Abstract
The purpose of this study is to clarify middle-aged and elderly women's consciousness toward dressing up and clothing norms, and to use the findings to propose suitable styles of clothing to satisfy them psychologically. The method used for the examination consisted of a questionnaire and an experiment in which the women were shown clothing photographs. The subjects were 302 middle-aged and elderly women, from 50 to 70 years old or older. The obtained results were as follows. 1) In general, middle-aged and elderly women had a high consciousness level toward dressing up and clothing norms. However, the intensity of consciousness toward the former was dependent on age, frequency of going out and degree of leisure activity. Also, it was confirmed that even the subjects with a higher consciousness level toward dressing up were dressing down in order to conform to clothing norms. Thus, they enjoy dressing up as far as the clothing norms allow them to do so. 2) Social and personal evaluations for clothing norms were examined through an experiment using photographs of dresses. It was found that social values were more important than personal evaluations. It was found that the differences between both values was larger among the subjects with a lower consciousness level toward clothing norms, in lower age brackets, and in larger cities. Based on these findings, it was clarified that the above subjects have different views from those of the general public for dress, and their conformity to the public mindset has weakened.
