How to cite:
Adina Fairuz, Achmad Syarief. (2021) The Relationship of Costume Design in
Film with The Interest of Young Adult Women as Fashion Product
Consumers in Indonesia. Journal Eduvest. 1(9): 850-857
E-ISSN:
2775-3727
Published by:
https://greenpublisher.co.id/
Eduvest – Journal of Universal Studies
Volume 1 Number 9, September 2021
p- ISSN 2775-3735 e-ISSN 2775-3727
THE RELATIONSHIP OF COSTUME DESIGN IN FILM WITH THE
INTEREST OF YOUNG ADULT WOMEN AS FASHION PRODUCT
CONSUMERS IN INDONESIA
Adina Fairuz, Achmad Syarief
Institute of Technology Bandung
ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT
Received:
August, 26
th
2021
Revised:
September, 8
th
2021
Approved:
September, 10
th
2021
This study discusses the relationship between costume design
in films and the interest of the audience, especially young
adult women, triggers of their interest in similar fashion
products as consumers by using outfit styles from three films,
The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Sex and The City: The Movie
(2008) and Crazy Rich Asians (2018), which were selected
through a questionnaire answered by 20 experts in the
fashion field. The analysis was conducted on 258 young adult
women (18-24 years old) domiciled in Indonesia through a
questionnaire to find out their perceptions and preferences on
outfit styles from the costume designs in those three films.
Based on this analysis, it can be seen that if the audience is
interested and feels that the outfit worn by the character fits
them, then they will have the desire to wear fashion products
that are similar to the appearance of the costume design in
the film.
KEYWORDS
Consumers, Costume Design, Fashion, Film
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
INTRODUCTION
In his book, The Decay of Lying, Oscar Wilde argues that life imitates art more
than art imitates life (Rondhi, 2014). Simply put, this quote tells the story of how art can
influence the way people view the world around them. Film is one of the human art that
Adina Fairuz, Achmad Syarief
The Relationship of Costume Design in Film with The Interest of Young Adult Women
as Fashion Product Consumers in Indonesia 851
has a huge influence in everyday life (Mudjiono, 2020). Film is also one of the
communication media that is very influential in the formation of culture and mindset in
society (Nida, 2014). Not infrequently encountered most people who have an interest in
movies start following the small and big things of the movie they like.
With the appreciation of costumes in films increasing in proportion to people's
tendency to admire and imitate, [email protected]tb.ac.idany people find the inspiration of
dress styles from the films they like (Tallapessy, Setiawan, & Subaharianto, 2016). All
this is based on observations in trends in the fashion world such as:
1. Sabrina collar popularized by Audrey Hepburn in sabrina (1954)
2. The little black dress popularized by Audrey Hepburn in breakfast at Tiffany's
(1961)
3. Manolo Blahnik shoes popularized by Sarah Jessica Parker in the series Sex and
The City (1998-2004)
4. Preppy styles with matching tartan blazers and skirts popularized include the
films Heathers (1989), Clueless (1995) and gossip girl series (2007-2012).
5. Gaya berpakaian Jennifer Aniston dan Courtney Cox di dalam serial Friends
(1994-2004)
6. The style of dress in the film The Devil Wears Prada (2006) popularized by both
Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep
7. Abstract makeup and glitter use popularized by the Euphoria series (2019-)
8. Harley Quinn's dress and costume popularized by Margot Robbie in Suicide
Squad (2016)
Issues with topics that focus in terms of how these films can affect the consumption
of fashion products in the community are still less discussed in academic circles
(Djelantik, Indraswari, Triwibowo, & Apresian, 2015). This issue usually only reaches
the media such as magazines or blogs about fashion which for the view of the wider
community arguably, is not something important enough to talk about. However, with the
development of the fashion industry in this century and the growing public demand due to
the tendency of capitalism and consumerism, therefore, further study is needed in the
issue (Damayanti et al., 2020).
The theory put forward by (Bug, Niemann, & Welle, 2020) Explaining that the
connection between fashion and film already has clarity. Fast-fashion and designers make
movies an inspiration in making products, however, the priority of the connection
between the two parties is to get the attention of the audience. So, fashion is usually used
for advertising and product placement purposes. One of the factors that may support this
phenomenon is the theory found by (Adam & Galinsky, 2012), Enclothed cognition can
be summed up as the systematic influence that clothing has on the psychological process
of the wearer. Man can feel deep empathy for the clothes he wears (Indriastuti, Mulyati,
& Anwar, 2020). For example, someone who is shy and used to wear a plain T-shirt and
jeans in his daily life, goes to the cinema to watch a new movie and ends up liking and
idolizing characters with high confidence in the film and begins to imitate the character's
style of dress. A shy person's confidence will tend to increase due to the symbolic
meaning implied by the clothes worn and the physical experience of the wearer (Safrudin,
Mulyati, Rosni Lubis, & Keb, 2019). This can be seen by observing trends that have
occurred in previous years.
