• 한국의류학회지
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• 제34권5호
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• pp.740-753
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• 2010

This study analyzes the motives of Korean women for choosing breast augmentation in a cultural and relational context; in addition, it investigates their evaluations after surgery. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with 10 Korean women in their 20s and 30s who have received cosmetic breast augmentation. Enlarged and made-up breasts are a form of clothing that symbolizes the socio-economic status of women. In the vertical and individualized Korean society, the desire of women for a fashionable body invigorated the appearance management market. Fashion consumers have passively internalized the ideal body trends as the concept of the ideal body-image, which has been constructed by the social structure, markets, and the media. The analysis was rooted in post-modern feminist perspectives on the female body. The ideal body-image internalization process through the social interactions of participants was the main cultural factor to choose breast surgery. The self-image and conformity/individuality of participant were categorized as relational factors for the motivation to undergo breast surgery. The result showed that after surgery the participants achieved positive feedback from their social relationships. They expressed or hid their socio-economic statuses through their purchased fashion bodies. They also showed higher self-esteem and feelings of satisfaction by pursuing individuality and conformity as a member of society. Moreover, they achieved wider fashion options and greater controls over their public/private/secret clothing choices for certain occasions. Cosmetic breast surgery positively empowered individual women while reinforcing the socially manipulated body ideals that oppress women at the same time. Participants internalized socially constructed values and justified their surgery choices.

• 패션비즈니스
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• 제8권3호
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• pp.70-83
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• 2004

The female image has been changed incessantly with age and has been eminently represented in cosmetic advertisement. The female images are changed from the classical images to the active and professional images with the historical current of cyber, digital, and fusion. These changes in the expression of female image are largely due to the spread of post-modernism, feminism, de-construction (Kim, 1994), digital information revolution, and increase of income. The female images in cosmetic advertisement have been expressed very variously with fashion, marketing target, and characteristics of articles. (Im, 1997) The cosmetic advertisements of pure and graceful images were popular in the past. But nowadays individual image, womanly image, and unchanged beautiful image are in vogue. Individual image is very popular in young generation with very short fashion period. Active career woman image represents passion and beauty with extension of women' social roles. Unchanged beautiful image in modern industrial pollution stands for the desire of keeping the beauty in youth. Brand is very important factor to consumers in purchasing. Brand is no larger the simple concept in the past, and accepted as reflection of the image, social status, service, and life-style(Lee, 1998) consumers are very favorable to foreign cosmetics with the increase of overseas travels and import. This phenomenon is considered as very natural, especially in young generation. To create a successful brand image, the harmony of quality, psychological preference, advertisement, and reasonable price are required. According to the questionnaire research implemented by the subject of college women students in five universities in Seoul, the majority of college women students purchase domestic cosmetic brands in cosmetic specialty stores and depend on the tips of acquaintances. Quality, skin-trouble, and brand are considered as special regards for purchasing. Especially, internet shopping in purchasing marks high growth rate and preference for foreign cosmetics is very ardent. It can be expected that the 21st century is the epoch of various small production different from the mass-production in the 20th century. Female image will be probably expressed with individual, emotional, and professional image in the media of digital, fusion, cyber, and technology culture. It can be said that the tendency of cosmetic purchasing in the future will be more focused on brand image and life style.

• 한국의류산업학회지
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• 제11권6호
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• pp.867-877
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• 2009

These days, the fantastic in opposition to classic beauty becomes a genre of creative body expression. The purpose of this study was to analyze the expressive characteristics of body types and meanings in recent fantastic fashion illustration. The method of this study was to analyze recent documentaries, fashion books, internet web site and so forth. The results were as follows: In literatures, pictures and movies, the category of the fantastic body's expressive types were classified as dominant mutant based on SF, multi body or fragment body by disruption, heterogeneous compound based on myth, personified humanoid and non substance in supernatural boundary. The dominant mutant based on SF was expressed image morphing, composition of machine image with body and modern metamorphosis of classic SF body. It means propensity to post-feminism and reservation of meaning analysis based on human unconsciousness. The multi body or fragment body by disruption in fashion illustration was expressed distorted composition of same body pictures, replacement of different bodies, deconstruction and partial omission of body and composition of meaning or non meaning images. It means permanence of self and basic narcissism. The heterogeneous compound based on myth was expressed general composition or optical illusion of various and aggressive animal motive. It means reinterpretation of original myth, metaphor of basic femme fatale, pursuit of permanence and sign of primitive mind in unconsciousness. The personified humanoid was expressed real human body description of mannequin or ball joint doll and anthropomorphism of robot image. It means representative satisfaction and nostalgia of childhood. The non substance in supernatural boundary was expressed grotesque description of ghost, zombie, vampire, angel, fairy, using of symbolic red, black color and non body. It means human's basic desire about immortality and taboo. Through the result of these study, the expression of fantastic body in fashion illustration will expend expressive method and we will understand human and cultural codes of today.

