Characteristics of Gender-bending Design in Contemporary Men's Dress Shirts

현대 남성 드레스 셔츠에 나타난 젠더 밴딩 디자인 특성

The aim of this study is to serve as a stepping stone to outlook changes in men's fashion based on gender characteristics and the design proposal as a reference to shirts design for men's wear brands. This study is a theoretical work extracted from related books, dissertations, and web- resources referenced. Research method is as followed. It is based on the four main collections from S/S 2001 to S/S 2010 and selected designer brands among the most influential foreign men's fashion designer brands which have show cased their collections of 19 seasons in the last 10 years. These are what the study has found out. Firstly, the shoulder-line which used to be straight and hard in men's dress shirt has changed to comfortable curved line which falls from the shoulder to sleeve. Silhouettes were mainly shaped to an hourglass or slim silhouette representing the body curve line. Unlike how the masculine beauty was emphasized through the straight line, men's dress shirts nowadays used curved line for softness. Secondly, there were various designs with decorations added to the basic structure, making it no different from women's blouse and blurring the line between men's and women's fashion. Thirdly, colors were normally in bright ones. Tones were often in pale tone which used to be the women's color. Also choosing shades of yellow or red was a remarkable change in men's wear. Fourthly, through varying patterns and texture there were many shirts that gave clear visual effect. There were approximately equal portions of patterns with feminine image like natural patterns, abstract patterns, or small patterns and patterns with masculine image.