A Study on Black Fashion Preference of Korean Women in Modern Era

From ancient to modern days, Koreans have preferred and even worshiped white clothes to the extent that they are called "the white-clad race", and the color black has seldom been used for women's clothes. In western countries too, it was only after Chanel that black color came to represent feminine beauty. Black clothes were introduced in Korea after the opening of its ports to foreign countries in 1876 and have mainly been worn as a practical clolor for winter coats and school uniforms. The traditional preference for white and other bright colors continued well into the 1980s. However, the industrialization and urbanization caused by economic development and the influx of western cultures and ideas in the 1980s brought about the westernization of Korean aesthetic consciousness and resulted in the phenomenon of modern Korean women's preference for black fashion that became conspicuous from 1991. With the introduction of western fashion after the opening of the country in 1876, the spiritual values contained in preference for white clothes have been substituted by materialistic values as people accepted the practical beauty of black fashion, and the inclination toward intrinsic natural beauty intrinsic in the aesthetic senses that preferred white clothes has been replaced by the preference for modern, elegant and sensual beauties of black fashion whose preference has begun in the 1990s.