Costumes, Commodities, and Culture : on Shaping Knowledge

O'Neal, Gewndolyn S. The Costume Culture Association Department of Clot 2002 Fashion, industry and education Vol.5 No.1

Consumer behavior is driven by culture, and culture is contextual. Therefore, human behaviors such as those exhibited in consumption behavior should not be measured and compared cross-culturally by using cultural specific measures or paradigms which assume a universal reality, time and context free. Since it is known that consumption behavior is influenced by culture, and cultures in the United States differ from those in Korea, the assumption of universal 'truths' which can be known is inappropriate. To employ a paradigm with invalid assumptions automatically leads to the lack of validity, a must for truth claims in the positivist paradigm. Thus, 'truths' in the research reported must be suspect. I also concur with Dr Lim14), that collaboration would be useful for better understanding of other cultures. However, the encountering of cultures should enable us to understand ourselves in relation to others rather than being used as an opportunity to compare and contrast differences which suggests 'otherness'. When differences are understood in the context of culture the result should be a 'heightened self-awareness'15) and appreciation for difference. Qualitative paradigms allow for the exploration of variability of questions in different sociocultural contexts. Costumes and commodities are objects of material culture Commodities, like persons, have social lives16), and their worth are not limited to their exchange value These goods may be entangled in a host of meanings and thus become objects of great symbolic significance. Analyses of material culture are most accurate when categories, definitions, and patterns of use, are determined locally where local scholars enter into debate and dialogues Qualitative paradigms which are interpretative in nature allow for local scholars to arrive at interpretation. Since there is the potential for multiple interpretations, the politics of meaning may enter the interpretation and must be acknowledged. However, local scholars are able to consider the ways individuals use objects in the construction of, for example, identity, social formations, and culture itself. By viewing objects in terms of the structure, actions, and processes through which people produce, use, and evaluate them, researchers are better able to consider the dialectical relationship between objects and those who make or use them how people shape objects and, in turn, how particular uses of objects shape people17) Thus, for understanding consumption behavior and other dynamic socio-cultural processes, interpretative paradigms are needed. These paradigms require, however, that interpretations are made within the context of the culture in which the inquiry is conducted. When talking about qualitative research and interpretative paradigms, one is most often asked questions about validity and reliability. Again, these are issues of the positivist researcher. Researchers employing interpretative paradigms focus on the primacy of lived experience, the use of dialogue in assessing knowledge claims and an understanding of the culture and its history. Ethical principles and good judgement are considered the norm 'Good judgement' is viewed as meeting standards related to credibility, thoroughness, coherence, comprehensiveness, appropriateness and contextuality. Also of great importance is whether the interpretation is useful18)19) Qualitative research is inherently multi- method in focus. The use of multi-methods or triangulation, reflects an attempt to secure an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon in question. Triangulation is not a tool or strategy of validation, but an alternative to validation20). While qualitative research offers many paradigms for knowing, my hope is that you will find something said here to be beneficial to you as you establish your own qualitative research tradition.

A Structural Analysis of the Renaissance and Baroque Period's Costume : Focusing on Men's Costume

Yoon, Jeom-Soon,Han, Myung-Sook The Costume Culture Association Department of Clot 1998 Fashion, industry and education Vol.1 No.1

Costume varies in a form according to the components and the form represents each independent period, and also the wearer's sex, status, class and vocation. In the Renaissance period, people made the upper part of the body swollen and expressed authority and rigid dignity with dresses. On the contrary, in the Baroque period, they showed authority with brilliant ornaments. In the Renaissance and Baroque periods, they wore doublet as an upper garment, i.e. a paradigmatic body of an outer garment, from which we can see the name and use of costume were same, but forms were different. That is, the length of the constituent of costume's form in the Baroque period became so short that it was changed into and ornamental form, disclosing chemise of and underwear outwards.

A Study on the Embroidery of Palestinian Costume

Kim, Moon-Sook,Moon, Shin-Ae The Costume Culture Association Department of Clot 2000 Fashion, industry and education Vol.3 No.2

Today's advanced transport and mass media enables people to access easily and frequently to traditional costumes from different countries in the world. Consequently, fashion designers who are fascinated by the variety and beauty of traditional costumes, tend to adapt them to modern fashion design. The continuous study of traditional costumes at such time contains a meaning as a source of inspiration for the creation of a new fashion design. Therefore, among various costumes of the world, this study will focus on the costume of Palestine, that is situated at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa and has exchanged various historical cultures with other cultural regions. It, especially, expects to provide a unique idea in the material modification field of today's fashion design by examining mainly the embroidery ornament which is the most distinctive feature of Palestinian costume. The conclusion was revealed that Palestinian women's costume largely consists of embroidered silk and cotton garments with a V-slitted square panel (gabeh) attached to the chest part. And a variety of luxurious embroidery was employed to emphasize different parts of the dress. These embroideries differ from area to area. Especially the embroidery from Bethlehem was well-known in many places and influenced those of other regions.

