The Appearance of the Ready-to-wear Clothing in the West and Its Utopian Characteristics

서양 기성복의 출현 배경과 그 유토피아적 성격

This paper discusses the social changes in the late 19th century that provided a historical background in the appearance of the ready-to-wear clothing in the West. It examines the social meanings of the appearance of the ready-to-wear clothing at the time and traces the origins of these social characteristics to the book published in the $16^{th}$ century by Thomas More, Utopia. The results of this study can be summarized as the following. First, the appearance and expansion of the ready-to-wear clothing coincided with the social transition from a class-based society to a democratic society in the west in the $19^{th}$ century. Second, uniforms were produced in the $18^{th}$ century Europe in order to distinguish different classes and ethnic groups, with the military uniforms being the most visible example. Frequent military campaigns in Europe resulted in the increasing demand and expansion of military uniforms, which later became the basis of the standardization of the men's clothing with uniforms. Third, the women's ready-to-wear clothing appeared later than their male counterpart and was made possible by the simplification of design, an important characteristic of women's wear in the later period. Fourth, the social characteristics of the ready-to-wear clothing can be traced to a democratic and egalitarian society without personal properties that was depicted in the book of Utopia by Thomas More. Fifth, one of the characteristics of the ready-to-wear clothing can be found in the description of Utopia, in which everyone in Utopia wears a clothing of the same form for life.