A Study Of Symbolic Meanings Of The Costumes In Films

The emergence of costume can be seen as a sign of the progress of humancivilization; Costume is not only of materiality but also has symbolic meanings. Oneof the most apparent features is that the clothing can be regarded as a symbol ofclass, status, power and so forth. As a carrier of artistic expression, clothing is also apart of the film industry which can not be ignored. Excellent films cannot do withoutthe characters shaped in depth by clothing, because the emotional tone and the’characters inner world of the movie can be expressed skillfully through clothing,which can convey the visual information to the audience more intuitively. Theconcept of The Symbolic Appearance in Context is proposed by Susan B. Kaiser, anAmerican professor of clothing, in her book of The Social Psychology of Clothing.This book contains cognitive perspectives from psychology, symbolic interactiontheory from sociology and the cultural perspectives derived from the fields ofhumanity and social sciences and so on. In the respects such as role shaping andidentity construction, scenario defining and atmosphere creating, and showing thecultural background of the era and the impact on the behavior of the audience, thesymbolic function of the clothing plays a significant role in the movie. On thetheoretical basis of the symbolic function of clothing, this article mainly selectsthree Oscar-winning films for best costume design to analyze and argue, and thethree films are The Young Victoira, Elizabeth, The Golden Age and Anna Karenina.The author hopes that this paper can help to improve the costume design of Chinese films in the future and the transmission of clothing culture.