• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.86-105
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• 2010

Vintage fashion is a lot influenced by colors because an emotion is transmitted via images of "old feeling", "worn-out feeling" and "faded feeling" etc. Colors are visual sensation occurring at a time when lights stimulate an eye, which is a representative factor which humans first perceive when they touch objects. And colors in clothing function as a critical element which indicates an individual's impression and character as well as aesthetic sensation. In this study, I examined on the theoretical consideration and aesthetic characteristics via the previous literature on vintage fashion and colors. As an empirical study, I investigated on the colors of vintage fashion appearing in Pr$\hat{e}$t-$\grave{a}$-porter Collections, Paris from Spring/Summer, 2003 to Fall/Winter 2008. As a way for study, I investigated into the total 197 vintage fashion photos and calculated their RGB values by using photoshop. And I converted the values of the colors extracted into H V/C values by using Munsell Conversion Version 9.0.6 and analyzed on Munsell System of 10 Color Notation and the PCCS colors, classifying a color scheme by visual sensation measurement. The result of analyzing on the concept of vintage fashion and its color characteristics is as follows; Vintage fashion made an appearance the most in 2003 and 2004 and its colors appeared a lot in Y, YR, R and PB lines. Color tone concentrated on black and white, achromatic color and low chroma colors in a grayish line, chromatic color. Thus, the study found that colors suitable for a "worn-out", "faded" and "old" image are properly reflected in vintage fashion rather than a clear and bright background. In a color scheme, I found contrast color and same color appearing a lot, which gave an unharmonious feeling and a smack of the country. The study reveals that the color characteristic of vintage fashion is relatively diverse and complex in color, color tone or shade and color scheme, which shows a color trend which reflects a non-constructive and complex coordination characteristic instead of a standardized simple and clear image.