Profound changes have taken place in the role of the American female; she is no longer only a wife and mother because 51.2 percent of the total population 16 years and over are employed outside the home. The importance of this segment of women has been evidenced in the popular literature and by retailers who have created specialty clothing areas catering to the employed woman. Clothing and the self-concept have been related in research studies for several years. Clothing also has been related to occupational aspirations. The purpose of the research was to develop a model using the theoretical concepts actual self-image, ideal self-image, clothing-image and achievement motivation to predict women's clothing behavior for work. Using the integrated self-concept theory, two hypotheses were formulated: 1) costumes which induce positive congruity will be worn more than costumes which induce positive incongruity or negative congruity, followed by negative incongruity; 2) there will be a significant relationship between congruity and achievement motivation for five costumes. The instrument used to collect data was composed of a Clothing Congruity Measure which was developed using five costume images: feminine, business-like, casual, sexy and collegiate. The self-administered questionnaire, including the Clothing Congruity Measure, the Mehrabian and Banks ACHS, the Tausky and Dubin COAS and a demographic section was mailed to 65 faculty and 65 staff at three land grant universities. The rate of return was 60 percent or 227 usable questionnaires. A two-way analysis of variance was used to test the first hypothesis. Clothing behavior means for the feminine, business-like, casual and sexy images followed the expected pattern of congruity, however, the collegiate image did not. An aggregate analysis of all costumes supported the hypothesis that an hierarchical order of congruity conditions existed. The second hypothesis was not supported. Congruity and career anchorage position and congruity and achievement motivation reached a statistical level of significance, using Pearson correlations, for the business-like outfit, but not for the other costume images. / Ph. D.

Clothing is an important factor in the life of the high school girl and with the changing times it seems to become increasingly more so. Living as adolescent girls do today, there is a greater tendency for them to be judged by the clothing they wear. / Master of Science

The objective of this research was to analyze the impact of wives’ employment status and occupation on household expenditures for clothing, when controlling for income and various sociodemographic variables. The sample consisted of 2,285 households selected from the public use tapes of the Quarterly Interview component of the 1980-81 Consumer Expenditure Survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A four-stage econometric analysis of the data included: (1) probit analysis to obtain predicted probabilities of wives’ labor force participation; (2) tobit analysis to predict wives’ wage rates; (3) tobit analyses of six separate clothing expenditure models that contained predicted values from (1) and (2); and (4) tobit analysis of a clothing expenditure model that contained predicted values from (2) in addition to dummy variables for wives’ occupations. The predicted probability of the wife’s employment status was not significant in explaining expenditures for household, women’s, boy’s, or infant’s clothing. Expenditures for men’s clothing were positively affected by an increase in the predicted probability of the wife’s employment, while expenditures for girl’s clothing were negatively impacted by an increase in the predicted probability. Households with women employed in Professional, Traditional, or Uniformed occupations exhibited higher expenditures for clothing than did households with women who were homemakers. / Ph. D. / incomplete_metadata

Using the data collected in the CYS (5), it is the purpose of the present study to show the relationships of certain background variables to the clothing interests of high school girls in metropolitan groups. Specifically, it proposes to answer the question, does the student's age, the number of siblings, the father's education, or the father's occupation influence these interests?

The purpose of the study was to investigate Oriental women's clothing acquisition behaviors and to compare their body measurements with the measurements listed in Voluntary Product Standard, PS 42-70. A questionnaire was administered to 101 Oriental women residing in Tucson, Arizona. Thirty-nine body measurements were taken from each subject in the sample. The major type of store used most frequently was department store. It appears that Oriental women were not impulsive buyers or influenced by suggestive selling techniques but highly represented careful shopping characteristics. Fit was the most important consideration in purchasing a garment. Newspapers were the major information source of fashion for Oriental women. A significant fitting problem area appeared in garment length when Oriental women purchased ready-to-wear. Bigger differences were found in vertical than the circumference body measurements for Oriental women when the mean of body measurements was compared with the PS 42-70 measurements.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Fine Art by Dissertation. Johannesburg 2016 / Colour has always played an important role in South Africa; from the beginning of colonialism when “Africans” were converted to Christianity and baptised in white robes, to the bright colourful church garments that flood Soweto on Sundays. In the nineteenth century “Africans” began to reimagine their faith and spiritually. Seeking independence and a sense of identity, they began to fuse Western Christian ideologies with “African” spiritual beliefs and attire, which led to the origin of African Independent Churches (AIC). I aim to demonstrate how colour was not only used as a break away from colonial influences, but was also used to portray African spiritual beliefs and to create a distinctive “African” religious identity. This paper aims to study colour usage and it’s meaning within the South African context in order to show how colour use within Apostolic and Zionist movements relates to traditional African spirituality. The paper aims to show how colours used within both movements are symbolic and are thus used as spiritual codes. The paper will look at contemporary colours in order to show how Apostolic and Zionist movements continue to use colour to shape their spiritual identity.