In general, films that can influence the trend that exist in women usually raise
stories about female actors who can be admired (Nadhir, 2017). With supporting data
taken from the first questionnaire that researchers have done in choosing film objects, the
three films selected have a line of beautiful, tough, hardworking and admired female
characters. Andrea Sachs (The Devil Wears Prada) played by Anne Hathaway, Carrie
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Bradshaw (Sex and The City) played by Sarah Jessica Parker and Rachel Chu played by
Constance Wu (Crazy Rich Asians). It is the visual impressions produced by these
characters that encourage the audience to imitate them and cause feelings to idolize or
'commodity fetishism' as described by (Poetri, Ranteallo, & Zuryani, 2015). Some of the
special factors presented by costume design also affect the formation of influence to the
audience, striking colored clothing and contrast with other clothes, appearing on
important scenes and clothing that provides special effects that can attract the attention of
the audience (Gunawan, 2019).
Based on this, the research hypothesis is established as follows: the appearance of
costumes and fashion products in films has a significant relationship with the interest of
young adult women to consume similar products.
This research was conducted to identify the relationship between the appearance of
fashion products in films and the interest of young adult women to consume similar
products and identify the driving factors of the emergence of young adult women's
interest to consume similar fashion products.
RESEARCH METHOD
In this study, the author uses a quantitative approach in carrying out the study. By
using a quantitative approach, conclusions from the research will be drawn based on the
data that has been collected through the questionnaire method as the main medium in
drawing conclusions (Bengtsson, 2016). The questionnaire was divided into two parts
with the first part aiming to determine the object of the film to be studied and the second
questionnaire aiming to determine the respondents' perspectives on the films that had
been selected from the first questionnaire.
The object of this research is three films as the result of the respondent's choice in
the first questionnaire. Based on the results of a questionnaire conducted from 15 to 24
March 2021 through Google Form media, the order of the films chosen was The Devil
Wears Prada (2006), Sex and The City: The Movie (2007) and Crazy Rich Asians (2018).
All three have the same theme compared to other films. Furthermore, from each film, four
styles of dress were chosen from the costumes contained in the film. The four styles for
each film were selected by observing the most popular dress styles of the three films by
referring to data in online articles. The choice of dress style is also based on visual
completeness to make it easier for respondents to assess the overall style of dress.
Figure 1. Dress choices for The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Adina Fairuz, Achmad Syarief
The Relationship of Costume Design in Film with The Interest of Young Adult Women
as Fashion Product Consumers in Indonesia 853
Figure 2. Dress choices Sex and The City: The Movie (2008)
Figure 3. Crazy Rich Asians (2018) Dress Choices
A. Questionnaire 1:
In the first questionnaire, the respondents consist of 20 people who live in
Indonesia who work in the fashion sector and the like with the following description (one
respondent has multiple jobs, such as designer and teacher):
a. Fashion designer: 4
b. Lecturer in the field of fashion: 5
c. Merchandiser: 4
d. Fashion entrepreneur: 3
e. Fashion consultant: 1
f. Creative director: 1
g. Stylist: 3
B. Questionnaire 2:
Research subjects for the second questionnaire focused on the category of young
adult women. Generally, youth aged 18-24 years are the biggest consumers of cinema and
they rely on films to shape their character (Bug et al., 2020). The author also makes big
cities in Indonesia the target region of this research because young adult women in big
city areas such as Jakarta are the consumer segment who has a lifestyle that is easily
influenced by the trend of object appearances and is easy to adapt to changes that occur
(Poetri et al., 2015).
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RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Dress styles that are fairly simple and do not have too flashy accents tend to be
more favored by respondents. This can be seen from the audience's choice, the 3rd style
in the film The Devil Wears Prada, the 1st style in the Sex and The City: The Movie and
the 1st style in the Crazy Rich Asians film are the dominant choices for 258 respondents
(with an average of 54.6% percentage of the three most popular styles in the three films.
