STUDY ON FEMINITY AND THE IDEAL BEAUTY OF BODY IMPLIED IN THE FASHION AND THE ANTI-FASHION MOVEMENT IN THE VICTORIAN PERIOD (II)

빅토리아시대 유행복식과 반유행복식 운동에 나타난 여성성과 인체미에 관한 연구 (II)

This paper is intended to explore femininity the ideal beauty of body and the features in fashion pursued in the Fashion system and the Anti-Fashion Movement in the Victorian period, on which the modern fashion is based. For the informative facts needed in this paper, books on history, fashion history, feminism, art history of aestheticism and the ideal beauty of body are referred to. On the part Ⅱ of this paper, the femininity and the ideal beauty of body implied in the Aesthetic Movement and Rational Dress Movement as the anti-fashion movement in the Victorian period will be reviewed. Following are the conclusion : First, the works in Aesthetic Movement mainly include the image of sensual female. The essence of femininity is categorized by cultural value, poetic spirit. appetite for sex and self-expression. The ideal beauty of body pursued in this movement is the beauty of immatured body, which means rejection of maternity as well as appetite for sex in the form of metaphor of the power and enthusiasm of female. The features of Aesthetic Movement emphasize the image of sensual and characteristic woman. These features are expressed in the natural waist line and the vertical H silhouette of high waist, natural exposure of body by means of drapery, simplicity and decency by design without fixed forms and seemingly faded colors. Second, Rational Dress Movement attempted to evaluate the femininity in a different way and ultimately pursued masculinity. Therefore, morality, liberty, intelligence, spirituality, self-control, willingness, which had been believed to exclusively belong to male, are added to the categories of femininity. The ideal beauty of body is expressed in the form of Venus Coelestic which is refined and strong. This symbolizes woman's freeing from the fate of reproduction and subordinate relationship with male, morality, decision of one's own and willingness. The features of Rational Dress Movement represent the image of strong-willed and moral woman in its internal meaning. The features of its fashions represent the concealment of the body, emphasis on activeness in pants without decoration and simplicity in its external form. All these features resulted from the pursuit of masculinity.