Designing apparel for consumers : the impact of body shape and size

Given its importance for consumer satisfaction and thus brand success, apparel fit is a major challenge for retailers and brands across the industry. Consequently there have been major developments in sizing research and how it can be used in apparel design. This book reviews how these developments are affecting clothing design for different groups of consumers.Part one identifies various aspects of body shape, size, volume and the psychological aspects of designing apparel. This section covers topics such as body shape and its influence on apparel size and consumer choices, sizing systems, body shape and weight distribution (with a discussion of the Body Volume Index (BVI) versus the Body Mass Index (BMI)), and the psychological and sociological factors influencing consumers' choice of apparel. Part two outlines the challenges in understanding the sizing and shape requirements and choices of particular customer groups. This section discusses apparel designed for infants and children, older consumers, overweight and obese consumers, plus size Black and Latino women, apparel design for Asian and Caucasian ethnic groups, sizing requirements for male apparel, maternity apparel, intimate apparel for varying body shapes, and the challenges of designing headwear to fit the size and shape of Western and Asian populations.Designing apparel for consumers provides an invaluable reference for apparel designers, manufacturers, and R&D managers in the textile industry, as well as postgraduate students and academic researchers in textiles.

Author Notes

Marie-Eve Faust is an Assistant Professor and Program Director of Fashion Merchandising at Philadelphia University, USA.
Serge Carrier is a Professor at the Graduate School of Montreal Fashion, at the Universit du Qubc Montral (UQAM), Canada.

E. A. GribmnS. P. AshdownK. M. KingR. BarnesM. JulienN. ZakariaJ. McCannL. M. BooradyY. A. LeeJ. BellemareP. Robinet and S. CarrierM.-E. FausiC. J. PattersonK. ShinR. Ball

