom by the individual--desire to be liberated from all forms of restrictions-- is one of the defining character-istic of the modern society. As costume is, in part, a product of the spirit of the times, it was only natural that this desire for freedom would find its expression in modern costume as well. Among various forms of restrictions, differentiaton by sex has placed one of the most significant binding influences on individual behavior. From early times, the dichotomous division by sex was incorporated into the disign of costume, and the traditional differestriction of costume by sex imposed a significant restriction on the background,“the modern androhynous look”was born as a by-product of the sexual liberation movement in the second half of the 20th century, based on the concept of the individual as a complete human being rather than as a member exclusively of either the male or the female sex. This paper seeks to examine the androgynous look within a coherent theoretical frame-work, and explore new design possibilities by analyzing and understanding the visual characteristics of the androgynous look. In addition, this paper seeks to define the functional aspects of the androgynous look based on the premise that costume is an embodiment of the spirit of the times. As for research methodology, both theoretical and historical methods are employed. Through a theoretical examination of historical documents, the meaning of the androgynous look is explored from various angles, and order to examine its place in modern fashion, an-drogynous styles are categorized and system atically analyzed. The main findings of the paper can be summarized as follows : 1. Androgyny is a compound word consisting of“andro-”(meaning man) and“gyn-”(meaning woman). In modern times, this word has been associated with the socio-cultural aspect of gender rather than the physical or physiological aspect with the pshchological characteristics of the male and female sexes. Androgynous styles also appear in fashion and general arts such as drama, film, dance, and music. In fashion, the androgynous look, represented by the visual superimposition of “masculine”and “faminine”elements, has emerged as a major element of the 20th-century costume, and has gained broad acceptance among those free spirits wishing to be liberated from the conventional conceptions of male clothing, and the unisex look. 3. The androgynous look in modern fashion reflects the spirit of the 20th century society and culture, and performs various functions as follows : expression of fun, change in gender roles, expression of the inner consciousness, and pursuit of the ideal human type.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
• /
• v.35 no.6
• /
• pp.15-24
• /
• 1997

The objective of this study were to examine the relationships between clothing design preference, clothing attitude and sex role identity. Using the data collected through interview questions. 200 subjects who were 60years of age and older in Kunsan, Korea, the data were analyzed using $X^2$-test. The results of the study were the followings. 1. The androgynous type liked two button single jacket and the masculine and indifferentiate type three button single jacket, while the femin type liked soutien collar jacket in their woman. 2. The androgynous type' purchase motive was 'enough money' 'finding like clothing' while the masculine type's 'to attend meeting'. The feminine type's motive was 'enough money' and the indifferentiate type 'to attend meeting'. Clothing selection motive was more influenced the androgynous type than the feminine and indifferentiate type by 'design'. 3. The androgynous type felt 'indifferent' for dare clothing of the aging, the masculine type 'hate', the feminine type 'I like to', and the indifferentiate type 'look so good'.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
• /
• v.54 no.6
• /
• pp.119-130
• /
• 2004

The purpose of this study was to analyze the characteristics of 1980s' oversize fashion. Especially in 1980s, there were some characteristics that the leading style did not exist as the other decades, but instead of that, various styles coexisted and the existing traditional rule of fashion was destroyed. On the basis of such background, the moulding nature resident in oversize fashion is considered and analyzed as follows. Firstly, 1980s is the time of power suit booming and through such clothes, women disclosed their consciousness that they want to be equal with men. Secondly, In contrast to that a shoulder pad was the trademark of 1980s' clothes, the social aspect that Japanese designers' clothes of layered look and them of grunge look coexisted is directly expressed through these oversize clothes. Thirdly, In 1980s of the time that people's interest to health risen, sports wear was developed to be everyday wear and furthermore, it had variously influences on high fashion so that developed to big look. Fourthly, when it comes to 1980s' clothes, the atmosphere of society denying apparent boundary between sex at that time was resident in androgynous look and the folklore image of sexless style by their appearance in oversize fashion. What is this situation that the style of the past time is popular in the 21st century even such intentional spirit of challenge already passed？ Maybe for women, the one way of expressing themselves is through their clothes, and for such reason, it can be considered that the social meaning resident in 1980s' clothes is re-examined in the present age.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
• /
• v.30
• /
• pp.211-225
• /
• 1996

