• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.54 no.8
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• pp.147-162
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• 2004

The purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of Grotesque in Contemporary Fashion. The study selected the 1990's or after fashion material by the material of both $pr{\hat{e}}t-{\grave{a}}-porter$ collection and haute couture collection based on Europe. These days, the characteristics of grotesque have been categorized into four groups based on the theory of representative scholars of the Post Modernism era. The results are as follows. ${\cdot}$ The devilism creates shocking and destructive cruelty and fear by using frightening object and mysterious and devilish motif which symbolize the death of fashion ${\cdot}$ Hatred produces physical destroy of human body, anatomical expression inside human body, cruelty by naked sex expression, pains, cruel treatment, disillusion and unpleasantness, which have been caused by the disturbance and ideological confrontation of the society, and is said to be a kind of self-confession against dislike and fear of the disclosure of human existence. ${\cdot}$ Playfulness distorts and exaggerates clothes and human body forms, and produces abnormality and mystery because of vague sex identity. The playfulness of fashion can open fixed and closed world and lead it flexibly. ${\cdot}$ Heterogeneity is divided into both primitiveness and virtuality The primitiveness distorts or transforms human body through the human body decoration of primitive race, and expresses a grotesque form combining human being and other animals. It gives a question to the existence of alienated and suppressed life through the world. in which everything is mixed and not separated. The virtuality introduces not only cyborg form combining human being and machines but also state of the art technology factors, so that it emphasizes non-mechanical and non-human grotesque images.

• Journal of the Korea Fashion and Costume Design Association
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.11-25
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• 2008

John William Waterhouse (1849-1917) is a painter renown for his romantic beautiful femme fatale images in the late 19th century in England. The purpose of this study is to examine the fashion in Waterhouse's femme fatale images. Waterhouse displays the devilism of femme fatale by the symbols of a wicked woman. He emphasized how wicked she is by means of water such as lake, river, and sea as well as symbols associated with demons such as forest, cave, naked woman, long hair, a monster-headed woman looking like an animal, water lily, and garden. On the other hand, he illustrates the woman's style as an image of a typical feminine beauty. Expressing naturally a fine-curved, immature girl's body with marvel-like white and clear skin in a kneeling down or crouching passive rose and depicting it as an innocent and fragile feminine image, he created a passive and lovely image of a young girl. With her eminent beauty and sex appeals, she lured men into danger. Words such as evil, women, and death had been used in describing her as femme fatale to emphasize her wickedness as well as to deliver the meaning across from the inside and to the outside. They also described her as a type of woman with body posture and fashion corresponding to the sexual ideology during the Victorian Age. His description of this fashion image was to show that femme fatale's fashion, which represents attraction and fatality, does not necessarily translate to an active fashion style that emphasizes sensuality. It also tends to minimize resistance and feelings of being threatened. Therefore, it allons us to acknowledge that even girlish body with innocent and frail-looking fashion can be a form of femme fatale, and that fashion styles is essential in forming the image of femininity.