• 패션비즈니스
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• 제14권4호
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• pp.23-40
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to explore the aesthetic characteristics of outerization phenomenon of contemporary fashion. Outerization, transforming underwear as outerwear, is one of the most dominant and widespread fashion trends in the dawning of new millenium. Fashion always exists for living body and tributes to express idealized beauty of human body and aesthetics of the era. If so, exploring the formative expressions and aesthetic characteristics of outerization would be an meaningful guideline to deduce changed relationship between fashion and body of the 21st century. The methodology of this study is to research of fashion collections such as Paris, Milan and New York which were held the first decade of new millenium, from 2000 Spring/Summer to 2009 Spring/Summer. The styles expressing outerization were selected and assorted based on the main formative expression. Then the aesthetic characteristics were classified. The way of expression of outerization is categorized into 4 parts ; Transition, Exposure, Transparency, and Deconstruction. Aesthetic Characters of outerization is classified 4 assortments as well ; Eroticism, Fun with parody and kitch, cyber culture, Gender politics, and Power fetish. Eroticism is the most clearly identified one. Coming out of underwear imply naked body itself, so it has erotic appeal. Fun is the second character. A pleasant sensation from the outerization of undergarments maximizes a disposition of play from parody, kitch, and cyber culture. The third is Gender Politics and it introspects how the society consumes woman body in history and modern times. Power Fetish, the last one, speaks for the female body with changed vision for femininity underneath the sphere of influence of feminism and post modernism, then emphasizes the subjectivity and independence of woman. From the research above, this study will help to understand the overwhelming outerization phenomenon and contribute to expansion of the horizon of the study of fashion aesthetics. It will serve fashion creative source through various outerization cases as well.

• 복식
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• 제54권3호
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• pp.27-42
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• 2004

Music videos provide for many others images, alluring the audience to fall in another emotional world, while the sexual images shown in them suggest new images of man and woman. Today, men's images are being interpreted from various viewpoints. As interests in men's fashion are visualized through music video clothing, not only juveniles who want to be identified with the music video images but also adults try to imitate them, and proceed to wear the clothing, obliterating the boundary between 'reality' and 'illusion' and creating new images of men. This study is aimed at reviewing the male images shown in the music videos, particular their clothing, produced between 2000 and 2002. The results of this study could be summarized as follows : 1. Since beginning of the human history, men's image has been characterized by patriarchal system, capitalism, bourgeois class which emerged after industrial revolution and other man-dominant socio-cultural phenomena, such male image are shown in the music video as conservative and dominant image. 2. However, due to the post-modern culture, the power began to be decentralized. while feminism and men's liberation movement gain strength. As a result, women or heterosexuals began to regard men as sexual objects, and such a phenomenon is featured as sexual, bisexual or decadent images in the music videos. 3. On the threshold of the 21st century, music videos have begun to creatively describe men's life, their social conflicts, dreams and hopes and death and thereby. feature men's such images as being destroyed in view of existentialism. The numerous creative men's images interpreted in this way are featured in many music video works only to create playful, cyborg or demonic images using the senses. After all, men's images are featured in the music video costumes in diverse ways ranging from the conventional images to acquiescent images. In addition, various male images are combined with the characteristics of the music videos to be re-created anew. The young men in the our modern age tend to imitate or apply such images to create their own images or individualistic styles. All in all, men's image can be fixed no longer but diversified and fragmented in the new age.