鄺慧瑜. / "2004年6月". / 論文(哲學碩士)--香港中文大學, 2004. / 參考文獻 (leaves 19-23). / 附中英文摘要. / "2004 nian 6 yue". / Guang Huiyu. / Lun wen (zhe xue shuo shi)--Xianggang Xhong wen da xue, 2004. / Can kao wen xian (leaves 19-23). / Fu Zhong Ying wen zhai yao. / 論文撮要(中文） --- p.i / 論文撮要(英文） --- p.ii-iii / 圖表目錄 --- p.iv / 引言 --- p.1-2 / Chapter 第一章. --- 時裝歷史文獻回顧 / Chapter 1.1. --- 香港時裝歷史與文化硏究文獻回顧 --- p.3 / Chapter 1.1.1. --- 香港時裝歷史 --- p.3 / Chapter 1.1.2. --- 香港時裝文化硏究 --- p.4-7 / Chapter 1.2. --- 旗袍硏究文獻回顧 --- p.8-9 / Chapter 第二章. --- 硏究方法的論述 / Chapter 2.1. --- 硏究資料來源 --- p.10-11 / Chapter 2.1.1. --- 報紙 --- p.11-13 / Chapter 2.1.2. --- 電影雜誌 --- p.13-15 / Chapter 2.1.3. --- 電影 --- p.15-16 / Chapter 2.2. --- 硏究方法的槪述 --- p.17 / Chapter 第三章. --- 時裝理論剖析 / Chapter 3.1. --- 時裝定義 --- p.19-21 / Chapter 3.2. --- 時裝與社會硏究 --- p.21 / Chapter 3.2.1. --- 韋伯倫 --- p.22-23 / Chapter 3.2.2. --- 西美爾 --- p.24-25 / Chapter 3.3. --- 時裝與文化硏究 / Chapter 3.3.1. --- 時裝與符號 --- p.26-29 / Chapter 3.3.2. --- 時裝與流行商品文化 --- p.29-30 / Chapter 3.3.3. --- 時裝與性別 --- p.30 / Chapter 3.3.4. --- 其他理論 --- p.31-34 / Chapter 3.4. --- 中國與時裝 --- p.34 / Chapter 第四章. --- 戰前旗袍的歷史與變革 / Chapter 4.1. --- 旗袍之名稱 --- p.35 / Chapter 4.2. --- 清代婦女 --- p.36 / Chapter 4.2.1. --- 清初 --- p.36 / Chapter 4.2.2. --- 清中至末 --- p.37 / Chapter 4.3. --- 1920 年代 --- p.38 / Chapter 4.3.1. --- 女性時裝之一：襖衫/裙 --- p.38-39 / Chapter 4.3.2. --- 女性時裝之二 ：旗袍 --- p.40-44 / Chapter 4.3.3. --- 男裝 --- p.45 / Chapter 4.4. --- 1930年代 --- p.46 / Chapter 4.4.1. --- 女裝 --- p.46-47 / Chapter 4.4.2. --- 男裝 --- p.47 / Chapter 4.5. --- 1940年代至戰時 --- p.47-48 / Chapter 第五章. --- 戰前及四十年代的香港時裝 --- p.49-52 / Chapter 第六章. --- 五十年代的香港時裝 / Chapter 6.1. --- 男性時裝 --- p.53-56 / Chapter 6.2. --- 女性時裝 --- p.57 / Chapter 6.2.1. --- 旗袍 --- p.57-62 / Chapter 6.2.2. --- 西裙 --- p.62-64 / Chapter 第七章. --- 六十年代的香港時裝 / Chapter 7.1. --- 男性時裝 --- p.67 / Chapter 7.1.1. --- 西裝 --- p.68-69 / Chapter 7.2. --- 女性時裝 --- p.70 / Chapter 7.2.1. --- 旗袍 --- p.70-73 / Chapter 7.2.2. --- 西裙 --- p.74-76 / Chapter 7.2.3. --- 迷你裙 --- p.76-80 / Chapter 7.3. --- 香港時裝節 --- p.81-83 / Chapter 第八章. --- 七十年代及以後的香港時裝 / Chapter 8.1. --- 成衣的年代 --- p.84-85 / Chapter 8.2. --- 業界的發展 --- p.85-87 / Chapter 第九章. --- 香港時裝與旗袍´ؤ´ؤ旗袍的社會價値、文化轉變與象徵意義的論述 / Chapter 9.1. --- 旗袍的社會價値 --- p.88 / Chapter 9.1.1. --- 社會價値之建構 --- p.88 / Chapter 9.1.2. --- 旗袍之身份建構與表述 --- p.89-94 / Chapter 9.2. --- 文化轉變 --- p.95 / Chapter 9.2.1. --- 時裝文化的轉借與吸納 --- p.95-96 / Chapter 9.2.2. --- 混雜的時裝文化 --- p.96-99 / Chapter 9.2.3. --- 旗袍文化的對外影響 --- p.100-101 / Chapter 9.3. --- 消費品與象徵意義 --- p.102-103 / Chapter 9.3.1. --- 中國人的身份 --- p.103-106 / Chapter 9.3.2. --- 年齢的身份 --- p.107-110 / Chapter 第十章. --- 總結 / Chapter 10.1. --- 香港時裝歷史 --- p.111-112 / Chapter 10.2. --- 時裝潮流的變化理由 --- p.113-116 / 附錄： / 圖片說明目錄 附錄 --- p.1-4 / 圖片附錄 --- p.5-18 / 參考書目 附錄 --- p.19-23

