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Tactile response is explored through recall of subjects for fabric preferences. Shifts in touch preference may occur in one's experience and require bringing the touch experience to one's awareness. To investigate such shifts in preference, subjects who were studying to be designers taking an introductory design course were asked in an open-ended format to describe fabrics they liked to touch. Responses from 123 subjects were analyzed and the three most frequently listed properties they liked to touch were soft, smooth, and warm. Wool was listed by 41 percent as a fabric they disliked touching. Fabrics associated with shifting touch preferences from dislike to like included wool and cotton. Reasons subjects initially disliked a fabric were specific and included attributes of scratchy, rough, and itchy. Fabric combinations that often pleased included soft with warm and smooth with warm. When subjects reported initially liking or disliking a fabric the shift in preference often occurred because of a...

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the differences in visualisation patterns are related to a viewer's previous training in design appreciation, and whether aesthetic visualisation is trainable in a short term. Forty-three female subjects, consisting of 20 trained and 23 untrained viewers, participated. Twenty fashion images, posed by a male and a female model, were shown on an eye-tracker screen for 10 s each. This study revealed that the trained viewer tended to show longer gaze duration and higher densities of fixations over the image, to be more sensitive to design changes, and to have less random scanning time, than the untrained viewer. Further, this study indicated that repetitive viewing of the same image in a short term was not an effective training mode of aesthetic visualisation.

Fostering an attitude of giving back is a useful exercise to consider within the academic community. There are many curricula that include leadership or philanthropy, but few that provide opportunities for individuals whose academic focus is neither exclusively philanthropy nor leadership. The Buckman Fellowship offers a unique program for innovative, creative, and motivated university faculty, staff, graduate students, and alumni to gain leadership and philanthropic skills needed to implement projects of their own design and powered by their own passion. Housed within a university, the program cultivates emerging philanthropic leaders, with a formal evaluation of stakeholders to refine its objectives and continually improve its outcomes.

Sustainability in fashion is going to require transformative changes in the practices of all involved: designers, manufacturers, marketers, and consumers. But consumers especially need a vision for sustainable fashion practice. This study directs attention toward a new type of fashion practice based on transformative acts in the consumption process. The research objective was to examine fashion practices related to a consumer's desire for a unique appearance and sources of clothing acquisition. Female university students (n = 97) of a Midwestern university in the USA completed the Desire for Unique Consumer Products (DUCP) Scale developed by Lynn and Harris. Of this group, sixteen were chosen for in-depth interviews based upon their high and low DUCP score and clothing sources they used: regular or frequent vintage wearers, occasional vintage wearers, and new clothing wearers. Participants were interviewed to determine how they defined and implemented a unique appearance. Wearers of both vintage a...

Staging Fashion, l880–1920 profiles three celebrated actresses: Jane Hading (1859–1940), Lily Elsie (1886–1962), and Billie Burke (1884–1970), and illustrates both how their careers and celebrity s...

Robert Hillestad perceives the world as a vast network of interconnected persons, places, and things. He probes that mix on a daily basis in search of inspiration and insights; opportunities and meaning. For him, creativity is the thought process and practice of making his work come alive. It defines his work as well as him as an artist and educator. He thrives on being immersed in the creative process. He regards making art as an extension of life which he lives to the fullest, in the spirit of adventure. He is passionate about textiles. By combining traditional methods of manipulating fabric and threads with Marilyn DeLong

This study explores the current phenomenon of user-technology negotiation associated with new technology adoption in the apparel and footwear industry. A theoretical framework was proposed as a construct, and a case study was performed to evaluate the proposed framework. In partnership with a world leading footwear company, its newly patented prototyping technology, named the virtual sampling system (VSS), was used to generate empirical data. A web survey was administered to the employees and quantitative analysis was performed to assess the relationships among the study variables. Frequency of use was the most determinant external variable to identify relative social groups to categorise the technology users by the levels of their initial expectation of the technology, satisfaction with training sessions, and evaluations of the company's performance with the use of the technology. Based on the case study findings, a strategy for increasing the efficiency of internal communications was suggested to the pa...

