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This article presents studies on the evaluation of the impact of surface modification of cotton, viscose, and polyester fabrics using three techniques (flocking, layer by layer, and screen printing) with materials with electrically conductive properties on their structural, biophysical, and conductive properties. Each tested fabric is characterized by specific biophysical properties. which can be disturbed by various modification methods, therefore, the following tests were carried out in the article: optical microscopy, micro-computed tomography, guarded perspiration heating plate, air permeability, sorption and electrical conductivity tester. The use of screen printing increased the thermal resistance of the cotton woven fabric by 119%, the polyester woven fabric by 156%, and the viscose fabric by 261%. The smallest changes in thermal resistance compared to unmodified textiles were observed in layer by layer modified fabrics and are as follows: −15% (cotton woven fabric), +77% (PES woven fabric), and +80% (viscose woven fabric). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes methods for evaluating the thermal properties of textile materials, clothing composites, and clothing using an integrated measurement system that includes a hot plate, a multi-purpose differential conductometer, a thermal manikin, a temperature gradient measurement device, and a device for measuring the physiological parameters of the human body during the exact evaluation of garment thermal comfort. In practice, measurements were taken on four types of materials widely used in the production of conventional and protective clothing. The measurements were carried out using a hot plate and a multi-purpose differential conductometer, determining the thermal resistance of the material both in its uncompressed form and when a force was applied that was ten times greater than that needed to determine its thickness. Using a hot plate and a multi-purpose differential conductometer, thermal resistances of textile materials were assessed at different levels of material compression. On hot plates, both conduction and convection had an impact on thermal resistance, but in the multi-purpose differential conductometer, only conduction did. Moreover, a reduction in thermal resistance was observed as a result of compressing textile materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The TASER® is a type of conducted energy weapon (CEW) used with increasing frequency by law enforcement to subdue subjects in circumstances where compliance is necessary. When operated in the drive stun method of deployment, the electrodes at the head of this CEW are intended to make direct contact with a surface, generating heat and light which may result in burn marks as a by‐product of the electrical discharge that occurs. This research aims to tackle a crucial gap in CEW research that fails to address the appearance of burn marks on fabrics. A drive stun duration (DSD) of 1, 3, and 5 s was used with three TASER models (X26P, X2, & TASER 7) on three fabrics (white 100% cotton, 100% polyester, 35:65 cotton‐polyester blend) with an underlying backing of pork hock. Using a Keyence VHX‐6000 confocal microscope, high magnification images were taken to observe any qualitative changes to the fabric. On polyester fabric, with increasing DSD, darker brown discoloration occurred. Additionally, on polyester fabric, the spatial orientation of the burn marks corresponded with that of the electrodes at the muzzle of each TASER model. These features enabled the correct identification of the TASER model and DSD on polyester fabric in the blind tests performed. Evidence of burn marks on cotton and blend fabrics were both limited and inconsistent such that no features were sufficiently unique to link them to any TASER model or DSD. Despite this, overall features such as discoloration and the formation of holes on these fabric types may be sufficiently unique to suggest the use of a CEW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antimicrobial textiles are functionally active textiles, which may kill the microorganisms or inhibit their growth. The present article explores the applications of different synthetic and natural antimicrobial compounds used to prepare antimicrobial textiles. Different types of antimicrobial textiles including: antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral have also been discussed. Different strategies and methods used for the detection of a textile's antimicrobial properties against bacterial and fungal pathogens as well as viral particles have also been highlighted. These antimicrobial textiles are used in a variety of applications ranging from households to commercial including air filters, food packaging, health care, hygiene, medical, sportswear, storage, ventilation and water purification systems. Public awareness on antimicrobial textiles and growth in commercial opportunities has been observed during past few years. Not only antimicrobial properties, but its durability along with the color, prints and designing are also important for fashionable clothing; thus, many commercial brands are now focusing on such type of materials. Overall, this article summarizes the scientific aspect dealing with different fabrics including natural or synthetic antimicrobial agents along with their current functional perspective and future opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since gait can be utilized to identify individuals from a far distance without their interaction and coordination, recently many gait recognition