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Exploring the Essence of Headwear in the 21st Century Fashion Outfit: Inspiration from East to West

Yuen, Yee Lin Elaine
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7275-6304
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1627322301345522

Abstract Details

2021, MFIS, Kent State University, College of the Arts / School of Fashion.
Throughout human history, headwear was a significant item containing various symbolization and aesthetic viewpoints. With earliest documented examples dated from 27,000 BCE, headwear served as an expression of emotion, physical existence, and communication across global cultures (Chico, 2013). The decline of headwear in Western fashion since the 1960s, especially in the United States led to a transformation period from hats as a dominant and essential component of the dress code for daily life to the hatless style that persists into the present (Norwich, 2006). Many scholars explained the reasons for U.S. culture’s drop in hat demands, often in light of switching to casual outfits; however, hat-wearing has seen a significant positive change in recent fashion trends encouraged by current global issues and cross-cultural influences. Despite the majority lack of hat wearing in the U.S., there remain many cases where hats are commonly worn as part of fashion throughout the world. For instance, CA4LA, a headwear brand in Japan, challenges itself to provide artistic, sunshine protection, and personality expression in their head accessories (Lys, 2019). This study aims to observe the Japanese hat-wearing culture and explore the factors that affect the essence of headwear in 21st century America to understand and foster the growth of this aspect in the fashion industry. This research began with five months of practice-based autoethnography with two professional milliners based in Ohio, U.S. These apprenticeships provided a foundation knowledge of millinery techniques for applied sequenced mixed method research design. The main focus was a set of six pieces of fabric hat designs targeting the un-brimmed hat, brimmed hat, and fascinator as a creative scholarship resulting for analysis. The final outcome of this study was presented in a hat instruction book, indicating the preview, construction sketches/notes, and suggested fashion style illustrations to achieve a complete fashion outfit for each fabric hat. The instruction book worked as a journal and communication tool to utilize inspiration from Japanese hat wearing culture to demonstrate the essentials of headwear in completing a fashion outfit. This study created a new aesthetic and merged innovative ideas resulting from exchange between East and West to broaden fashion interculturally. The concentration of U.S. fashion styling in local brand choices provided suggestions that accommodated and encouraged hat wearing and ultimately could stimulate a growth of the millinery industry segment in 21st century America.
Catherine Leslie (Advisor)
Kim hahn (Committee Member)
Ikram Toumi (Committee Member)
136 p.
Aesthetics; Artificial Intelligence; Communication; Design; Home Economics; Sustainability
millinery; sustainability

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Yuen, Y. L. E. (2021). Exploring the Essence of Headwear in the 21st Century Fashion Outfit: Inspiration from East to West [Master's thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1627322301345522

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Yuen, Yee Lin Elaine. Exploring the Essence of Headwear in the 21st Century Fashion Outfit: Inspiration from East to West. 2021. Kent State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1627322301345522.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Yuen, Yee Lin Elaine. "Exploring the Essence of Headwear in the 21st Century Fashion Outfit: Inspiration from East to West." Master's thesis, Kent State University, 2021. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1627322301345522

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1627322301345522
112
© 2021, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.