• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.61 no.2
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• pp.1-19
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• 2011

As modern society advances, women's self-consciousness and attitudes toward beautiful appearances have changed. Amid this trend, the young and slim body of adolescent girls expressed in contemporary fashion incites fantasy on continuing youth among women. In modern society, women's youth is frequently regarded as a subject of consumption and a sex product in the mass media. In this regard, the study is focused on examining desire and psychology of worshipping women's youth and beauty in connection with flapper fashion in the 1920s. In the process, the study took a look at the social and cultural background of flapper fashion and conducted an analysis on formative characteristics and aesthetic sense of flapper fashion as follows: First, the formative characteristics include a short skirt that expresses straight lined shape and the beauty of exposure, lighter clothing, thick make-up, short hair style and black or vivid colors, and they lead to exceptional and innovative aesthetic sense in flapper fashion. Flapper fashion style is focused on completely denying outdated fashion worn by women in the age right before. Second, pursuit of mature, graceful and classical beauty that had continued in previous ages has gone through complete changes in the flapper era in the name of pursuit of youth, and the flapper fashion expresses sensual image through the exposure of slim arms and legs of a young girl. In the formative characteristics, aesthetic sense of youth and sensuality inherent in the flapper fashion was generated. Third, women's free-spirited lifestyle at that time and 'aesthetic sense of freedom and amusement that reflected the speed of machine civilization could be found in the flapper fashion. Material and decoration of the flapper fashion pertained to clothing that enabled a free expression through rapid movements. Aesthetic sense of the flapper fashion generated in the process could be defined as women's internal determination to express individual and free-spirited ideas through the use of fashion when tradition and order of the old age were torn down. And this aesthetic sense is continuously affecting modern fashion design.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.1127-1137
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• 2010

As directly imported apparel brands are actively entering the domestic market, studies of the marketing aspects of these imported apparel products and their overall consumption trend have been done. However, studies of whether are not the directly imported apparel products provide Korean consumers with an appropriate fit are not as common. Therefore, this study investigates the satisfaction with and problems associated with the fit along with the recognition of and preference for directly imported US apparel brands. 100 female college students who purchased directly imported US apparel brands participated in a survey. The results of this survey showed that their recognition of, preference for, possession rate of and satisfaction with the directly imported US apparel brands tend to be high. The major purchasing motivations were the excellent 'design' and 'color' of the products. The subjects reported that they were satisfied with the quality of 'materials' and 'sewing condition'. However, they were not satisfied with the 'comfort' or the 'size'. Their level of satisfaction with the fit of these products differed depending on the specific item. Their level of satisfaction with the fit of T-shirts and knits was high, whereas the level for pants was relatively low. They complained mostly about the sleeve length and garment length of upper-body garments and coats. They were not satisfied with how the pants fit. The areas of dissatisfaction regarding the pants were the waist girth, the crotch length and the pants length.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.433-445
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• 2015

This study examines factors that influence consumer behavior regarding the usage intentions and repurchasing behavior of counterfeits. Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior by Ajzen (1991), this study looks at the impact of attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, as well as the moral norm of consumers about intentions to use and repurchase counterfeits. An online survey was conducted on males and females over the age of 20 with previous experiences of purchasing counterfeits; subsequently, 209 responses were collected and analyzed. The covariance structure model was used to analyze the data in order to measure the factors that influence the usage of counterfeits and repurchasing behavior. The results show that attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control have significantly positive effects on usage intentions, while moral norm has a significantly negative effect on usage intentions. Usage intentions also have a significantly positive effect on repurchasing behavior and confirmed that usage intentions functions as the mediator. The variables that influence usage intentions are attitude, perceived behavioral control, moral norm, and subjective norm, in descending order. Consumer attitudes towards counterfeits is a major factor that influences usage intentions. Therefore, ethical problems should be emphasized to encourage a negative attitude towards counterfeits. This study identifies an important aspect to show that usage intentions toward counterfeits, and not purchasing intentions, influences repurchasing behavior. Findings are significant in that they reveal the role of the moral norm variable added to the TPB model.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.625-639
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• 2015