methods have been proposed. However, due to a real-world scenario of clothing changes, a degradation occurs for most of these methods. Thus in this paper, a more efficient gait recognition method is proposed to address the problem of clothing variances. First, part-based gait features are formulated from two different perspectives, i.e., the separated body parts that are more robust to clothing changes and the estimated human skeleton key-point regions. It is reasonable to formulate such features for cloth-changing gait recognition, because these two perspectives are both less vulnerable to clothing changes. Given that each feature has its own advantages and disadvantages, a more efficient gait feature is generated in this paper by assembling these two features together. Moreover, since local features are more discriminative than global features, in this paper more attention is focused on the local short-range features. Also, unlike most methods, in our method we treat the estimated key-point features as a set of word embeddings, and a transformer encoder is specifically used to learn the dependence of each correlative key-points. The robustness and effectiveness of our proposed method are certified by experiments on CASIA Gait Dataset B, and it has achieved the state-of-the-art performance on this dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we tackle the problem of static 3D cloth draping on virtual human bodies. We introduce a two-stream deep network model that produces a visually plausible draping of a template cloth on virtual 3D bodies by extracting features from both the body and garment shapes. Our network learns to mimic a physics-based simulation (PBS) method while requiring two orders of magnitude less computation time. To train the network, we introduce loss terms inspired by PBS to produce plausible results and make the model collision-aware. To increase the details of the draped garment, we introduce two loss functions that penalize the difference between the curvature of the predicted cloth and PBS. Particularly, we study the impact of mean curvature normal and a novel detail-preserving loss both qualitatively and quantitatively. Our new curvature loss computes the local covariance matrices of the 3D points, and compares the Rayleigh quotients of the prediction and PBS. This leads to more details while performing favorably or comparably against the loss that considers mean curvature normal vectors in the 3D triangulated meshes. We validate our framework on four garment types for various body shapes and poses. Finally, we achieve superior performance against a recently proposed data-driven method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigates sorption of PCBs to fabrics in a contaminated indoor environment and the effect of laundering on PCB removal from the fabrics. Eight articles of clothing were exposed to the air in a PCB‐contaminated building. The background air concentration was 670 ng/m3 PCBtotal with PCB‐52 being the main congener. Air and fabric samples were collected for analysis before and periodically throughout the experiment. After 25 weeks, the remaining fabrics were washed and cut into three pieces each. One part was dried in the contaminated building, second in a PCB‐free building and third in a mechanical drier. The PCB mass concentration increased during the first 6–10 weeks for all investigated fabrics, after which some fabrics approached equilibrium for more volatile congeners. Mass‐normalized cloth‐air partition coefficients were quantified for 9 congeners; for PCB‐52, these ranged from 106.1 to 107.0 which were consistent with previously reported values. Partition coefficients of PCBs were observed to increase with their respective octanol‐air partition coefficients. Washing and drying clothes resulted in the removal between 22% and 84% of PCBs. There was no difference in removal percentage after air‐drying in clean or contaminated air. Drying in a mechanical drier removed significantly more PCBs than air‐drying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the fashion industry, the circular economy (CE) may be mobilised for many agendas, from a superficial approach to reducing waste and using recycled materials to a more radical proposition for societal transformation towards sustainable production and consumption. For fashion educators, the CE is, therefore, an important new facet of sustainability education and one that must be approached with critical nuance, as the representation of the CE in the media have the potential to frame students' understanding. To evaluate the discourse created around fashion and the CE in the mainstream media, 476 published articles were analysed between 2016 and 2020. The findings revealed that the media sidelined cultural perspectives of CE while promoting its technical dimension. The concluding part of this paper makes suggestions on how best to engage students in the CE conversation with a critical approach that considers pressing consumption issues in fashion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the Ottoman Empire, which was established in Anatolia after the Seljuks, many developments were made in the name of art for 600 years. Especially thanks to the Ottoman Empire's value to the artist and art, very good works have been produced in many fields. In addition to branches such as calligraphy, illumination, miniature and marbling, fabrics, carpets and rugs, which attract the attention of the whole world in the field of textile, were also woven. The art of weaving experienced its brightest period in terms of weaving technique, color and pattern in the