Semiotics as a Costume Sign System

The article contains the characteristics of the form elements of the female costume. Throughout the development of the society the costume form changed. The author traces that the transformation of the costume functions carried out in the society, highlighting the sign function as the main one bearing extensive information on a person. The costume is seen as a sign system, the aesthetic and social functions in the fashion history are analysed. During the historical development the costume has become the means of the social differentiation and in the times of the Renaissance-the means of the self-expression. The author argues that the modern costume incorporates a variety of cultural origins. Selecting the cloths is based on the principle of rationalism and personalism. The article reveals the semiotic status of the costume as a group of functionally interrelated and interdependent objects and its development throughout many centuries.