Epilogue

Represtation of national costumes

• Identity and nationhood: every country has its national costume which represents its own particular culture and identity. The costumes usually relate to a geographic area and they carry a significant meaning. But first of all, once it is worn, it highly reflects the national identity of the person. It serves as a signifier which signifies the nationality of a person. Therefore, we can see that it is worn during special occasions. For instance, every year during the Miss World Competition, contestants will wear their own national costumes during the competition. This is a show of identity. During summits, delegates and representatives from different countries will also wear national costumes. The country which holds the summit will also invite the delegates to wear the holding country's national costumes to promote friendship. National costume does not only mean to differentiate a country from the other, it also helps to uphold the dignity of the country as well as preserve its own value and culture.
• A reflection of social, marital and religious status: national costumes serves a special purpose. They reflect the marital status of women, especially for hanbok and kimono. In the past, class hierarchy was also reflected in terms of clothing. The costumes were used as an indicator for the background of a person. This is a subtle but also direct way to show the distinction between classes. The more well-off wore more glamourous costumes, which were more sophisticated and made out of expensive material like silk. For the normal working class, they usually wore plain ones which were made of cotton. National costumes also reflect the religions of the people.
• Culture and value: national costume reflects the culture of a country in a subtle way. It also impresses others to learn about their culture. It embodies the culture and value which passes on from generation to generation. Traditional costumes occupy one of the most important places because of their role in everyday life, their significance for ethnic identity, and their value artistically and aesthetically. They are known mostly because of the costumes which have been saved from the past to present, characterised by a great diversity in form and decoration. This variety and richness is present in both men's and women's costumes. Each region has its own special form of dress. According to the way a person is dressed, one could distinguish not only where they are from, but also of which nationality they are in multi-ethnic milieus. Various national costumes with manifold significance among the people were exposed to a wide range of influences in the history of their development. Thus, they incorporated a variety of elements from preceding periods, together with the features of the period when they were made and worn. The national costumes of China, Japan, Korea and India have all survived till today, which shows that the value of these costumes are highly respected by the people. People usually wear them during rituals, festivals and even during marriage ceremony. This shows that national costumes play a very significant role in their daily lives.
• Symbolism: almost on the day when costumes appeared, people had integrated into costumes their social status, customs, aesthetic interests and all kinds of cultural notions. The appearances of costumes are the most direct and realistic reflection of styles and features of social history. From this sense, the history of costumes is also a vivid civilization development history. In China, a multiple-nationality country composed of 56 nationalities, with the integration between nationalities, the style of clothing and dressing customs keeps evolving. In the history, not only the costumes of different dynasties have obvious differences, but also in different periods of the same dynasty costumes had obvious changes; but people, especially foreigners, will regard cheongsam as the national costumes of China.
• Representation of gender: From what we have seen, we find that the women's costumes have demonstrated a kind of conformity or submission. In the past or even nowadays, Women cannot wear what they like or what they feel comfortable with. The costumes have many restrictions to their movements and some are not comfortable, like the hanbok or kimono. They require a lot of time to dress up and they hide the female bodies without exposing their figures. The hanbok even intends to make all women look as if they are pregnant! It serves as a kind of protection for them. Modesty is clearly shown in these costumes. Femininity is displayed when women put up these costumes. How women are supposed to act is somehow restricted once they have put them on. In China, there are many minorities, but most people only regard cheongsam as national costume, especially foreigners. Why? The issue of orientalism can be applied. This is how the west sees the east. Cheongsam is conventional but it is also very suggestive because it reveals the body shape and the legs of a woman. This is similar to the sari, which exposes the waist of a woman. This is also subject to the men's gaze or sexual desire. Gender representation is a big issue in terms of national costumes, and that's why I have focused on women's costumes instead of men's. In a patricarchal society, it's inevitable that women become the objectification of men. However, as time progresses, we find that modern fashion have replaced national costumes and women no longer have to wear that except for certain occasions. This shows that society has changed and people's value judement has also changed. But the spirit of national costumes will never fade.