The number of Chinese tourists visiting Korea has rapidly increased over the last decade. It is important to understand Chinese consumption patterns and shopping behavior because they have become major customers in the Korean fashion market. This study focuses on how Chinese tourists feel while shopping in Korea and how emotions influence their attitude towards purchased products. We examine how planned purchase and unplanned purchase impact shopping emotions and product usage satisfaction. A survey was conducted on 550 women between 20 and 60 years of age who have visited Seoul more than once with an online panel from an international survey firm. Data are analyzed using structural equation modeling by AMOS 20.0. Respondents were asked to recall most impressive fashion product that they bought in Korea during their recent visit and to answer if it was a planned or unplanned purchase. This study also measures emotions during product purchases and usage satisfaction. The respondents are categorized into heavy and light buyers according to purchasing power to determine the moderating effects of purchase amount. The results indicate that planned purchases tend to deliver positive emotions that enhance product usage satisfaction. In the case of unplanned purchases, without the mediating role of positive shopping emotions, it has a negative impact on product attitude and shows the importance of positive emotions during shopping. The influence of unplanned purchases on shopping emotions or product attitude in light buyers is not significant for the moderating effect of purchasing power. Only planned purchases trigger product usage satisfaction when it is mediated by positive emotions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.26-39
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• 2018

This study analyzed fashion taste changes for middle-aged men (40-50s) from the 1960s-1980s through newspapers evaluated as socially influential media. As a result, the fashion interest of middle-aged men in the 1960s was very low, and the formation and selection of fashion taste was mainly decided by the wife. However, as the interest in fashion and fashion gradually increased in the 1970s, the interest and taste of fashion in middle-aged men started to change. In the 1980s, social equality and women's advancement into society began, and initiated the appearance of a youthful-looking casual style and establishing an individual subjectivity about fashion taste. Based on this, the specificity of the change of fashion taste among Korean middle-aged men in the 1960s-1980s were as follows. First, the changes in the aesthetic sense of middle-aged men and the increase of fashion interest were due to changes in socio-cultural appearance standards. Second, there was an increase in the pursuit of individuality due to the weakening of fashion consciousness as a collective norm. Third, there were change in subjectivity about fashion taste and consumption.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.119-132
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• 2002

The purposes of this study were 1) to classify female consumers on VALS, 2) to identify the differences of psychological characteristics and demographics among the classified groups, and 3) to investigate the apparel benefits, buying behavior, shopping practices and psychological characteristics of each groups. For the study, a sample of 340 female consumers participated in this survey research. The data was analyzed utilizing descriptive statistics, factor analysis, cluster analysis, $\chi^2$-test, one-way ANOVA and Duncan test. Seven dimensions of values were identified by factor analysis: Consumption-oriented, Achievement-oriented , Diligence/sincerity-oriented, Pessimistic value tendencious, conservative/conventional value oriented, Dignity-oriented and Socialite-oriented. Based on these dimensions female consumers classified into three clusters: inner values-directed group, passive/inactive group, and achievement-oriented group. Achievement-oriented group showed the highest scores in optimum stimulation level and materialism, and tended to be younger and be employed than the other two groups. Both inner values-directed group and achievement-oriented group showed higher scores in self-expression/individuality and quality out of five apparel benefit than passive/inactive group. Innovative communicators, fashion innovators and fashion opinion leaders were mostly in the achievement-oriented group, while fashion followers and fashion indifferents were mostly in the passive/inactive group. It was revealed that achievement-oriented group had a larger number of fashionable clothing items and experienced more activities in vogue. Also, there were significant group differences in shopping practice, such as average monthly allowance, number of annual purchase clothing items.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.62 no.8
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• pp.45-54
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• 2012

The increase in the consumption of outdoors sportswear is not because of an increase in sales from hiking enthusiasts but rather the general public's desire to wear them as everyday clothing. We expect that the market for the outdoors sportswear will grow gradually as people feel the need to wear extra outerwear for protection from wind everyday. Furthermore, as the consumers' demands for these outerwear increase, their desire for more variety increases as well. Five prominent domestic brands were chosen for the analysis. The selection method included two factors: 1) the brands with the highest sales figures in the last five years 2) brands that were mentioned most frequently in fashion articles (i.e apparel news, fashion biz) from 2009 to 2011. the goal is to analyze each of the brands' different concepts of outerwear design so that the results from the analysis can be used to develop better more diverse products in the market and satisfy with the consumers' need. In the end we have to develop better technology and more diverse designs in order to meet the increase in consumers' need. They are interested in sportswear and functional clothing; we have to satisfy their need. for diverse selections in their outerwear and this is especially the case with consumers in their teens and twenties.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.752-758
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• 2011

