From the clothing theory, it is evident that the mass media as generalised “other”, dictates the opinion of what is acceptable and not acceptable regarding fashion. The role that the mass media play in the clothing consumer’s purchases, and more specifically the decision-making process surrounding fashion products, cannot be underestimated. From a social-cultural and aesthetic point of view, it can be argued that culture or sub-culture can play an important role in the aesthetic ideal of beauty of consumers. It is suggested that consumers of different cultural backgrounds have varying beliefs about what is defined as “beautiful” in each of their cultures. Fashion magazines in South Africa largely convey a global appearance ideal, but individuals often tend to also evaluate their appearances against the cultural or sub-cultural beauty ideal in which they reside. Cultural appearance standards in the form of skin colour, hairstyles, body, style, dress, and cultural artefacts (such as accessories) may differ among different cultures and sub-cultures (Craig, 1991). Magazine marketers should thus aim to provide a specific targeted consumer group with a fashion magazine that contains content that satisfies their particular sub-cultural aesthetic needs, personal appearances and standards. People across cultures have the need to compare themselves to others, and with the focus on fashion, appearance is evaluated and compared by the targeted consumers on the basis of either cultural factors or personal factors (Lennon, Rudd, Sloan&Kim, 1999). Fashion serves as a generalised “other” against whom a person can compare him- or herself with. The targeted consumers may not engage in comparison if the appearances of fashion models used in fashion magazine advertisements are too different from the person’s own appearance and standards. It seems that the importance of the above mentioned factors in the decision-making process of consumers regarding fashion products and fashion magazines in particular, have not yet been fully realised in South Africa by magazine marketers and the advertising industry. The women in the Mzanzi Youth sub-segment, serving as the target market for this study, fall under the Black Diamonds consumer group, which is one of the most important up and coming consumer groups in South Africa. It is apparent that this consumer group has a lot of potential and could reap rewards if targeted successfully, yet there is not a fashion magazine that is known of in South Africa that specifically caters for them. Unfortunately little is known about their beauty standards and the appearance of a beauty ideal that they would prefer to compare themselves with, and fashion magazines are therefore not able to fully tap into this potential market. The Purpose of this study was therefore to explore and describe the women in the Mzansi Youth sub-segments’ social comparisons and reflected appraisals of fashion magazine images. It is envisaged that the results of this study would contribute to fashion magazine editors’ and marketers’ understanding of this market’s beauty standards and preferences for beauty ideals that can serve as a generalised “other” in social comparison, in such a way that it can contribute to a positive self-image and an interest in, and intention to buy a specific fashion magazine or the fashion products that are advertised. The theoretical approach to the study included a literature review on fashion, the consumer and the role of culture, which include a discussion on fashion magazines and fashion magazine advertisements or images. The literature also covered the role of cultural beauty ideals and aesthetics in self-esteem. In order to address the problem, a cultural perspective and the theory on identity and social identity were combined with the theory on social comparison, and serves as a theoretical perspective, or point of departure for the research, while also directing the research objectives. The unit of analysis for this study was young adult black women in South Africa (between 18 and 24 years of age), in the Mzanzi Youth sub-segment within the Black Diamond consumer group. A nonprobability sampling technique was employed. The sample for the study was purposive resulting in the use of the snowball sampling method, with 200 respondents having completed a self-administered questionnaire. The study showed that the women in the Mzansi-Youth sub-segment are directed by a strong personal identity and a need to be acknowledged as an African individual with unique personal characteristics. It is therefore also important for them that their appearance should symbolise their personal qualities and not necessarily that of a Westernised fashion style or beauty ideal, or that they belong to a specific social or sub-cultural group. The study further showed that dress, hairstyle and body shape are important features in their beauty ideal, directed by their personal identity. With regard to their aesthetic dimensions that play a role in dress and appearance, for them it is more about the sensory beauty of their appearance and emotional pleasure that their dress and appearance give them, than reflecting that they belong to a specific group or culture - indicative of a personal identity, rather than a social identity. The study further showed that with regard to social comparison, it is not important to the women in the Mzansi Youth sub-segment to compare themselves, and specifically their dress and appearance to those of others, whether it being to their friends, or an African or Westernised beauty ideal. With regard to appraisals of fashion magazine images, portraying different beauty ideals, specifically a Western, African and Euro-African beauty ideal, the study showed that the targeted consumers prefer the Euro-African beauty ideal because they like it, and it is also the appearance that they can relate to and that they would compare themselves to, although comparison is not important to them. However, if they have to compare themselves, they would compare the beauty ideal feature that is the most important to them, namely their dress style. They also mostly compare just for the sake of comparison and not to feel better about themselves or to feel that they fit into a specific group. In cases where they compare negatively to an image, whether African, Western or Euro-African beauty ideal, they will still accept the standard and will do nothing further. Lastly, the study also showed that most of the women in the Mzansi Youth sub-segment, would probably buy a fashion magazine which features Euro-African fashion images to see the latest trends and fashion ideas, but not because the model would inspire them to improve themselves. This study clearly has practical implications for fashion magazine editors and marketers in South Africa, as well as for the advertising industry, especially when incorporating fashion images in advertisements specifically aimed at the women in the Mzansi Youth sub-segment. / Dissertation (MConsumer Science)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Consumer Science / unrestricted