The increasing popularity of catalog shopping has prompted many retailers to enter the market. Consequently, competition among catalog retailers has escalated. To maintain or expand their customer bases, catalog retailers must now find better ways to serve consumers. Many consumers are apprehensive to shop for apparel via catalog because they associate a higher degree of risk with purchases made through catalogs as opposed to purchases made in a store. Such risk is associated with consumers' uncertainty of purchase outcomes. While in a store, consumers may physically inspect garments before making a purchase decision. However, when shopping via catalog, consumers must rely upon pictures and written descriptions to evaluate garments' color, style, fit, and overall appearance. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate ways that information within Norm Thompson catalog apparel descriptions can be presented in order to increase the perceived ability to evaluate specific garment characteristics and to decrease the amount of perceived risk associated with catalog apparel purchases by a sample of women in Oregon. The research project proceeded in two phases: focus groups and an experiment. In the first phase, focus groups were conducted in which female participants evaluated written word descriptions of four apparel items within a Norm Thompson catalog: pants, jacket, blouse, and turtleneck. The first objective of the focus group sessions was to identify what information within the catalog was important to a sample of female consumers. The second objective was to identify what important information was unclear to the sample and to investigate ways to clarify such information. Three focus groups were conducted with a total of seventeen female participants. The information most important to them when making catalog apparel purchase decisions included garment sizing and fit, color, fabric and fiber content, style and detail, country of origin, and laundering instructions. Based upon the focus group participants' suggestions, the researcher altered the garment descriptions to better communicate the information important to the participants. The pant and blouse descriptions were altered to include more specific fabric and fiber content information. The jacket and turtleneck descriptions were altered to include more specific sizing and fit information. The original and altered descriptions were used in the experiment phase. The experiment was a between subjects, repeated measures design with two independent variables: the type of description, original or altered, that subjects were exposed to and whether or not subjects were exposed to a Norm Thompson catalog cover page. Four different catalog formats resulted. Women from a sorority alumnae mailing list were randomly assigned to the four treatment groups. All four catalog formats were accompanied by a rating scale that measured subjects' perceived ability to evaluate specific garment characteristics, such as garment fabric and fiber content and garment sizing and fit, and the degree of risk subjects associated with the purchase of each of the four garments described within the simulated catalog. The third and fourth objectives of the study were addressed in the experiment phase of the study. The third objective was to determine if a sample of female consumers' perceived ability to evaluate specific characteristics of a garment, such as fabric and fiber content or sizing and fit, was a function of the type of written description to which they were exposed. As hypothesized, subjects who were exposed to the altered pant and the altered blouse descriptions perceived greater ability to evaluate the fabric and fiber content of the pants and the blouse. However, contrary to what was hypothesized, subjects exposed to the altered jacket and turtleneck descriptions did not perceive greater ability to evaluate the sizing and fit of the jacket and turtleneck. The fourth objective was to determine if a sample of female consumers' perceived risk regarding the purchase of the catalog apparel items under investigation was a function of the type of description to which they were exposed and whether or not they were exposed to a Norm Thompson catalog cover page, with perceived risk less for subjects exposed to the altered descriptions and less for subjects exposed to the Norm Thompson catalog cover page. None of the four hypotheses pertaining to the fourth objective were supported. Subjects exposed to the altered pant, jacket, blouse, and turtleneck descriptions did not perceive a lesser degree of risk than subjects exposed to the original descriptions. Furthermore, subjects exposed to the Norm Thompson catalog cover page did not perceive a lesser degree of risk than subjects not exposed to the Norm Thompson catalog cover page. Experiment results did not support data from the focus groups phase and data from past research. A focus group methodology, as opposed to an experiment, seemed to attain the most valuable data. It is advisable that in the future, focus groups be conducted to identify ways to better communicate garment information about sizing and fit, fabric and fiber content, style and detail, and color. Furthermore, catalog apparel retailers may use the information extracted in the focus groups phase of the present study to better understand the information needs of female consumers and to improve their catalog layouts. / Graduation date: 1997

Thesis (M.S.)--Utah State University, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of History, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.