• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.107-119
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• 2003

The purpose of this study is to explore ways toward the hat design development by looking into the formative and aesthetic characteristics of the works of Philip Treacy, the designer who raised hats to one of the important fashion accessories. This study concretely investigates the formative characteristics of Treacy's hats in terms of shapes, materials, colours and decorations. According to this study, the shape of his hats shows the natural and specific objects in three dimensions, not in basic shape of hats. He uses combination of a variety of materials, adding unique materials to existing ones, so that they not only create a specific atmosphere but also extend the limitation which used to be thought as materials for hats. In the field of colour, he mainly used black and white until 1999, but since 2000 he has been using vivid and splendid colors. And he uses feathers or nets for decorations of the hats. As the result of the comprehensive analysis of Treacy's works, this study characterizes his works by surrealistic, three-dimensional, rhythmic and future-oriented. Therefore, Philip Treacy's hat design can be defined three dimensional considering the formative beauty, and can be characterized by use of unique materials, vivid & bold colours, moderate decorations, f variety of lines, and asymmetrical structures. These characteristics show surrealistic, three-dimensional and futuristic message which rhythm can be felt. He presents unlimited capability in hat designs as a representative of human being's basic will for creating new ones beyond this real world. It is considered that this study can help broaden the limitation of the hat design which used to repeat simple forms in the Past and help explore ways for developmental direction of hat design in the future.