Ottoman Empire. It is understood that weaving, which continued to be produced traditionally in Ottoman cities, continued its existence as an important cultural element and sector. The clothes of the Ottoman sultans kept after their death and the qualities of the fabrics used in the palace convey very important information at the point of understanding the importance of weaving. The diversity and richness of the weavings and textiles produced in many documents belonging to the period can be clearly seen. In this context, this rich weaving and textile diversity has taken an important place in Turkish culture. Especially this rich variety of weaving and textiles has been painted by many painters in almost every period and has gained an important place in terms of conveying information about their periods. In this study, some of Halil Pasha's paintings in which he displayed an objective and objective approach with a realistic style, some of which are in an orientalist style, are discussed as subject. In the study, will focus on Halil Pasha's life, his understanding of art and the textiles and clothing he depicted in some of his paintings. The textiles and clothes in the paintings were discussed in terms of characteristics such as color, pattern, and texture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wireless technologies are essential components of wearable devices for applications ranging from connected healthcare to human–machine interfaces. Their performance, however, is hindered by the human body, which obstructs the propagation of wireless signals over a wide range of directions. Here, we demonstrate conformal propagation and near-omnidirectional radiation of wireless signals near the body using clothing integrated with spoof surface plasmonic (SSP) structures. These structures, fabricated entirely from conductive textiles, induce wireless signals emitted by nearby antennas to propagate around the body as surface waves and radiate as propagating waves in directions otherwise obstructed by the body. We describe the procedure for designing textile-based spoof surface plasmon waveguides, radiating elements, and impedance matching sections for operation in the 2.4–2.5 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band. Using a tissue phantom model of the human torso, we experimentally demonstrate 2.62 greater angular coverage by a dipole placed near the body compared to without the clothing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collection SU4522 in the Finno-Ugric Collections of the National Museum of Finland consists of 143 items, mainly textiles from nineteenth-century White Karelia, now part of the current Russia. Forty-one linen textiles were chosen for closer examination, with the aim of evaluating the area's textile culture and identifying the materials using microscopic methods. Flax, hemp and nettle have all been traditional materials for clothing in northern Europe. Additionally, cotton became established in the region during the nineteenth century. Previous research lacked such a deep examination of the textile materials used, leaving room for speculation. Stinging nettle has not been shown before to have been used as a textile material in the Karelian area. Our results show that it appeared commonly in rätsinä-shirts and käspaikka-towels. Against the consensus hemp was rare and appeared only in one of the items. The results are mirrored by concurrent pictorial and written material from I. K. Inha who visited the region in 1894 and collected most of the items in the collection. White Karelian textile traditions from clothing to fabrics, weaving, spinning and fiber production are discussed in the article. Nevertheless, questions concerning the origins of the materials and the effects of the peddling tradition would need further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Traditional monitoring of athletes during sports has long been hampered by bulky, complicated and tethered systems. In the past decade, this has changed due to the miniaturization of sensors and improvement of systems to store and transmit data. These systems have been integrated into textiles to create 'smart clothing' which has been so ubiquitous that a review of the recent literature is crucial for understanding its full potential and potential use in extreme sports. Methods. An electronic data base search was performed from 2003 to April 2019 for full length articles including "Smart" AND "Clothing" OR "Clothing" AND "Sport(s)" written in English with human subjects. Articles were evaluated according to the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Results. Twenty-four studies resulted in 18 systems comprised of 22 types of clothing with various capabilities, including: monitoring heart rate, electromyography, respiratory rate, steps, GPS, energy expenditure, posture, body temperature and identifying the activity. Conclusions. Many types of smart clothing from socks and gloves, to pants, shirts and bras are increasingly utilized to monitor sports activity worldwide and gather previously unavailable, yet highly valuable data. This provides a unique opportunity to study athletes during training and competition, potentially providing more effective training and better safety protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of the drying position and time on the persistence of gunshot residues (GSR) on fabrics was investigated. Powder tattooing from a 40 cm shooting distance on targeted fabrics were slightly wetted using a spray and dried for 3 h or 48 h in horizontal or vertical positions. The GSR particles were visualised using IR