In this paper we discuss the corelation be-tween feminism and fashion and examine its influnce on mordern fashion. And we also try to infer what the fashion design will be like in the future by understanding the value of modern fashion from a new viewpoint. The Early Feminism which advocated the similarity between man and women held the thought that women could be equal to men only when they behaved in the same way as men did, In 1970s when the pendulum of the Early Feminism movement reached its highest point a manish look began to flourish. The manish look introduced the items once employed only for men such as trench costs tidy tailored suits shirts and ties to women clothes. It has taken root deeply in women's life and is still employed in various ways by many designers. From the late 1970s the pendulum of feminism movement began to swing toward the Essentialist Feminism which emphasized the differences between men and women. It focused not on the negative image of women seen from male-oriented viewpoints but on their positive image and stressed women's sexual characteristic to make distinction between two genders. in fashion the Essentialist Feminism played a role in bringing about a sexy look which stressed the erotic silhouette of woman's body. The latest feminism is the socio-cultural one. It sees the distinction between men and women as sexual discrimination and introduces the androgynous human which carries the characteristic of two sexes. it leads to ambiguity of sex roles and at the same time serves to make androgynous social atmosphere by admitting the coexistence of two genders. The androgynous idea in fashion is expressed as a new trend which crosses men and women's own beauty while keeping their own identity intact. As we have briefly reviewed feminism in fashion has been presented in various ways with regard to expressing the nature of men and women. And it has continuously indicated the ultimate message of the salvation of mankind such as the respect for humanity and recovery of humanism.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
• /
• v.17 no.6
• /
• pp.1009-1020
• /
• 2009

This study aims to express the androgynous image via shirts as a fashion item. Shirts are widely worn as a fashion item regardless of sex and age, with growing importance as a casual outer, with the increase in leisure activities driven by the recent implementation of the 5-Day Work Week system in Korea. As for the theoretical background, the study was reviewed previous studies of books, thesis, a series of publication, and the Internet sites on this topic. Through a careful analysis of these previous studies, it designed and made shirts that inspired by androgynous image. Conclusions of this study are as follows: First, the study found that meanings of symbolism in clothing continue to change, not fixed at all, depending on historic and cultural environments, and so does symbolism for femininity and masculinity of clothing. Second, shirts are widely worn as a fashion item regardless of sex and age, with growing importance as a casual outer, with the increase in leisure activities driven by the recent implementation of the 5-Day Work Week system in Korea. Third, two patters were used for the work in this study in order to emphasize its form, along with mono color white and stripe patterns. For materials, cotton and blend as a most basic material for a shirt were used with unique variations in the form. Fourth, decorative details or trimming such as ribbon tying methods, shirring, attaching in layers, and irregular pleading widely used for women's wear were applied, and silhouettes with strong drape feelings were used to add feminine feature to men' shirts, in an effort to propose a fashion design of the androgynous look. Fifth, clothes proposed in this study are different from feminine clothing item blouse, because they are androgynous shirts mixing masculinity and femininity. Stiff pads were used in collars and cuffs characteristics of men's traditional shirts to maintain masculinity of a shirt, and design was developed by adding feminine decorative elements, which is different from women's blouse.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.60-75
• /
• 2002

The purpose of this research is to understand the gender identity expressed in Madonna music video texts and performances. Madonna has reconstructed the fluid identities through the variations of body, images, costumes, and attitudes . The results are as fellows; ① Her punky sexuality is to be seen the flash trash look, kitsch fashion, which reconstructs a good/bad taste, modesty/immodesty, the relations of under/outer wear using bawdy sexuality through her early Virgin tour. ② Her Heterosexuality is to be seen the glamourous look, traditional images of women, which represents the passive feminity of patriarch. ③ Her sadomasochism sexuality is to be seen the bondage look of dominatrix image, which deconstructs sexual taboos; represents sexual power. ④ Her bisexuality is to be seen androgynous look, the 3rd species look using masculinity/feminity signifier, which deconstructs the stereotypes of gender roles. ⑤ Her homosexuality is to be seen the fetish fashion by drag and lesbian, which deconstructs the dichotomy of normality/perversion; opens a possibility of women subjectivity of sexual desires.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
• /
• v.50 no.2
• /
• pp.15-28
• /
• 2000

This paper focuses on the sports look expressed in 20th century fashion. It is Age of Sport just as rock'n roll became dominant cultural form of the 1960's and 1970's . In the 1990's the sportsware is fashion. Designers gazing into the future are inspired by the details and functionality of clothing for snow boarding , skiing , motorbike racing and fitness. No doubt fashion in 2000 will also be full of references to it. Since the late 1960's the sportswear that was originally a term for clothing worn for various sports activities in the 1890's has changed and is now considered as fashion for day as well as evening. This has occurred primarily in the U.S. due to the adoption of less formal lifestyles by Americans. while the sportwear is the term which stemmed from the need for functionality in sports, sports look is the style inspired by the formative elements, that is, the details, the shilhouette, and the colors of the sportswear. New technologies for sports, the powerful influence of youthful culture, and the celebritizations of the sports stars made the sports look much hipper and more popular. It can be categoried into three aesthetic values, I. e., the functional sports look,, purism and no useless ornament, the street sports look with fun, androgynous and unisex mode and the mix and match of different texture and colors, and the futuristic sports look with new high tech fabrics and avant-garde style.