A study on naturalism style of fashion-concentrating on the 1990s-

복식의 자연주의 양식에 관한 연구-90년대 현대 복식을 중심으로-

  • 이경아 (서울여자 대학교 의류학과 석사) ;
  • 전혜정 (서울여자 대학교 의류학과)
  • Published : 1998.03.01

Abstract

The culture reflects the ideology of a particular period in time and such values change according to the needs and requests of that time which eventually becomes an important factorin forming the exterior. The clothing is part of a way that composes and expresses the inherent substance of society and culture. Also, the clothing itself manifests the artistic values and behavior of mankind as an external structure maintaining its place as a big part in culture. The purpose of this study are to elucidat the concept of naturalism, which is discussed in many facets in the modern era; I studied the concept as well as the history of naturalism in order to manifest the meaning of clothing in the context of culture and I explained the concept in terms of the modern era. On such ground, I explained the naturalism expressed through clothing and characterized the exter-nal form of clothing. Also, in order to know the stream of naturalism in the modern context, I referred to the Vogue magazine of the 90s, using Delong's ABC method. Naturalism, in the context of modern fashion is a way to express the nostalgia of nature's vi-ability and purity of ecology apart from the artificial and structural appearance that resulted form scientific enhancement and hence, the ecological crisis. Naturalism pursues the soft- ness and comfort of the natural silhouette, color and material of the human body and it can be said that naturalism emphasizes the mix-ture of three substances : human, nature and clothing. The naturalism can be characterized by the factors expressed in clothing as follows. First, the naturalism shown in the form it-self draws the beauty of the bodyline without any reduction nor exaggeration. Without any distorttion of the human bodyline it shown the curve as one moves along, using the soft material. Second, the naturalism shown in color most-ly uses the natural tone with added white color and other color low in intensity and value like the receded colors of the earth that could be compared to the beauty of ecru. Third, the naturalism shown in the material is thin, light and soft in texture. In order to bring out the most natural curve of the human body, the natural fiber becomes the main material, sometimes, using crude materials. Due to the lindustrial improvement, softness and elasticity is added to the natural fibers giving them an important role as materials. Fourth, the naturalism shown in textile depicts the real natural objects in life. According to my study, the personality of naturalism in modern clothing was shown to be most strong in material and then in the order of form, texture and textile. The material com-posed of the natural silhouette and natural fibers were used to make soft color. In form, Paul Poiret made appearance expressing the natural beauty of the human body without the corset ; it continued with the inner lining making the clothing hard but in the 90s, lining-less, extremely exposed clothes and knit wear is used to emphasize the natural beauty of the body. In color and textile, the tendency spok-en above is not as strong but in color, instead of high intensity or value, the usage of neutral colors with added white color or ecru color, ear-th tone is increasing. In textile, the usage of flowers as natural material is seen frequently. As a whole, naturalistic trend in the 90s is increasing and the modern fashion is breaking out from the artificial and architectural form and conforming to a form that can realize the natural beauty of the human body. And the natural color and textile that conforms to such ideas are being used to pursue the human oriented trend that has appeared due to the increase in usage of soft natural fiber. Nowadays, the idea of returning to nature, defying the artificiality, desiring the leisure and psychological abundance that can be explained as naturalistic way of thinking is necessitated in this modern era as long as humans coexist with nature, this tendency will continue in clothing.

Keywords