fluorescence with a Video Spectral Comparator (VSC) and automatically counted with a software before the wetting and after the drying stages. While a significant rate of GSR particles (up to 22%) were lost, it was mainly due to the wetting procedure rather than the drying stage. No statistically significant difference was observed between the drying positions, indicating that both drying positions can be used in practice to dry slightly wet fabrics. The drying time had no influence on the loss, and the GSR distribution was not significantly influenced by either factor (i.e., time and position). • Gunshot residue loss was studied on fabrics shot at a 40 cm distance and sprayed with water. • The drying position for slightly wet clothes had little to no influence on the GSR loss. • No significant particle displacement was observed between the upper and lower half of the targets. • Drying will not significantly influence the estimation of the shooting distance. • No contamination was optically detected on blank fabrics during the drying process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special thematic section of Island Studies Journal explores textiles and clothing from an island studies perspective. While there are many examples of textiles and clothing associated with particular islands, an explicitly island studies approach to them has not been fully developed. Such an approach offers the scholar of textiles and clothing a comparative perspective on disparate examples, and invites investigation of ‘island-ness’ beyond its frequent use in branding for a limited range of ‘heritage’ products. Within island studies, the often remarked combination of materiality and symbolism in textiles and clothing provides insight into "island-ness" in the round, encompassing environments, economies, communities and cultural imaginaries. This section includes work on the pánu di téra of Cape Verde, cloth circulation in Madagascar, and textile craft and the creative economy in Shetland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A prototype of constant temperature drying rate (DRCT) tester (CTDRT) was built to evaluate the DRCT of fabrics. The sample platform is kept at constant temperature and was placed on the balance. The platform temperature is adjustable to simulate different skin temperatures. A heater was placed underneath the sample platform, but it did not have any contact with the sample platform. This novel noncontact heating system enables real-time measurement of water evaporation in the sample throughout the whole experiment. In addition to DRCT, comprehensive information such as water absorption, water spreading, and other fabric drying features can be obtained from CTDRT. In addition, negative pressure gradient system of CTDRT can help to maintain constant atmospheric conditions at negligible wind speed, thereby enhancing the stability and sensitivity of measurement. The DRCT, a key parameter of CTDRT, of 28 fabrics investigated is between 0.36 and 2.56 mL/h at the skin temperature of 37 °C. The validity and repeatability of CTDRT were also confirmed with statistical evidence. The testing duration for CTDRT ranges from 15 to 40 min, which is similar to those of other drying methods where heat is applied, but is much faster than the conventional nonheating methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • A method for the sorting and quality assessment of Clothing and Household textiles. • The influence of other materials when disposed of alongside household waste. • Quality assessment considering product type, manufacturing method & fibre types. • Quality is affected by pre-existing conditions and the disposal method. • Unclear sorting definitions can over- or underestimate actual potential. Abstract Due to the high resource consumption and environmental impacts of textile production, better handling of discarded materials has a great environmental improvement potential. A uniform definition of textile waste and a stringent sorting procedure is a precondition for thorough investigations of discarded textiles. A review of waste sorting studies showed that only a few included textiles, and mainly considered content and not quality. A lack of definition and quality assessment causes a high risk of mistakes when assessing the potential of textile waste prevention. This study establishes a method for sorting and quality assessment of textiles in household waste, validated through dialogue with professional textile sorting centres. It also suggests a minimum waste sample size. The quality assessment is based on analysis of product types, manufacturing methods, fibre composition and a product condition assessment based on 17 criteria. The developed method was applied in a case study and compared with other sorting methods. It showed that 61% of the clothing in residual waste and 83% in small combustibles and that 78% of the household textiles in residual waste and 85% in small combustibles was reusable or recyclable. The comparison with existing methods showed that sorted quantities varied significantly when different sorting methods were applied even when the sorting was done on the same sample. This study suggests a new standard for defining and assessing categories and qualities of used textiles, adapted to real contemporary sorting technologies, and tested on waste samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forensic palynology has been important in criminal investigation since the 1950s and often provides evidence that is vital in identifying suspects and securing convictions. However, for such evidence to be used appropriately, it