A fundamental and contemporary issue in higher education is how to encourage global awareness, professional development, and accountability within constraints of curriculum and scarce resources. This is an evaluation of student experiences with a 1½-year cross-cultural partnership that included a team project, public presentations, publications, and 2-week travel exchanges. Data were collected from the participant’s project outcomes, from interviews pre- and posttravel, and survey questions at the end of the experience and 1 year later. The public face to the project allowed for partners to learn of the professional standards of the other culture while representing their own. Partner synergies were evidence of a personal, professional, and cultural awareness that provided a pathway to encourage cross-cultural learning among students in similar fields. Such cross-cultural experiences will help to ensure professional survival in the 21st century.

(2009). Innovation and Sustainability at Nike. Fashion Practice: Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 109-113.

For any technological innovation to be adopted within a corporation, the role of the user must be considered in the acceptance process. As an effective strategy to gain empirical data, a case study method was employed to examine user perceptions in a world leading US footwear company. The company's own patented prototyping technology, called the Virtual Sampling (VS) system, was selected for study in 2007. Employees who were using the VS system were invited to respond to a Web questionnaire that included both qualitative and quantitative questions about the technology. Three main findings emerge from the study: 1) in the process of implementing a technology in an organization, there are external variable(s) that identify relative user groups within the organization; 2) different user groups tend to have different levels of perception of the technology and evaluate adoption and implementation from that perspective; 3) however, no matter which groups they belong to, technology users in the organizat...

The way we perceive and experience touch is a first step in understanding how touch influences design and designers. Early memories of touch were explored among male and female design students taking classes at a large US metropolitan university. Male and female students were compared in terms of recall of what was touched and how it felt. Response categories of what was touched were similar between males and females, although contexts and exposures differed. Specific sensations were analyzed and categorized. Results pointed to the influence of a gender discourse within a culture that takes place in defining touch experiences more than differences arising from being male or female. Experiences of touch need to be expanded, made explicit, and understood in terms of design and creativity.

Clothing and textiles research is examined within a futuring framework to discuss potential avenues for development of thought within the field. A philosophical perspective linking ontology, epistemology, and methodology is posited as important to exploring assumptions that guide the research process. The material culture studies perspective, the feminist social science perspective, and the critical science perspective are discussed as three potential ways of approaching the subject matter in need of mainstreaming as we look to the future of knowledge production within clothing and textiles. Based on this discussion, ideas and implications for scenario-building in the traditional futures sense are presented.

Redesigning used clothing – requiring deconstruction and reconstruction beyond basic repair and alteration – could be a sustainable alternative to these problems. Only a few authors have researched clothing redesign but even so have identified potential opportunities for economic and environmental gain (Janigo & Wu, in press; Young, Jirousek, & Ashdown, 2004). Our research goals were to add a longitudinal element to previous research which involved women in a collaborative redesign project in 2011 (Janigo & Wu, in press), to further understand how and why female consumers might redesign used clothing, and to identify what characteristics, if any, are shared among consumers of redesign.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze patterns of client and professional interaction as reported by professionals in the apparel industry.Design/methodology/approach – This qualitative research involved 23 professionals or individuals who worked for more than ten years in an executive position. The participants, who worked in a variety of positions, in the US apparel industry were interviewed extensively about their professional experiences. Data were analyzed by identifying themes in the interview transcripts using a grounded approach methodology.Findings – The participants described their professional relationships with clients. Clients included individuals in the general public and other industry professionals who used the service or bought the product. The participants, all women, showed similarity or homophily with clients' values, fashion level, age, gender, economic level, and body size. All participants emphasized differences or heterophily with clients in expertise and level of innov...