Most existing 3D virtual try-on systems put clothes designed in one environment on a human captured in another environment, which cause the mismatching color and brightness problem. And also typical 3D clothes modeling starts with manually designed 2D patterns, deforms them to fit on a human, and applies stitching to sew those patterns together. Such work usually relies on labor work. In this thesis, we describe an approach to reconstruct clothes and human that both are from the same space. With multiple Kinects, it models the 3D clothes directly out of a dressed mannequin without the need of the predefined 2D clothes patterns, and fits them to a human user. Our approach has several advantages: (i) a simple hardware setting consisted of multiple Kinects to capture a human model; (ii) 3D clothes modeling directly out of captured human figure. To the best of our knowledge, our work is the first one which separates clothes out of captured human figure; (iii) resizing of clothes adapting to any sized human user; (iv) a novel idea of virtual try-on where clothes and human are captured in the same location.

Clothing plays an important part in establishing and maintaining one's self worth. Maternity clothing is especially important: to the pregnant woman in maintaining her self-worth and in preparing for the new role as a mother. The maternity wear apparel industry caters to the average-size customer. very often it is difficult or impossible to acquire maternity clothing to fit the small or the large-size maternity wear customer. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of self-reported dress size category on self-worth, body cathexis, and satisfaction with available selection of maternity clothing for pregnant females. / Ph. D.

The types, number, sources and cost of outer garments, undergarments and shoes in the wardrobes of pregnant women were ascertained. The clothing was evaluated according to the likes and dislikes of the women for selected styles or garments, comfort in relation to the garment, ease of care, adaptability or garments to physical changes of the body and the usability of the garments after pregnancy. Five maternity outer garments were designed incorporating features found suitable for clothing for pregnant women. From the results of the study it appears that the pregnant woman today is an active person, frequently holding a job in addition to keeping house and participating in social, community and church activities. A women experiencing her first pregnancy tends to be younger and to have a smaller income than a woman in a second or later pregnancy. The average expectant mother begins wearing maternity garments in the fourth month of pregnancy. The cut-out and drop-panel types of expansion are the preferred means for expanding maternity garments. The one-piece dresses seem to be the least satisfactory style of all maternity outer garments. If all maternity outer garments were purchased new, the cost of the average wardrobe is about $93.00. Most outer garments are made of cotton with the exception of wraps, which are generally wool. Little use is made of man-made fibers for outer wear. The average cost of a wardrobe of maternity undergarments, if purchased new, would be about $34.00. Cotton and nylon are the preferred fibers for these garments. Shoes worn during pregnancy are generally of the flat heeled type which the women have on hand. Women in second and later pregnancies tend to make wiser selections in certain types or garments than women in first pregnancies. / Master of Science