is necessary to understand the factors affecting taphonomic variability (i.e. the variability in the fate of pollen grains before they are found during forensic examination). Here, we test the relative amount of pollen retained on clothing after a period of simulated light or heavy wear based on pollen and fabric characteristics. We also test the efficiency of forensic laboratory protocols for retrieving pollen from fabrics for analysis. There was no statistically significant difference in retention of fresh or dried pollen on any fabric type. There was a substantial difference in pollen retention according to wear intensity, with considerably more pollen being retained after light wear than after heavy wear. Pollen from insect-pollinated species was retained at higher concentrations than pollen from wind-pollinated species. This pattern was consistent regardless of wear intensity but pollination type explained more of the variability in pollen retention after light wear. Fabric type was significantly related to pollen retention, but interacted strongly with plant species such that patterns were both complex and highly species-specific. The efficiency of removing pollen with the standard washing protocol differed substantially according to plant species, fabric type, and the interaction between these factors. The average efficiency was 67.7% but this ranged from 21% to 93%, demonstrating that previous assumptions on the reliability of the technique providing a representative sample for forensic use should be reviewed. This paper highlights the importance of understanding pollen and fabric characteristics when creating a pollen profile in criminal investigations and to ensure that evidence used in testimony is accurate and robust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper explores how the materiality of dress mediates and shapes practices of care in the context of dementia. Earlier research called for an approach to conceptualising care that recognised the role played by everyday artefacts. We extend this to a consideration of dress and dressing the body in relation to people with dementia that involves the direct manipulation of material objects, as well as the materiality of bodies. The paper draws on an ESRC funded study Dementia and Dress, which examined experiences of dress for people with dementia, families and care‐workers using ethnographic and qualitative methods. Our analysis explores the process of dressing the body, the physicality of guiding and manipulating bodies into clothing, dealing with fabrics and bodies which ‘act back’ and are resistant to the process of dressing. We consider how the materiality of clothing can constrain or enable practices of care, exploring tensions between garments that support ease of dressing and those that sustain identity. Examining negotiations around dress also reveals tensions between competing ‘logics’ of care (Mol ). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Goal. Research ofprinciples and methods ofparametric design, artistic designing of a collection of youth clothes on the basis of the obtained results. Method. In the course of the research, the literary-analytical method, the principles of forming the parametric patterns, the stylization techniques and the derivation of the basic symbols of the symbols of the architectural forms were used. Results. On the basis of the analysis, the goals, tasks and main stages of designing and modeling the collection of youth clothing with the use of elements ofparametric design were determined. Scientific novelty. The principles of parametric design have been applied for the first time in the process of artistic designing of clothing collections. The practical significance. As a result of the research, the principles of parametric design were determined, basic symbols of the forms of the collection of clothes were obtained, a series of author's prints was developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Systematic review of application of ML and SC in textile and clothing supply chain. • Yarn and fabric manufacturing stages have most of the applications of ML and SC. • ANN, genetic algorithm and fuzzy logic are the most explored ML and SC techniques. • Lack of collaborative research on ML and SC applications in textile and clothing supply chain. • ML aided fibre development, clothing engineering and fashion forecasting need attention. Machine learning (ML) and soft computing (SC) techniques have contributed immensely towards improvisation of manufacturing, process and quality control, automation of operations, and decision making in the textile and clothing supply chain. The current study systematically reviews 312 research articles published in Scopus indexed journals in last two decades (2000–2020). Bibliometric analysis revealed a drastic rise in number of studies since 2015. Operations related to manufacturing and quality control of yarns and fabrics are found to be benefitted most from ML techniques, as deduced from keyword and thematic content analyses. On the other hand, with respect to ML and SC techniques, artificial neural network, genetic algorithm and fuzzy logic have preponderance over the others. Nevertheless, over the years, many novel ML and SC techniques have emerged in accomplishing diverse objectives of the textile and clothing supply chain. A detailed analysis of their evolution has been documented. Unfortunately, the extent of knowledge sharing and collaboration within the scientific community working in this domain has been very low. This review also unearths lack of integrated focus on complete value chain of