Gender Transgression-Study On The Neutralization Of Men's Wear

Men' s wear has shown a developing tendency toward neutralization since the 1990s, but now, there are a few theoretic studies in costumes about the phenomena in China. Today, China has become a leading country in costume production, exportation and profit making in the world. Studying on the evolution of men' s wear would be of significance in guiding the design and production of costume for us. Base on the costume of history and the aid of sociology and cultural studies, this thesis give an analysis of the origin, cause and development of the neutralization of men' s wear.The main feature of modern costumes is the differentiation of genders. Men ' s wear is designed to follow the gender characteristics of male. It shows the continuing use of traditional sense of gender and displays the inequality in the division of labor in society and other aspects as well. This thesis elaborates that neutralized of men' s wear has gradually been adopted into the production system by consuming communities since the middle of the 20^th century, when it was originally used as a tool for the lower class to resist mainstream ideology. Along with the development of politics, economy and sexual politics, division of labor in society has changed and so has the social concept. Therefore, gradual loss of the central position of male happens accompanied with the changes in gender sense. Characteristics bestowed on men encounter query and challenge, so its costume pattern is undergoing changes in various ways. Consequently, men' s wear transgresses its gender characteristics and develops towardneutralization, which is an inexorable trend of costume development.