Table 1. Analysis of Questionnaire Answers
No
Movie Title
Already
Watched
Most
Interesting
Clothing
Element
Interested in
Wearing
Interested in
Buying
1
The Devil
Wears Prada
(2006)
39.1%
Style 3
(50%)
Clothing
Model
(84.1%)
Color Alloy
(54.3%)
93.4%
86.4%
2
Sex and The
City: The
Movie (2008)
25.6%
Style 1
(62.4%)
Clothing
Model
(73.6%)
Color Alloy
(51.2%)
58.5%
44.2%
3
Crazy Rich
Asians (2018)
68.2%
Style 1
(51.6%)
Clothing
Model
(81%)
Color Alloy
(38.4%)
78.3%
66.7%
Adina Fairuz, Achmad Syarief
The Relationship of Costume Design in Film with The Interest of Young Adult Women
as Fashion Product Consumers in Indonesia 855
4
Main reasons for 'want to
buy'
Dress style looks suitable for
respondents (72.5%)
5
Main reasons for 'want to
buy'
Dress style looks suitable for
respondents (70.2%)
In determining the choice, the elements that are considered by respondents and
make respondents interested in a style of dress are the clothing model and the color
combination in a dress style in the film. In the film Sex and The City, although style 1
received the most votes compared to styles in other films (62.4%), the audience's desire to
wear and buy similar or similar fashion products received the lowest votes (only 58.5% in
the category of wanting to wear and 44.2% in the purchase intention category). Although
style 1 in the costumes worn by the actors in Sex and The City is the style that is
considered the most attractive by respondents, the desire to wear or buy tends to be lower
than the costumes in other films. On the other hand, the dress style of the actors in The
Devil Wears Prada got the percentage of interest to be worn and bought by the
respondents with the largest value compared to the dressing styles of the actors in the
other two films (93.4% in the desire to wear category and 86.4% in the purchase intention
category).
Based on the results of the questionnaire, it is known that the main reason for
respondents to wear or buy fashion products that are similar or similar to the style of
display of fashion products in the film is the aspect of compatibility (72.5%). The next
reason is the respondent's desire to try a new style (58.5%).
From the analysis, it is known, even though the film was released some time ago
(such as The Devil Wears Prada which was released in 2006), if the style of dress shown
is still significant to be used (part of the classic style), then respondents who have never
tried that style will be compelled to try. However, if the respondent feels that the costume
appearance in the film is not suitable to be worn, then the desire to buy will be smaller.
Figure 4. style 4 in the film Crazy Rich Asians
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Volume 1 Number 9, September 2021
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For example, style 4 in the film Crazy Rich Asians (2018) tends to be unattractive
to respondents because of its striking accent so that it is considered unrealistic to be used
by young adult women in Indonesia, even though the film Crazy Rich Asians was
released later (in 2018) compared to the other two. other movies.
The aspect of compatibility is also related to the age of the character who wears a
certain style of dress. Viewers will find it easier to place themselves in finding a match
for a style of dress shown in the film if they are similar in age to characters in films such
as Andy's characters in The Devil Wears Prada and Astrid in Crazy Rich Asians who are
portrayed as young adults, while Carrie's character in Sex and The City is about 40 years
old. Although Carrie's character is described as having a style of dress that is relatively
young compared to her age, the clothes she wears are still adjusted to her age and
respondents find it difficult to find a match in wearing fashion products that are similar or
similar to Carrie's character, so this film has the lowest percentage in terms of
respondents' desires. in buying similar or similar fashion products (44.2%).
CONCLUSSION
Based on the results of the questionnaire analysis in the previous chapter, it can
be concluded that the appearance of fashion products in films has a significant influence
on the interest of young adult women in Indonesia as consumers of fashion products. This
can be seen from the results of the analysis which states that by presenting the
visualization of the appearance of fashion products in the three films that are the object of
research, respondents tend to be interested and have a desire to consume similar products.
Clothing models and color combinations are the elements that most influence
respondents' interest in a style of dress displayed by a character in the film (Martensen,
Brockenhuus-Schack, & Zahid, 2018). Clothing models and color combinations that tend
to be more favored by young adult women in Indonesia are clothing models that have
simple characteristics and do not have too flashy accents and are combined with neutral
colors such as white, beige, brown and black. The year of the film's release does not
affect respondents' interest in a style of dress if the film displays a classic dress style that
is considered still relevant to today's dress styles.
Interest in these clothing models motivates young adult women to consume
similar fashion products or are considered to have similarities displayed. This is driven by
the character's age range which is in accordance with the age range of young adult
women who become consumers, especially the type of clothing that suits their age range.
For example, the clothes worn by Andy and Astrid's characters in The Devil Wears Prada
an Crazy Rich Asians, aged around 20 years will be more easily accepted by respondents
compared to the clothes worn by Carrie's character in Sex and The City: The Movie who
are over 40 years old.
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