Social Meaning Analysis of Costume Expressed in the Korean Novel, 『HONPUL』

Yu, Ji-Hun,Han, Myung-Sook The Costume Culture Association Department of Clot 1998 Fashion, industry and education Vol.1 No.1

The purposes of this study were to analyze the meaning of clothing described in a novel. 『HONPUL』and to identify certain new extended meanings created by costumes expressed in them. For these purposes, a Text Linguistics Method was proposed and used to analyze costume meanings expressed in the world. The Social Meaning was only considered to analyze 『HONPUL』in this study. Results and conclusions of this study can be summarized as follows. The Social Meaning was only considered to analyze 『HONPUL』in this study. Results and conclusions of this study can be summarized as follows. The Social meaning could be calssified as characters, background, and Situatuon. First of all, the recognizable meaning for Charactres from the costumes were 1) Social status : Nobleman, Humbleman, Concubine, Maltreated Wife, Young Widow. 2) Nationally Race : Choson's person, Chinese, Japanese, Chinanized Choson's person. 3) Grade of Enlightenment(Conservative of Civilized person) 4) Occupation : Student, Buddhist Monk, Wild Goose Carrier, Palanquin Bearer, Conductor, Teacher 5) Economics : Rich Man, The Poor 6) Age: Child Middle, Aged Person, Old Man. 7) Gender : Most of gender menanings were shown together with the other meanings. But they were not prior to others. Second, the recognizable Background meanings from the costumes were : 1) The Period : Koguryo, Paekche, Shilla, Koryo, Chosun, Colonial Period(1910-1945). 2) Region : Cheonla-do, Bongchon and Manjoo in China. 3) Season : spring fall, summer, winter. Third, the recognizable Situation meanings from the costumes were: 1) Wedding ceremony. 2) Mourning ceremony. 3) Coming-of- age ceremony for female and 4) War, Even though the costumes were expressed same, they had lots of different social meanings. It was the importance of this study that a new method and possibility were presented for analyzing the extended meanings of costume which were created through the context(backfround, linguistic style etc.)as well as analyzing the fundamental meaning of costumes expressed in the novel text.

A Study on Clothing Behavior of Elementary School Girls : with Special Reference to 1st, 2nd, 3rd Grades

Cho, Jean Suk,Han, Myung Sook The Costume Culture Association Department of Clot 1998 Fashion, industry and education Vol.1 No.1

This study is based on the recognition of the importance of clothing for emotional and social development of children. This study investigates and analyzes the clothing behavior those elementary school children who are mostly characterized as being sensitive and susceptible. In order to investigate the phenomenon of their clothing a photographical method in which their clothing can be concretely and visualy identified and interview were employed. The results of this study are as follows: 1. Conformity : elementary school girls in low grades preferred to wear similar clothes rather than wearing distinguishable clothes from the other children in the same age. 2. Comfort : elementary school girls in low grades preferred to wear pants-style rather than wearing skirt-style because they feel wore comfortable wearing pants in their activities. 3. Independence : The higher grade girls are more independent not only in putting on or undressing their clothes but also in choosing their own clothes. 4. Interest : elementary school girls in low grades preferred bright colors such as white, blue, pink, red, yellow, and etc. 5. Sex Role : elementary school girls in low grades preferred white, blue, pink, red, yellow, to express their feminity.

A Study on Symbolism of Graffiti

Hong, Ki-hyeon,Lee, Choon-hee,Shin, Sang-ok The Costume Culture Association Department of Clot 1998 Fashion, industry and education Vol.1 No.1

In the postmodern society, graffiti style involves various symbolism according to interpreters because of different ways of decoding signs. This study analyzes the graffiti style as symbolism of nonlinguistic communication media and examines variety, phenomenon and symbolisms of graffiti on their casual attire from the point of semiological view and refers to many graffiti works in each country. As a result. German and korean graffiti-figured costumes have common signifiance as follows. First, they induce the application of DIY technique, expand awareness of participation, and lead tired-of mass-production consumers to the role of positive sign-producer. Second, they notify participation in environmental protection. Third, they stress a leisure activity with the pleasure of making something. Fourth, they premise that even the same text can produce various signifie according to context, and be interpreted and communicated by receivers. Fifth, unlike previous graffiti which had protestation as humor and wit shown in figures and colors, it tells that the sign is changed according to time and space.

A Study on the Selection Criteria of Fashion Shopping Area according to Clothing Consumption Value and Fashion Leadership

Park, Hye-Won,Ryou, Eun-Jeong The Costume Culture Association Department of Clot 2002 Fashion, industry and education Vol.5 No.1

The purposes of this study were to determine consumers' selection criteria of fashion shopping area and to examine the effects of clothing consumption value and fashion leadership on the selection criteria of fashion shopping area. In addition, the third purpose was to clarify the relation between the above variables and shopping intent. The data were collected from 198 females in their twenties using questionnaire. The results could be summarized as follows. First, the selection criteria of fashion shopping area were composed of 5 factors: scale & variety of shopping area, convenience of location, entertainment, physical service, and atmosphere. Second, the fashion leadership and clothing consumption value except functional and social values had on effect on the selection criteria of fashion shopping area. Particularly, the attractiveness-sought value b est explained the selection criteria. Third, the fashion leadership and selection criteria of fashion shopping area had an effect on the shopping intent. The effect of clothing consumption value was not significant.