Purpose – To provide marketing and managerial insights to western companies selling denim jeans in China, specifically in Shanghai. Understanding consumers' perceptions of Western‐branded jeans in a cultural‐specific marketplace is the primary focus. Design/methodology/approach – Combined methods included observation of shoppers wearing jeans in two malls in Shanghai and an anonymous survey. A total of 219 surveys were analyzed and consumer‐perceived jeans attributes or related concepts were tabulated. Findings – About one third of the observed shoppers were wearing jeans, which signified a relatively high popularity of jeans as casual wear in Shanghai. The design and fashion of jeans were deemed highly critical but were superseded by comfort and fit. Shanghai consumers distinguished brand origins only between the West and the East instead of by specific countries. Dissatisfaction with price and fit were identified. Research limitations/implications – Questions were designed to screen out respondents who had not purchased and had no desire to purchase western denim jeans brands. Limiting the sample in this way offered some control for behavioral patterns, but conclusions are limited. Practical implications – Content analysis of an open‐ended question about consumers' perceptions of western‐branded jeans helped discern attributes of jeans that consumers deemed most important. Marketers of western jeans can develop effective marketing strategies in tune with consumer preferences. Originality/value – This paper researched consumers' perceptions of western denim jeans, a type of world dress, in a booming but foreign market in western eyes. The open‐ended question solicited consumers' free responses, which in turn helped pin‐point attributes of jeans that Chinese consumers value the most.

Many methods have been developed to measure the body in an effort to capture its dimensions for clothing. Measuring the human body has been important in developing garments tofit the body, and systems have reflected technology, needs of the consumer, andfocus of the apparel industry. The U. S. apparel industry has developed many techniques to measure the body, including custom-fitted to the individual, mass-sized and produced, and now, mass-customized. This paper reviews and evaluates historic and current methods of capturing body measurements, which are presented as linear methods, multiple probe methods, and body form methods, that use one or more of the following elements: point, length, surface, shape, and volume.

PurposeThe objective was to provide research‐based insights from two groups of respondents as to their perceptions, preferences and desire to purchase Chinese – influenced Western dress.Design/methodology/approachTen images of models in designer clothing were selected that varied in degree of Chinese influence. College students from a US and a Chinese university, numbering 55 and 56 respectively, were asked to respond by ranking each image to discern their perceptions of ethnic influence and their preferences for and desire to purchase each of the ten images. Responses were compared and analyzed.FindingsA conclusion based upon analysis of responses was that degree of Chinese influence was less critical than the aesthetic character of the form itself. Some disagreement occurred in respondent's highest ranked preferences. Regarding preference and desire to purchase, US respondents ranked them similarly, while Chinese students ranked them differently.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample was confined to College students with similar majors in the two countries. Limiting the sample in this way offered control in age and interest, but also limited application of results.Practical implicationsThis study addressed the perceptions, preferences and purchasing desires for dress with Chinese influence in a cross cultural perspective. Respondents in this study preferred effective design of the whole image and not simply a borrowing of disparate ethnic attributes.Originality/valueResults provide a managerial guide for ethnic fashion marketers.

A well-defined product development process assists the organization to determine its future direction, plan for rapid changes, create new product line profits, and plan for technology adoption and implementation (Thomas, 1993). The goal of this research was to propose an optimal product development process for knitwear companies by examining the process used by a major U.S. sweater company and comparing its process to established processes. Yin’s (1984) single case study and Patton’s (1990) qualitative research approaches were adapted for data collection. Various methods of collecting data were employed, including interviewing key personnel, making direct observations, and examining written documents. Preliminary suggestions for improving the product development process included extending market research to include end users, using pre-costing early in the process, integrating quality assurance, and using computer-aided-design and product development management software.

The purpose was to demonstrate a process to characterize a segment of a university collection from an object base using an existing aesthetic framework. A collection consisting of 160 evening dresses from the 1930s were analyzed for their repetitive and defining features and their dispersion throughout the decade. Dresses were selected as examples of the defining features and analyzed using the concept of structuring within DeLong’s (1998) framework of visual analysis. This process demonstrated how aesthetics could be applied to raise awareness of artifacts within the collection. The result was a characterization of this 1930s collection in terms of defining features that included structuring and the visual result of an integration of layout, surface, and light and shadow.