In this paper, experiments to develop working clothes and evaluated, including the current and material-improved working clothes in relation to physiological functionality measurement. Experiments were conducted on subjects after wearing working clothes in an climate chamber, and the thermo-physiological response, such as human body temperature, micro-climate within the clothes, blood pressure, heart rate were measured. In this manner, the physiological functionality of improved working clothes was compared with that of current working clothes and evaluated. The summary of obtained results is as follows: For physiological functionality evaluation through material-improved working clothes, P working clothes showed significantly lower rectal temperature than C working clothes. For mean skin temperature, P's skin temperature was significantly higher than C's in the second half of the experiment. P working clothes's temperature around the thighs in Micro climate was significantly lower than that of the C working clothes. Also, humidity within the clothes showed similar trends. During the exercise period, C working clothes showed higher blood pressure than P, but P showed higher heart rates than C. Also, the oxygen uptake amount was higher in C than P during the exercise period, it explains that the energy consumption amount of P working clothes was smaller than that of C working clothes. Of the subjective evaluation, for temperature sensation, workers wearing P working clothes felt cooler. For humidity, C working clothes showed more humidity. For comfort, P working clothes were better, and for sense of fatigue, workers felt less tired wearing P working clothes. From results above, we can see that physiological functionality improved in the material-improved working clothes in the working clothes for construction site workers. The improvement of working clothes through functionality improvements not only will provide personal pleasantness to constriction site workers, but will also generate efficiency and productivity improvements at construction sites. All in all, the continuous study of functionality improvements in working clothes taking into consideration the human body's physiological responses is required.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.285-298
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• 2020

This study aimed at examining fashion consumers' awareness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Big data analysis methods, such as text mining, social network analysis, and regression analysis, were applied to user posts about fashion on Korean portal websites and social media during COVID-19. R 3.4.4, UCINET 6, and SPSS 25.0 software were used to analyze the data. The results were as follows. In researching the popular fashion-related topics during COVID-19, the prevention of infection and prophylaxis were significant concerns in the early stage (Jan 1 to Jan 31, 2020), and changed to online channels and online fashion platforms. Then, various topics and fashion keywords appeared with COVID-19-related keywords afterwards. Fashion-related subjects concerned prophylaxis, home life, digital and beauty products, online channels, and fashion consumption. In comparing fashion consumers' awareness during COVID-19 with SARS and MERS, "face masks" was the common keyword for all three illnesses; yet, the prevention of infection was a major consumer concern in fashion-related subjects during COVD-19 only. As COVD-19 cases increased, the search volume for face masks, shoes, and home clothes also increased. Consumer awareness about face masks shifted from blocking yellow dust and micro-dust to the sociocultural significance and short supply. Keywords related to performance turned out to be the major awareness as to shoes, and home clothes were repurposed with an expanded range of use.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.137-146
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• 2014

The practice of sustainability is an important subject to integrate into the management, product planning, manufacturing by textile and fashion companies as well as consumption by end-users. This study shows an evaluation scale designed to assess the practical cases in order to suggest efficient and systematic methods to fulfill the practice of sustainability in textile and fashion companies. First, companies should practice environmental sustainability to use eco-friendly material and cleaner production, protect the environment, and save natural resources. Second, social sustainability is required to fulfill social responsibility and ethical needs. Third, companies should perform various innovative activities, transparency in management, fair competition and economic contribution in the local community in order to maintain economic sustainability to survive in industry. Finally, cultural sustainability should be fulfilled by textile and fashion companies as part of the intellectual-cultural industry in a way that increases the importance of ethnic and cultural diversity. Textile and fashion companies should fulfill four environmental, social, and economic cultural sustainable subjects in a balanced method to accomplish sustainability. The concerns and practices of environmental sustainability are comparatively highly rated due to the analysis of the evaluation scale. However, cultural sustainability (a need of the times) is poorly rated and needs more attention. Therefore, the evaluation scale can be used as a standard tool to fulfill the sustainability of companies and brands from the viewpoint of improving poor and insufficiently sustainable items as well as balancing sustainability management.