International Journal of Gender & Women's Studies

The Influence of Body Mass Index on Ready-To-Wear Clothing Preferences of Young African-American Female Consumers
Jung-Im Seo, Vadel Shivers

Abstract
Although consumers’ body shapes are various, the sizes of bust, waist, and hips of ready-to-wear (RTW) are fairly standardized in the apparel manufactures’ sizing charts, leading to clothing fit issues for many consumers. Body Mass Index (BMI) is an important factor that has an impact on body image perception, but there is little research on the influence of the obesity prevalence on RTW clothing preferences. The purposes of this study are to examine the correlation between African-American women’s obesity prevalence represented by BMI and RTW clothing preferences such as store preference and clothing benefit sought as well as clothing fitting issue. This study finds that bust, waist, and thigh girths of the responders relatively misfit RTW clothing no matter which BMI group they belong to. Most responders reported that hip and abdomen girths are relatively good fit areas. Especially, the obese category (BMI of 30.00 or higher) respondents reported that they felt their clothing tight around most of the body parts, whereas they felt it comfortable or even loose around the waist. The obese respondents look for camouflage benefits from RTW clothing using it as a camouflage tool to hide their body shapes.

Full Text: PDF      DOI: 10.15640/ijgws.v11n2a1