Research focused upon the availability of ready-to-wear clothing for elderly arthritic women. The purpose was to determine if the clothing design features recommended by the sample of elderly women were present in garments illustrated in two mass merchandisers' catalogs between 1971 and 1981. / Data were obtained through (a) an interview with a sample of thirty elderly arthritic women in Tallahassee, Florida and (b) selected fall and spring catalogs available through two major mass merchandisers. Only outerwear garments in the Misses and Women's sections of the catalogs were used. / Chi-square tests showed significant differences in the number of garments illustrated in each mass merchandisers' catalog, the number of garments in each size range, and the number of garments available from one year to the next. There were significant differences between the degree of stiffness noted in the joints and the waistline and jacket and sweater features preferred. There were no differences between the type of arthritis and the clothing design preferences. / Arthritic women, regardless of type of arthritis, preferred simple, classic styles such as A-line dresses and skirts, flared pants and cardigan sweaters. Spearman rank correlation coefficient indicated a significant relationship between jacket styles preferred by the sample and the styles available in the catalogs. Although there was a relationship between the other clothing design features available and those preferred, no significance was shown at the .05 level. / Choice of clothing design features were influenced to some extent, by the presence of arthritis, availability and changes accompanying aging. Availability of clothing features were influenced by season of the year, mass merchandiser, size ranges and fashion. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-11, Section: B, page: 4376. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_74706 |
| Contributors | FARQUHAR, DIANA MARIE., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 192 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
Page generated in 0.0017 seconds