This study focuses on perceptions of registered brands sold in Shanghai. Brand identity has been studied in Western settings; this study expands understanding of brand identity from a Chinese perspective. Chinese shoppers in Shanghai shopping malls were asked to compare US and Chinese brands in a survey about their perceptions of product attributes, brand identification and store environment. In the analysis of data, US brands were evaluated more positively than Chinese on attributes of design innovation, workmanship, brand image, service, and display of products, while Chinese brands received more positive marks on fit and price satisfaction. Low brand loyalty among the Chinese shoppers meant that brand image and competition among brands are keen. To remain competitive, US companies which plan to increase their market in China need to pay attention to product quality and how brand identity is interpreted within Chinese culture.

This cross-cultural study illustrates how products selected for their basic similarities are distinguished in use by cultural context. Jeans, a product manufactured in both South Korea and the United States, were selected as the research stimuli. Subjects were regular wearers of jeans, 32 of whom were from the United States and 34 from Korea. All were females between the ages of 18 and 24, and students at one of two large metropolitan universities in their respective countries. Participants responded to four brands of jeans similar in appearance: two were U.S. brands (Levi’s and Gap) and two were Korean brands (GV2 and Bang Bang). Subjects’ perceptions of the products were explored for similarities and differences in criteria for wear and purchase of jeans. Country of manufacture mattered less than country of origin, appearance and other factors related to use in a cultural context. For both groups, color, fit, tactile qualities and price also were important criteria in wearing and purchasing jeans. Though respondents used similar criteria in this cross-cultural comparison, differences in weighting of those criteria yielded significantly different results.

Aesthetic expression of dress was examined by interviewing 15 midwestern university students. The objective was to understand the style development process and the motivations for clothing selection. The responses of participants selecting clothing from a variety of purchasing locations were analyzed. The purchasing sources examined were vintage or used clothing stores, a variety of sources used by cross-shoppers, and mainstream or mass market locations. In-depth interviews were analyzed for content. Aesthetic themes or categories emerged that helped to define differences: event dressing, imaging gender, variety clothes versus signature clothes, apparel meanings, process of ensemble, and customization of clothing purchases. These categories were analyzed and compared with those identified in the literature and with postmodern characteristics outlined by Evans and Thornton (1989). Understanding individual motivations in aesthetic expression and sourcing locations will aid in the study of fashion change.

This research examined the content and outcome of an educational intervention program designed to foster sun protective awareness and behaviors among young adolescents. Awareness of sun protection qualities, as well as preferences and stated intention to wear protective clothing, were measured based on young adolescents' responses to selected hat styles both before and after the educational interventions. The educational intervention was well received by this age group (ages 10-12), and a comparison of matched pre- and post-tests (397 girls and boys) indicated an increase in knowledge of sun protective factors in clothing. However, familiarity and past experience with hat styles helped to determine both preference and intent to wear. This finding points to the need to incorporate adolescents' preferences in design and modifications of hats for protection, and to take further measures to encourage protective behaviors in young adolescents' clothing selection. Implementing a standardized sun protection rating system for hats and other types of clothing like those used with sunscreen lotion would begin to familiarize people of all ages with the dangers of sun exposure and the benefits of wearing sun protective clothing.

The focus of this research was to determine what similarities or differences in meaning develop when one product, blue jeans, developed in one culture, is used in another. Students' perceptions of blue jeans in the United States and Korea were the focus of this research. A questionnaire translated into the language of the respective country consisted of open-ended, short-answer questions and bipolar word pairs to measure the meaning attributed to jeans within both cultures. A total of 783 students in Korea and the U.S. between the ages of 18 and 24 who wore jeans at least three times a month were participants. Aspects of communication theory provided a theoretical framework for the discussion of responses and cross-cultural interpretations of meaning. U.S. and Korean respondents indicated that jeans are worn for comfort and versatility. For U.S. respondents, jeans symbolize American culture as a whole, whereas for Korean respondents, jeans symbolize a more specific role: participation in youth/student culture within contemporary Korean society. Differences in meanings attached to jeans in Korea as compared to the U.S. indicate a need for considering cultural context when developing and promoting U.S. products for use in other cultures.