Knitwear Consumers' Demographic Characteristics and Evaluation Criteria

Han, Sung-Ji,Kim, Moon-Sook The Costume Culture Association Department of Clot 2000 Fashion, industry and education Vol.3 No.2

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of demographic characteristics and general buying characteristics of knitwear consumers on evaluation criteria and information source searching. In this study, a self-administered questionnaire was distributed to young career women and female undergraduate students. Of 580 questionnaires, 496 were used in the following analysis. The data was analyzed with the SPSS package. The research method used factor and reliability analysis to segment consumers by their knitwear evaluation criteria. T-test, one-way ANOVA and χ²were used to characterize the impact of characteristics of the consumer on knitwear evaluation criteria and information source searching in buying knitwear. The results of this study were as follows. First, the information sources of consumers were significantly different depending on their demographic characteristics(age). According to the difference in relationship between the age of consumers and information sources, the younger the consumer, the more information in fashion magazine, the older, in fashion advertisement on catalog. Second, the knitwear evaluation criteria of consumers was classified according to six characteristics - quality, price, aesthetic, situation, self-expression and external. Their knitwear evaluation criteria were significantly different depending on demographic characteristics(job, age, education, marital status) and the general buying characteristics of knitwear(annual knitwear/clothing buying expense and frequency). Career women and married women placed significant importance on practical aspects like quality and price characteristics, while undergraduate students and single women placed significant importance on aesthetic and self-expression characteristics. Also, a group with higher annual knitwear/clothing buying expense and frequency considered aesthetic and self-expression characteristics more important. The lower the annual knitwear/clothing buying expense and frequency, the higher a group considered quality and price characteristics more important.

A Study on the Consumer's Clothing Behavior Related to the Environmental Consciousness Ⅰ

Kim, Moon-Sook,Kim, Mihn-Soo The Costume Culture Association Department of Clot 1999 Fashion, industry and education Vol.2 No.2

The purpose of this study was to investigate the level of environmentally conscious consumer behavior, and to identify the influencing variables and dcausal relationship. Data were collected from questionnaires with 275 housewives who were residents of Seoul and Kyunggi-do. The major findings were as follow: (1) The level of environmentally conscious behavior differed significantly according to occupation, income, averaged monthly clothing expenses, residence type and residential area. (2) The consumer's clothing behavior related to the environmental consciousness differed significantly according to age, education, matrimonial status, income, average monthly clothing expenses, residence type and residential area. (3) The use of mass media differed significantly in the consumer's environmental consciousness.

A Content Analysis of Fashion Trends in Wedding Dresses : Using Wedding Dress Magazine, 'My Wedding' and 'She's Bride' Issued in 1997

Lee, Myoung-Hee,Lee, Mi-Yeon The Costume Culture Association Department of Clot 1999 Fashion, industry and education Vol.2 No.2

The objectives of this study were to identify fashion trend in the late 1990's by using content analysis of the design elements of wedding dresses in wedding magazine photographs. The data were selected among the wedding dress photographs in 1997 issues of two wedding's magazines, 'My wedding' and 'She's Bride'. The identified 455 photographs were classified into 15 major-categories of silhouettes, necklines, sleeves, materials, and trimmings, etc. 15 major-categories were consisted of 232 sub-categories. In the late 1990's, fashion trends of wedding dresses have mixed mainly dome silhouettes(56.0%), bell silhouettes, and tubular silhouettes. One-piece forms(90.8%), were familiar more than two-piece forms. Necklines were used mainly such as square neckline(14f.0%), high necklines(13.0) blended with other off-shoulder necklines, heart-shape necklines, and sweet-heart necklines, etc. Also camisole and strapless were added in neckline. Long-tight sleeves dominated at the late 1990's because that were used most(21.1%) among 22 sleeves sub-categories. And short sleeve, ruffled below-elbow length sleeves, and french sleeves were also used with the other sleeves. Long length in skirt(98.4%) were common but mini length were used rarely. Satin, lace, and solid cloth were the main materials in wedding dresses, however, spandex and velvet were also used. Various trimmings such as flowers(corsages), ribbons blended with embroidery, small flowers, buttons, frills, strings, and fur trimming are used. Especially, flowers used most(11.8%) among 61 trimmings sub-categories. But simplicity was shown in trimmings because there were dresses not having any decorations(14.3%). The wedding dress of the late 199.'s has become more varied in design due to the reflection of changes in society and fashion of everyday garments while the traditional design of the wedding dress has been preserved.