The discussion about organic and fair trade products has been a big issue during the last few years. Despite an extensive knowledge about the environmental problems and a willingness to do something about it, the consumers are not always acting that way. Children do imitate their parents and other adults at an early age, so if the role models do not begin to act, think and dress ethically correct, neither will the children. Three problems have been identified out of the discussion. They relate to the questions of how older school children and parents of younger school children are taking sides regarding the organic/fair trade clothes and how existing trends in the society as well as those in fashion contexts influence their attitudes and consumer behaviour. Finally, we have a question regarding how the school children and their parents prioritize and evaluate various factors when purchasing clothes. The purpose of the study was to find out how school children along with their parents are behaving concerning organic/fair trade clothes and what is affecting their purchases. By analyzing their thoughts and opinions regarding the subject, the aim was to describe the consumer behaviour in the different age groups and find answers to the problem formulations. Initially, the purpose is explorative and then it exceeds to become describing. The study integrates research about school children’s general consumer behaviour with research about their consumer behaviour regarding organic and fair trade garments and creates new conclusions and theories out of the gathered empirics and earlier theories. Thus, the study explores a new area while it describes how the consumer behaviour looks like. The study is hermeneutical with a qualitative approach. In the theoretical reference frame the model of the consumer buying decision-making process and its influencing factors (Jobber 2008), the push and pull strategies (Doole & Lowe 2004), the model of the different buying roles and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (Kotler & Armstrong 2008) have been used in order to interpret the collected empirics. The empirics consist of surveys with the school children and their parents and interviews with employees in different kinds of organic/fair trade shops. The analysis in the study is a comparison and linking of the selected theory and the gathered empirics. The survey responses have been interpreted and analysed the parts into a whole. The main results show that school children and their parents generally have relatively poor knowledge of organic/fair trade products, which is shown in their choice when purchasing clothing. Due to lack of marketing, the consumers are not convinced to visit organic/fair trade shops but mainly choose the familiar brands. High prices and low supply appears to be the main reason to why school children and their parents do not buy organic/fair trade garments. / Program: Textilekonomutbildningen

Syftet med den här studien är att ta reda på vilken kunskap och vilka värderingar som finns i klädesbutiker angående kemikalier i kläder och om ekologiska alternativ. Jag vill även undersöka på vilket sätt information kan påverka butikerna till att agera i linje med en hållbar utveckling. Särskilt vill jag undersöka hur butikernas företagskultur påverkar deras strategiska arbete. Jag har gjort en kvalitativ undersökning och intervjuat 13 butiksinnehavare i centrala Malmö. Först träffade jag intervjupersonerna i deras butiker, några månader senare ringde jag upp var och en för att se om de tänkt något på det vi samtalat om eller till och med gjort några förändringar.De flesta av intervjupersonerna visste mycket lite om vad det finns för regler gällande kemikalier i textil, de hade dock viss kunskap om ekologiska kläder. Kunden, leverantören, media, producenten samt stat och kommun identifierades som aktörer som kunde påverka företagaren i sitt agerande. Flera av de intervjuade ifrågasatte om kvalitet och stil var lika bra i ekologiska kläder och de trodde att de ekologiska kläderna var dyrare. De flesta var tveksamma till om kunden ville betala mellanskillnaden. Några av dem misstrodde dessutom ekologiska märkningar. Intervjupersonerna tyckte att priset, stilen och kvaliteten på kläderna var viktiga, ett par av dem ansåg att miljöspekten var överordnad. Det fanns en viss vilja till förändring bland intervjupersonerna men med den följde krav på att de ekologiska kläderna överensstämde med butikernas överordnade mål. Butikernas företagskulturer tillsammans med människorna i butikerna, deras attityder och värderingar, påverkade butikernas strategiska miljöarbete. Att få information om kemikalier som kan finnas i kläder hade olika effekt på företagarna men det visade sig att det krävs mer än kunskap för att förändra deras agerande i linje med en hållbar utveckling.Nyckelord: Klädbutiker, kemikalier i kläder, ekologiska kläder, företagskulturer,miljöstrategiskt arbete, kunskap, värderingar och agerande.Abstract / The purpose for this study is to find out which knowledge and values there are in clothing stores about chemicals in clothes and about ecological alternatives. I also would like to see in what way information can affect the stores to act in a sustainable way. Especially I want to investigate how the stores corporate culture affects their strategic work. I have done a qualitative survey and I interviewed 13 storeowners in the center of Malmo. First I met the people I interviewed in their stores, a couple of months later I followed up with telephone interviews.The store owners knew very little about rules in the area of chemicals in textile, however they had some knowledge about ecological clothing. The customer, the deliverer, media, the producer, the state and communes are identified as important actors that could affect the corporate owner and the actions. The people in the survey questioned if the quality and style could be as good when the clothes were ecological and they thought that they were more expensive, most of them didn´t believe that the customers were willing to pay for the difference. Some of those I have talked to were mistrusting ecological markings. The people I talked to felt that the price, the style and the quality of the clothes was important, a few viewed the environmental impact as the most important. They had some will to change but it was followed with demands that the ecological clothes and there head goals were compatible. The corporate cultures together with the people in the stores, there attitudes and values, affected the strategic environmental work of the stores. The information affected the store owners in different ways but it is required more than knowledge to change their actions against a more sustainable way.Keywords: Clothing stores, chemical in clothes, ecological clothes, corporate cultures, environmental strategic work, knowledge, values and action.