Contributor contact details	p. xi
Woodhead Publishing Series in Textiles	p. xv
Part I Identifying shape, size, body volume and psychological aspects of designing apparel	p. 1
1 Body shape and its influence on apparel size and consumer choices	p. 3
1.1 Introduction	p. 3
1.2 Background to sizing	p. 4
1.3 Body shape research	p. 7
1.4 Applying the data	p. 10
1.5 The reality of retail	p. 12
1.6 The consumer experience	p. 13
1.7 Future trends	p. 14
1.8 Conclusion	p. 16
2 Creation of ready-made clothing: the development and future of sizing systems	p. 17
2.1 Introduction	p. 17
2.2 The relationship of apparel products to the body	p. 18
2.3 The development of sizing systems	p. 20
2.4 Apparel industry methods of creating ready-made garments	p. 22
2.5 Why standard sizing is complicated by body shape variation	p. 24
2.6 An emerging mass customization model for clothing sizing	p. 27
2.7 Conclusion	p. 30
2.8 Future trends	p. 30
2.9 Sources of further information and advice	p. 31
2.10 References	p. 33
3 National sizing surveys: techniques, data analysis and apparel product development	p. 35
3.1 Introduction	p. 35
3.2 Survey design	p. 38
3.3 Data collection	p. 43
3.4 Data analysis	p. 45
3.5 Applications for apparel	p. 49
3.6 Other applications	p. 55
3.7 Conclusion	p. 56
3.8 References	p. 57
4 Body shape and weight distribution: the Body Volume Index (BVI) and the Body Mass Index (BMI)	p. 58
4.1 Introduction	p. 58
4.2 The Body Mass Index (BMI) and the development of the Body Volume Index (BVI)	p. 60
4.3 Research on the use of the BVI	p. 68
4.4 Assessing the value of the BVI	p. 70
4.5 Conclusion	p. 72
4.6 Sources of further information and advice	p. 76
4.7 References	p. 76
5 Psychological and sociological factors influencing consumers' choice of apparel	p. 78
5.1 Introduction	p. 78
5.2 The need to look young	p. 79
5.3 The need to look marginal and rebellious	p. 80
5.4 The need to be authentic	p. 81
5.5 The need to constantly change appearances	p. 82
5.6 The need to expose the body	p. 83
5.7 The need to look attractive	p. 84
5.8 The need to attract attention	p. 86
5.9 The need to look sporty	p. 87
5.10 The need to be ethical	p. 88
5.11 Conclusion	p. 89
5.12 References	p. 90
Part II Understanding sizing and shapes requirements and choices of particular customer groups	p. 93
6 Infants and children: understanding sizing, body shapes and apparel requirements for infants and children	p. 95
6.1 Introduction	p. 95
6.2 Understanding different body shapes of infants and children	p. 97
6.3 Sizing requirements for particular populations of children	p. 99
6.4 Key dimensions identifications	p. 104
6.5 Clustering children's body shapes and sizes	p. 108
6.6 Classification of children's body shapes	p. 113
6.7 Sizing system development and designation	p. 118
6.8 Future trends	p. 123
6.9 Sources of further information and advice	p. 124
6.10 References	p. 126
7 Older consumers: understanding sizing, body shapes and requirements of apparel for this niche	p. 132
7.1 Introduction	p. 132
7.2 Understanding different body shapes of older consumers	p. 134
7.3 Sizing requirements for the older consumer: the design for ageing well project	p. 138
7.4 Examples of specific styles for particular body sizes and shapes amongst older consumers: aesthetic needs	p. 144
7.5 Examples of specific styles for particular body sizes and shapes amongst older consumers: needs of the body	p. 147
7.6 Future trends	p. 149
7.7 Sources of further information and advice	p. 150
7.8 References	p. 151
8 Overweight and obese consumers: shape and sizing to design apparel that fits this specific market	p. 153
8.1 Introduction	p. 153
8.2 Understanding different body shapes of obese consumers	p. 154
8.3 Sizing requirements for obese consumers	p. 159
8.4 Specilic styles for the obese consumer	p. 164
8.5 Future trends	p. 166
8.6 Sources of further information and advice	p. 167
8.7 References	p. 167
9 Asian and Caucasian: designing apparel for these two different ethnic groups	p. 169
9.1 Introduction	p. 169
9.2 Understanding different body shapes: the case of North American college students from Asian and Caucasian ethnic groups	p. 175
9.3 Sizing requirements for different ethnic populations	p. 178
9.4 Examples of specific styles for different ethnic populations	p. 183
9.5 Future trends	p. 183
9.6 Sources of further information and advice	p. 186
9.7 References	p. 187
10 Males: understanding sizing requirements for male apparel	p. 189
10.1 Introduction	p. 189
10.2 Key issues for comparison	p. 190
10.3 Understanding different male body shapes	p. 200
10.4 Sizing requirements for male apparel	p. 207
10.5 Examples of sizing systems for male apparel	p. 211
10.6 Future trends	p. 214
10.7 Sources of further information and advice	p. 218
10.8 References	p. 219
11 Male and female consumers: segmenting consumers in the apparel market by body shape and other factors	p. 221
11.1 Introduction	p. 221
11.2 Techniques to cluster body shapes	p. 221
11.3 Body shapes amongst the female French population	p. 224
11.4 Body shapes amongst the male French population	p. 228
11.5 Conclusion	p. 233
11.6 References	p. 234
12 Pregnant women: understanding pregnant women's shape, sizing and apparel style preferences	p. 235
12.1 Introduction	p. 235
12.2 Identifying target markets	p. 236
12.3 Key stages in pregnancy	p. 238
12.4 Pregnancy and apparel choice	p. 243
12.5 Maternity wear: a brief history	p. 244
12.6 Meeting the needs of a target market: body measurement and fit satisfaction	p. 245
12.7 Case study: pregnant women in Hong Kong	p. 246
12.8 Conclusion	p. 253
12.9 References	p. 253
13 Plus size Black and Latino women: the implications of body shape and size for apparel design	p. 256
13.1 Introduction	p. 256
13.2 Plus size models in the fashion world	p. 257
13.3 Causality and reality: body size among Black and Latino women	p. 261
13.4 Plus size clothing designers who hire Black and Latina models	p. 266
13.5 Conclusion and future trends	p. 269
13.6 References	p. 270
14 Intimate apparel: designing intimate apparel to fit different body shapes	p. 273
14.1 Introduction	p. 273
14.2 Measuring breast volume	p. 277
14.3 Designing intimate apparel to fit different body shapes	p. 282
14.4 Smart materials in intimate apparel	p. 284
14.5 Technologies used in intimate apparel	p. 286
14.6 Conclusion	p. 288
14.7 References	p. 288
15 Headwear: designing head wear to fit the size and shape of Western and Asian populations	p. 292
15.1 Introduction	p. 292
15.2 Types of headwear	p. 294
15.3 Head physiology	p. 296
15.4 Sizing systems for headgear	p. 298
15.5 Head anthropometrics and design	p. 300
15.6 Head models	p. 303
15.7 Future trends	p. 305
15.8 Sources of further information and advice	p. 306
15.9 References	p. 306
Index	p. 309

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