textiles and clothing. Fibre development, fuzzy inference and control in textile machines, predictive analytics for clothing engineering, and fashion forecasting have been identified as areas for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the barrier of the Fashion, Textile and Clothing (FTC) domain is the multiplicity and the evolving vocabulary used by the industry players as well as stylists or common users. Some projects tried to tackle the challenge of the absence of common vocabulary and concepts shared at least by the professionals. However, the efforts to ensure a better interoperability and modelisation were limited. VETIVOC intends to overcome these limitations. This modular termino-ontological resource covering the different FTC fields, from the fiber to the fashion victim, from the shoes to the headwear, from the garment to the accessories offers a flowing consistency throughout the domain, a vocabulary that accommodates several natural languages (not only English) and an industrialized project (not a proof of concept). The useful semantic solutions offered include interoperability as well as indexing and information retrieval. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developments in computer capabilities, networks, mobile devices, and social media have enabled researchers and educators to increasingly employ blended strategies when developing new learning technologies. In addition, there is a growing need to develop discipline-specific learning technologies as result of expanding research in various domains. The study reported here was conducted in the context of a textile and clothing higher education course. The key aim was to develop a new learning technology for university students, specifically to help them learn about clothing thermal functional design (CTFD). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An activity classifier based on an abstract model of the human body is suitable for use in an e-textile monitoring system without the need to retrain the recognition model to accommodate different users, sensor types, or garments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A production process in which the use of various types of chemicals seems to be ubiquitous makes the textile industry a growing problem regarding both public health as well as the environment. Among several substances used at each stage, the present study focuses on the quinolines, a class of compounds involved in the manufacture of dyes, some of which are skin irritants and/or classified as probable human carcinogens. A method was developed for the determination of quinoline derivatives in textile materials comprising ultrasound-assisted solvent extraction, solid phase extraction cleanup, and final analysis by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Quinoline and ten quinoline derivatives were determined in 31 textile samples. The clothing samples, diverse in color, material, brand, country of manufacture, and price, and intended for a broad market, were purchased from different shops in Stockholm, Sweden. Quinoline, a possible human carcinogen, was found to be the most abundant compound present in almost all of the samples investigated, reaching a level of 1.9 mg in a single garment, and it was found that quinoline and its derivatives were mainly correlated to polyester material. This study points out the importance of screening textiles with nontarget analysis to investigate the presence of chemicals in an unbiased manner. Focus should be primarily on clothing worn close to the body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The clothing quality, which meets the demands and expectations of customers, depends on one hand on the aesthetic appearance and the quality of the material used. This can be regarded as concrete measurements of customers. On the other hand, clothing quality depends on the properties of produced clothing, which seems to be the crucial criterion of the end product. Applicable properties of clothing are reflected through the wearing comfort and clothing behaviour during wearing, i.e. adaptation to body motion and clothing resistance against acting dynamic loading. This contribution provides an overview of the ease allowance adopted to provide comfort during body motion. For this purpose the interaction between body motion and clothing as shell are explained. The contribution then discusses the fit and allowance for comfort and wearability, and also includes a grounded model development and detailed overview of various kinds of ease allowance for comfort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this article is to study cloth and appearance in the Bronze Age based on the evidence from a previously overlooked oak-log coffin find, the Nybøl burial. The textiles have been investigated and our results compared with cloth from four well-known oak-log coffins: Muldbjerg, Trindhøj, and Borum Eshøj graves A and B. Our analysis demonstrates that this burial contained the coarsest cloth on record to date from the Scandinavian Bronze Age, and that it included some cloth items that are not previously known from the above-mentioned graves. The items of clothing the different textiles may have derived from are discussed, as well as the appearance of the deceased in relation to Bronze Age society. We conclude that this burial contained a previously unknown costume type, but that it is a variation of the others rather than an entirely new category. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this research is to compare the cloth cultures of Europe and Egypt in the Bronze Age and New Kingdom. The comparison focuses on the fourteenth century cal BC and includes four geographically separate areas, including the oak coffin burials of southern Scandinavia, the Hallstatt salt mines of central Europe, Late Minoan Crete, and the tombs and towns of the later Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. The comparative approach can bring insights even when applied to unconnected cultures or regions. However, in this study I concentrate on a restricted chronological period and areas that were connected, directly or indirectly, by widespread networks of trade or exchange. The concept of cloth cultures is used to include both textiles and animal skins as these were closely related materials in the prehistoric past. Information was gathered according to the following categories: raw materials, including textile fibre, and species of skins; fabric structure and thread count (only for textiles); decoration and finish; and use and context. From this study, it is possible to recognize the universally shared principles of cloth cultures and the great versatility and creativity in the regional cloth cultures of the Bronze Age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Textile allergy is a well-established entity, but there are relatively few Australian reports in this area. To report the combined experience of textile contact dermatitis from the general and occupational contact dermatitis clinics at the Skin and Cancer Foundation, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. On the basis of the clinical suspicion of textile allergy, 2069 patients were tested with a textile series. One hundred and fifty-seven (7.6%) patients reacted to any of the textile-related allergens. The most common allergen was Basic Red 46 (20.2% of the positive reactions), followed by Disperse Blue 106 and Disperse Blue 124 (11.8% and 11.2%, respectively). Reactions to formaldehyde and formaldehyde-releasing chemicals accounted for 30.6% of the concomitant reactions, and reactions to p-phenylenediamine accounted for 12.6% of the concomitant reactions. The use of Disperse Blue mix yielded only 12.2% of patients sensitive to either of these two allergens, and it is not endorsed as a screening agent for textile dye allergy. Textile allergy is not uncommon. In Melbourne, Basic Red 46 in inexpensive, dark-coloured, acrylic-blend, men's work socks is the most important cause. It is important to test with samples of patients' clothing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The International Electrotechnical Commission Standard 61482-1 describes procedures for measuring the thermal performance of fabrics and garments intended for use in clothing for workers exposed to electric arcs. This paper demonstrates that the tests in this Standard fail to produce controlled laboratory conditions. The dominant magnetic and thermal buoyancy forces have been minimized leaving two undefined and uncontrolled forces to randomly dominate arc motion, plasma flow, and thermal stress. The tests also produce hazards significantly different from those faced by victims in real situations. The velocity of the plasma impinging on a victim is incorrect. The color of the radiation is incorrect. The molten metal droplets impinging on the victim are incorrect. The tests only consider clothing stretched over a surface, whereas loose and unbacked cloth suffers considerably more stress. In order to emulate real arcing faults, it will be necessary to use parallel copper and aluminum electrodes. In addition, for personnel working on high-voltage, a “pop-out” test needs to be developed because a fault current that starts by entering and exiting the body becomes an arc inside the clothing. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Blunt force assault is a growing issue worldwide. In New Zealand, recorded cases of grievous blunt force assault increased steadily from 1011 in 1999 to 2139 in 2008 . In many cases of blunt force assault victims are struck on parts of their body covered by clothing, yet the use of damage to apparel as forensic evidence largely appears to have been overlooked. The current research investigated blunt force impact (BFI) damage in common apparel fabrics and the effects prior and post-laundering had on this damage. Two 100% cotton fabrics (single jersey knit, bull drill) were impacted as single and double layers using an impactor representative of a hammer face, the force transmitted through specimens was measured and impulse calculated. Impacting and laundering were completed cumulatively to establish the effects of impact damage on new, dimensionally stable (laundered 6 times) and aged fabrics (laundered up to 30 times), and the effects of laundering on impacted specimens. BFI left recognisable patterns of damage in specimens, although the extent of this damage varied. Laundering after the impact event altered the visible and microscopic damage. Laundering previously impacted fabrics produced holes in some specimens and some fibres exhibited failure characteristic of blunt force impact. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose - The purpose of this research is to analyse the display of digital images found on clothing and textile collection websites. Design/methodology/approach - Features noted included where on the website the images were found, such as in a display or as part of a database. Display features are documented, including enlargement abilities, the view of the artefact, the use of dress forms and mannequins, and the context in which the artefact was pictured. The text that describes the artefact is also documented. The instrument was a content analysis of clothing and textile collection websites. Data were collected in 2006 from 57 clothing and textile collection websites. Findings - All 57 costume and textile museums had images of collection artefacts online, with the majority sharing a featured artefact. Almost half of the websites used images in databases and displays. Enlargement abilities were not common; most of the visuals showed the front view of the artefact. Enlargements were more common in displays. Mannequins and dress forms were used infrequently. Detailed text to explain the artefacts was available in the databases. Research limitations/implications - The research was limited to observing 57 websites. Originality/value-Common features used by costume and textile museums when displaying collection pieces online were identified. Suggestions as to what content to include in a website for clothing and textile collections are discussed in light of the data collected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents an analysis of textile finds from graves 43 and 112, discovered during archaeological excavations in 2004 and 2005 at the site of Crkvari - St Lawrence (Sv. Lovro) church. Both graves lay adjacent to the northern church wall, within the sacristy revealed by archaeological excavations. Grave 43 was superimposed in physical and stratigraphical terms over grave 112. The fill of grave 43 yielded several pieces of textile strips with golden threads (F 118). The fill of grave 112 likewise yielded a textile strip with golden threads (SF 33) as well as the dislocated skull of a young woman, wrapped with the remains of textile embroidered with golden fibers (SF 27). The analysis of the textile established that it belonged to two clothing items, most probably a woman's cap (SF 27) and a strip (SF 33 and F 118) that bordered a clothing item. The textile from both graves belonged to valuable clothing items, whose use was limited to distinct and richer social classes. Based on the archaeological stratigraphy and absolute dates obtained by the 14C method, we can date the discovered textile objects around the mid-16th cent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of Indonesian textiles have predominantly focused on their symbolic and religious aspects, ignoring their everyday use as clothing. This article reveals the sensual, intimate life of Manggarai sarongs as everyday garments, a life that has remained a ‘secret’ in the academic literature. Sarongs, with their capacities to wrap, protect and hide, accentuate the properties of skin and can therefore be considered ‘super-skins’. As artefactual extensions of their wearer's body they absorb substances and intentions, offer comfort at times of upset or illness, and transmit social and emotional messages. As burial objects, sarongs index the close kinship performed in everyday acts of feeding, comforting and protecting. However, there is no single ‘social life’ or ‘career’ of a sarong. Instead, sarongs as super-skins have a range of possibilities of becoming, in connection with the varied fates and projects of human lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article calls for a reconsideration of the materiality of things in dynamic processes of self-making and personhood. Grounded in research in contemporary urban India, it is argued that it is in the act of divestment that the capacity for the recreation of the self is made most apparent, due to the intimate connection between clothing and the body. Cloth is also a vital element of gift-giving and the re-creation of social networks. The case study of a woman frying to get rid of an unwanted garment highlights the options available and the different regimes of value by which the worth of used clothing can be assessed. These include handing on treasured pieces to family members, recycling within the home, giving to servants, bartering them for new stainless steel pots or burning them for their silver and gold content. The sacrifice and destruction of such intimate objects are the necessary prerequisite for the renewal of self within a network of mutually constitutive person-object relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The histopathological features of the purpuric patch test have been described in individual cases only. We report a series of patients with allergic contact dermatitis, who developed purpuric patch tests at the sites of allergens from the azo dye group. 105 patients were clinically evaluated and tested with the TRUE Test and the textile color & finish series (Chemotechnique Diagnostics) because of suspected clothing dermatitis. Positive results to the latter were found in 31 patients (29.5%). In 9 of these, purpuric patch tests were observed at the sites of the allergens Disperse Blue 124, 106 and 85. 10 biopsies were performed and studied. The histopathological changes of the purpuric patch test included: spongiosis (in 90% of cases), exocytosis (70%), and dilated blood vessels (100%) without signs of vasculitis, surrounded by an inflammatory infiltrate composed mainly of T lymphocytes. Extravasated erythrocytes were seen perivascularly, but also in the interstitium, surrounding the acrosyringium, at the dermoepidermal junction, and in the epidermis. Increased number of mast cells were found in 22.2% of cases. Disperse Blue 124, 106, and 85 are potent allergens that can elicit purpuric patch test reactions. The purpuric patch test in our cases was a manifestation of an allergic reaction, based not only on histopathological changes, but also on evolution and relevance of the patch tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]