Bakalauro darbe analizuojama raitelio apranga – jos istorija, aprangos taisyklės šių dienų žirginiame sporte bei, kaip raiteliškumo bruožai atsispindi drabužių kolekcijose. Analizė buvo daroma siekiant geriau susipažinti su raitelio apranga ir suprojektuoti drabužių kolekciją raiteliams. Teorinės informacijos analizė atskleidė, kad žmogus ir žirgas neatsiejamas jau daugelį tūkstantmečių. Net ir pačiuose seniausiuose išlikusiuose istoriniuose šaltiniuose, praktiškai kiekvienos tautos mitologijoje ar tautosakoje sutinkamas žirgas, kuriam skiriama ypač garbinga vieta kaip žmogaus draugui ir pagalbininkui. Žirgas, kaip prestižas ir mada geriausiai atsiskleidė suklestėjus dvarams. Tuomet, pradėjus naudoti žirgą ne tik karo tikslams, bet ir pramogai keitėsi ir raitelio apranga. Jai kisti sąlygojo žmogaus pasaulėjauta, žirgo naudojimo paskirtis bei žinoma pramonė. Jai suklestėjus buvo pradėta naudoti įvairesnius audinius bei drabužių sukirpimą. Tačiau raitelio apranga niekada neturėjo kliudyti joti, to nesąlygojo jokia epocha. Per visą istoriją raitelio drabužiai buvo paprastesni ir kuklesni nei kasdieniniam naudojimui skirti drabužiai. Daugiausia suvaržymų ir sąlygų yra pateikiama šių dienų žirginiame sporte. Kadangi, tai labai ekstremalus sportas, skirtingai nuo kiekvienos soprto rūšies yra pateikiamas ir tam tikras raitelio aprangos kodas. Drabužiai nevaržo judesių ir padeda geriau justi žirgą jojant. Tiriamosios temos objektas – raitelio apranga – yra savitai patrauklus ir... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / In this bachelors work were analyzed clothes of equestrians – their history, nowadays rules of the horseback riding clothes and how designers are interpretating the equestrian‘s image into the clothes collections; this analysis has been made to get more informations about equestrians and to design a clothes collection inspired to them. The analysis of the theoretical partshowed that human and horse are connected for ages. Even in the oldest historical memorials, almost in every part of the world, horse took a big part in human‘s life, as a friend and as a worker. The best period of this relashionship, when horse started to be a demonstration of richness and social power, was the time of the manors. There were a lot of changes in equestrians clothes when the horse started to be used not just for the war, but also for entertainment. Human way of thinking, different uses of horses and industrialization cotributed in a lot of changes in equestrian clothes; because of the industrial progress was possible to make more difficult fabrics and obtain from new materials more elaborated clothes. No matter which period it was, first of all equestrian clothes had to be confortable. Through all the history equestrian clothes were simplier than casual ones. A lot of rules are in nowadays horseback riding sports. First of all, clothes have to be “safe“. In the different disciplines are also special dress codes for the equestrian equipment. Clothes have to protect and at the same time to... [to full text]

M. Tech. (Marketing, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / Research on apparel store choice and patronage has been widely studied locally and internationally. However, it is still important to understand consumers’ purchase behaviour and to develop appropriate retailing strategy. South Africa is currently experiencing a substantial growth in retail infrastructure especially in townships. Formal retailers are now expanding into township markets. Most of those retailers differentiated themselves from their competitors by developing a corporate identity, inter-alia through their store image. The purpose of the research was to examine apparel store selection criteria amongst black consumers in Soweto. In addition, this research examined the relationship between store satisfaction and loyalty. The literature review focuses on consumer behaviour variables and store image variables influential in store selection. The review was necessary to provide an overview of how consumers decide where, how and when to shop. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 489 respondents who were selected using non-probability convenience sampling. The sample size comprised sportswear apparel shoppers (blacks), both male and female, 18 years and older who patronised three shopping malls, namely Protea Gardens, Southgate, and Jabulani Mall. Data were analysed using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), mean rankings, the Mann Whitney U test, correlation analysis and regression. Six factors were found to be appropriate to capture the dimensions of store selection. These factors were labelled sales assistant, store atmospherics, store appeal (interior/exterior), in-store induced appeals, promotion/brand availability and store accessibility. Furthermore, the data obtained revealed a strong linear relationship between satisfaction and loyalty as well as significant relationship amongst the dimensions of store selection. Regression analysis revealed that promotion/brand availability and store satisfaction are strong predictors of loyalty. The Mann Whitney U test revealed no significant difference in the store choice dimensions between female and male respondents. The recommendations arising from the current study could help retailers understand what motivates shoppers to select one store amongst other stores. The identification of in-store and out-of-store activities that encourage consumers to stay store loyal, are critical to the success of retail businesses. Future studies may be extended on the purchase of other products apart from sportswear items.

