Representation and Non-Representation of the Body in Fashion - Based on Simulation Theory by Jean Baudrillard

복식에 표현된 몸의 재현성과 비재현성 - 보드리야르의 시뮬라시옹 이론을 바탕으로 -

  • Yim, Eun-Hyuk (Fashion Design Department, SADI(Samsung Art & Design Institute))
  • 임은혁 (SADI(Samsung Art & Design Institute) 패션디자인과)
  • Published : 2007.08.31

Abstract

Aesthetic consciousness of the body determines the form of clothing, reflecting the time and culture as well as the individual and society. Using 'body' to analyze the clothing form, my study develops a framework by which to classify the representation and non-representation of the body in fashion. Theoretically, this study draws from Jean Baudrillard's Simulation theory which maintains that simulation develops the whole edifice of representation. My study substitutes the successive phases of the image to that of (non) representing body in fashion. The correspondences between them are; first, 'image is the reflection of a basic reality' for the representation of physicality, second, 'image masks and perverts a basic reality' for the manipulation of physicality, third, 'image masks the absence of a basic reality' for the absence of physicality, and fourth, 'image bears no relation to any reality whatever' for the absence of body in fashion. Aesthetic ideal of the body is visualized in the form of a dress. Fashion continues to explore forms and images that transcend the traditional representations of the clothed body. My study suggests a framework to analyze bodily representation in fashion, focusing on the relationship between the clothes and body.

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