This paper illustrates how critical thinking techniques could be used in teaching aesthetics. Exploring unfamiliar territory and moving freely between reflective and active thought processes are components important to both aesthetics and critical thinking. In keeping with the objectives of critical thinking, a classroom exercise titled "Getting Outside of Your Own Skin" was designed to help students acknowledge and address assumptions and biases they may hold about older consumers and the aging process. Students were encouraged to move beyond personal experiences to broaden their thinking about individuals unlike themselves. By working through the project, students were given the opportunity to examine their perceptions and attitudes toward the aging process and to consider their effect on this growing market.

Extending the life span of clothing through better quality and increased usability can result in fewer resources used in the overall clothing consumption system (Fletcher, 2008). If people experience emotional attachment toward clothing they own, they are likely to manage their clothing with more care, for an increased life span of their clothing (Schifferstein & Zwartkruis-Pelgrim, 2008). In this regard, it is worthwhile to explore people’s attachment to clothing from a sustainable perspective. The research explored how American and Korean consumers in their twenties report attachment to their clothing. The research gives perspective to apparel designers and companies who want to design clothing to be worn for an extended time.

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. December 2013. Major: Design. Advisor: Marilyn R. DeLong. 1 computer file (PDF); xi, 163 pages, appendices A-B.

Designers need to understand the breadth of strategies for developing more sustainable solutions (Shedroff, 2009). Design students’ concepts of sustainability are different depending on their cultural contexts and approaches to sustainability issues that universities have taken that vary across cultures. In this research, we examine how American and Korean design students perceive the importance of sustainability regarding their apparel as a user and professional and how they strategize sustainable practices. This cross-cultural comparison of American and Korean students perceptions of sustainability can provide valuable insight regarding how cultural factors shape and influence a group’s sustainable behavior and can help the instructor who wants to educate students as broadly as possible.

The development of new computer technologies designed to custom-fit apparel has created a need for quantification of apparel fit characteristics. Fit perception and preference data are needed to improve sizing for ready-to-wear and custom-fitted apparel. Tactile responses of subjects to the fit of pants were investigated using an adaptation of an American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) sensory perception test. The test was designed to establish thresholds in apparel fit: that is, the smallest difference in garment dimensions that can be consistently perceived and identified. The test samples for the study were a set of 15 pants, which varied in size, made for each participant from precise computer-generated patterns. Four female experts in apparel fit, who comprised the subject panel, each recorded their responses to these pants compared to a control. Control pants were custom-fitted to each panel member; the remaining pants in each set varied from the control by 0.5 to 1.5 cm at a single location (waist, hips, or crotch length). When the pants were presented in a blind test, the panel perceived differences as small as 0.5 cm in pants waist size from the control. Differences of 1.5 cm were perceptible at the hip and crotch. The subject's level of acceptance of the fit variations in the pants was then judged using a preference test. This test revealed differences among individual subjects in the acceptability of fit variations in waist and crotch dimensions; judgements of the acceptability of hip variations were more consistent among the subjects. Judging from the results of this testing, it is concluded that threshold levels at which fit differences can be perceived can be established for different areas of the body, and that perceptible fit variations can be quite small. This testing also showed that individuals vary in their tolerance for fit variations at different locations on the body.

Current apparel production methods grounded in a tradition of master-apprentice training and intuition are being challenged by the introduction of Artificial Intelligence. Much of the expert knowledge needed to develop computer systems for the apparel industry is related to visual decisions made to create a garment. In this study, a sensory evaluation methodology was used to determine if visual perceptual differences existed between results of pattern grading methods using traditional and proportional techniques. An expert panel of eleven members evaluated visual effect of images graded across an entire size range. Three sets of images representing apparel on the body were selected to emphasize (1) horizontal proportion, (2) vertical proportion, and (3) proportion of details. Responses of panel members indicated neither traditional nor proportional grading maintained the visual effect referenced in the sample size across the entire size range. The goal of pattern grading needs to be redefined to account for the desired visual effect in a variety of size and body variations.

