Elderly Women's Perception of Fit of Ready-to-Wear Garments

Abstract

The present study examined the perceptions related to the fit of ready-to-wear garments and identified the fitting problems in order to improve pattern design for elderly women. The data were obtained through questionnaries on a group of women 65 years and older (n : 280) and a group of middle-aged women (n 268) as a control group, in 1994. Both groups lived in the Kanto and Chubu areas of Japan. 1) Bodely features such as rounded back, stooped posture and bent knee were perceived more frequently by elderly women than middle-aged women. 2) Fitting problems were commonly perceived mainly in the abdomen, shoulder and arm hole areas by the two groups. Sleeves or inseams of pants which were too long and little ease around the hips were common problems for the two groups of women. 3) The fitting problems which might be affected by stooped postures of elderly women were revealed through factor analysis. The results of this study clearly suggested that analyzing of elderly women's body shapes based on three dimensional measurements can assist in improving pattern design for them.