Esta pesquisa realiza um estudo sobre a função da roupa mortuária em nossa cultura. O objetivo desta investigação é identificar a função que a roupa dos mortos exerce em nossa cultura. A importância deste estudo está em aumentar a compreensão sobre nossas atitudes e nosso comportamento em relação à roupa. A teoria funcionalista desenvolvida por Malinowski foi adotada como referencial teórico-metodológico e a entrevista livre não organizada foi empregada como instrumento de pesquisa. As entrevistas foram realizadas com costureiras que nasceram entre as décadas de 20 e 40 e que residem atualmente na cidade de Ituverava - interior de São Paulo. A escolha por este grupo social se deu,- em primeiro lugar, devido à percepção diferenciada que esta categoria possui em relação à roupa: a atuação profissional destas mulheres permitiu-lhes adquirir um conhecimento especializado sobre tecidos, estampas, técnicas de corte, técnicas de costura, técnicas de acabamento, nomenclatura de peças e processos de modelagem, conhecimento considerado indispensável para o aprofundamento das entrevistas. A data de nascimento e a localidade estipulados visaram à identificação de mulheres que se tornaram economicamente ativas durante uma época e em uma região em que a grande maioria das roupas eram produzidas por costureiras locais devido à ausência de indústrias de confecção na região. Os dados coletados durante a entrevista foram registrados com a ajuda de um gravador e analisados segundo a perspectiva funcionalista / This research conducts a study on the function of burial clothes in our culture. The purpose of this research is to identify the role that clothing plays dead in our culture. The importance of this study is to increase understanding of our attitudes and our behavior in relation to clothing. The functionalist theory developed by Malinowski was adopted as theoretical framework and the non-organized free interview was employed as a research tool. Interviews were conducted with seamstresses who were born between the 20s and 40s and who now reside in the city of Ituverava - São Paulo. The choice of this social group was given - in the first place - because of different perception that this category has in relation to clothing: the professional performance of these women allowed them to acquire a specialized knowledge of fabrics, prints, cutting techniques, sewing techniques , finishing techniques, naming parts and modeling processes; knowledge considered essential for the further development of interviews. The date of birth and place stipulated aimed at the identification of women who became economically active during a time and in a region where the vast majority of the clothes were produced by local seamstresses in the absence of manufacturing industries in the region. The data collected during the interview were recorded with the help of a tape recorder and analyzed according to the functionalist perspective

Purpose: The main purpose of this thesis is to identify and analyse what influence fashion companies in their design and communication of children clothes according to traditional gender roles. The purpose is also to identify if there is a conflict between political correctness and profitability in reference to gender and children’s clothes. The aim was also to find how customers of children’s clothes can influence the fashion companies with their behaviour.Method: The empirical research and data collection was done from both a qualitative and quantitative approach. In depth interviews were done with Lindex, KappAhl and Polarn o. Pyret on the Swedish market, together with observations of the fashion stores assortments and their advertising of children’s clothes and finally a consumer survey was conducted on Facebook. Conclusion: Multiple factors were concluded influences on the fashion companies design and communication of gender specific clothing for children. The interpretation on the meaning of gender specific clothing was found to be an important factor as well as the lack or presence of an official standpoint. Political correctness was found harder to achieve in larger companies leading to the conclusion that profitability and political correctness is only achievable up to a certain size. Consumers were found to influence the fashion companies by sharing attitudes on social media and with friends and acquaintances, among other things. The importance of direct experience and personal interest in forming attitudes was confirmed. Mothers with children under the age of 6 were the consumer group with the strongest attitudes. / Program: Magisterutbildning i Fashion Management