Physical appearance cues (Thurston, Lennon, & Clayton, 1990) and nonverbal gestures (Baron, 1986) are important in the evaluation of job applicants. As a result, career guidance for job applicants often includes techniques such as mock interviewing, supplying wr i t t en guidelines of appropriate styles of clothing, providing actual garments for the economically disadvantaged, and offering comprehensive appearance enhancement programs. Such efforts have built confidence and created physical appearance leading to successful job placement. Participation in such programs, however, may be influenced by a client's psychological characteristics. A program, no matter how well it is designed, will be ineffective if clients do not attend. Using women clients of a career counseling agency, we examined whether psychological characteristics of public self-consciousness (PSC) and self-monitoring (SM) were related to the client's decision to participate in an Effective Presentation program.

In this paper, we interpret the meaning of contemporary quiltmaking by characterizing how the collective activities of quilt guild members have structured women's understanding of quilt tradition. Ethnography offers a methodological orientation by which meaning can be interpreted by analyzing the sociocultural context of the guild and considering the quilters' perspective. We analyze a particular example of "feminine culture," Minnesota Quilters, Inc. The guild community is important to individual expression, and members' activities provide evidence about a socialization process by which individuals draw upon a collective knowledge of quilt tradition to express themselves. Women's statements about their quilts refer to the significance of quiltmaking in the expression of personal experience. Three components of the discourse suggest that quiltmaking facilitates a woman's increasing integration within the quilting community and appropriation of traditional values: identification as guild member, characterization as quilter, and affirmation of female identity.

New developments using artificial intelligence and the computer can effect changes in the production of apparel and ultimate consumer satisfaction with apparel products. Much data specification is needed before apparel can be manufactured that quickly and efficiently takes into account the individual body of the consumer. Trial and error fitting methods will no longer be economically feasible with such customized production. Garment fit and ease preferences are explored in this research to determine feasibility of an individually fitted, computer generated pant. A customized pant was made for each of 38 female subjects using a computer-aided-design program that took into account the following factors: body size, configuration, alignment, proportions, and preferred ease amounts of the wearer. A level of prediction for ease was achieved with these pants and 27 of 28 of the final subjects rated their pant as satisfactory or very satisfactory following a seven hour wear test.

Understanding change and its motivations in historic dress is complex because of fragmented information and the incomplete and possibly biased saving of objects of the past. In this study a media source contemporary to the period 1890-1927 was systematically analyzed for the extent and duration of Japanese and Chinese characteristics evident in forms of dress. Cultural authentication, including change in characterization and in unique forms of dress, was examined through verbal and visual references. Occurrences found within the 37 years covered by the study were quantified for analysis of patterns, and the Japanese and Chinese influences each formed a separate cycle. Dominant in the earlier periods were selection and characterization levels, often for occasions of intimate dressing. In the later periods more evidence of public presentation of self occurred with incorporation and transformation levels of cultural authentication. We found the most extensive assimilation in 1914 for the Japanese and in 1922 for the Chinese characteristics.

Traditional linear measurements (lengths and circumferences taken over the body surface with a tape measure) were compared with measurements of frontal and lateral view photographs for usefulness in determining pattern dimensions for the upper torso of the female body form. The statistical regression models developed indicated that, while linear measurements provided slightly more accuracy in predicting a few of the pattern dimensions, the photographic measurements were more accurate in predicting others, particularly pattern angles. Photographic measurements hold promise as an alternative to the more intrusive linear measurements for predicting pattern dimensions.

(1992). Korean Traditional Dress as an Expression of Heritage. Dress: Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 57-68.

This research was designed to explore professional women's perceptions of the successful apparel product, the number of their shopping trips per year, and the frequency with which they found apparel they liked to purchase. A content anal ysis was used to reveal differences in product descriptions, using the criteria of relation to product, situation, and self. The successful product was described in more detail and with more content of situation and self. As respondent ages increased up to 40, descriptions shifted from emphasis on product characteristics to a more abstract definition of the category.