Submitted in Partial Compliance with the Requirements for the Masters of Technology: Fashion at the Durban University of Technology, 2006. / The purpose of this study was to investigate the eveningwear preferences of single women (unmarried, divorced, widowed), between the ages of 25 and 40, who live/work in the Durban Metropolitan area. This study aimed to uncover the factors that influence the eveningwear purchase decisions of single women in the hope of proposing practical changes in retail eveningwear design. These influences were investigated in the light of social-psychological factors and centred on the concept of dress as a phenomenon of visual communication. / M