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The purpose of this paper is to explore experiences with shopping for apparel among mothers of young girls who wear plus sizes.

A qualitative approach was employed to collect data, including in-depth interviews and online observation. Interviews were conducted with mothers because the literature indicates that they typically function as intermediaries between social forces and their children’s developing perceptions of self.

Three primary emergent themes were used to structure the interpretation: the style factor, a good fit and working around the label. Findings of this study reveal the extent to which the mothers face challenges in finding stylish, age appropriate and well-fitting plus-sized clothing for their young daughters, despite the increasing number of retailers offering expanded children’s sizes.

Despite the notable increase in children who wear plus sizes, there has been little research on the needs of this group, and particularly among those of early (3–5 years) and middle childhood (6–11 years). Although research on plus sizes among adolescents is on the increase, the difficulties of conducting research with younger children in general have likely resulted in a gap in knowledge about their plus-size apparel needs. However, this study offers new insight on the topic of plus sizes in apparel from the perspective of parents as household consumption decision makers.

The purpose of this paper is to explore apparel-related issues experienced by plus-size female teens around the functional, expressive, and aesthetic consumer needs model. The goal was to uncover any issues which have interfered with or restricted apparel purchases.

A mixed methods research design was employed to collect body measurements with the use of a 3D body scanner and conduct in-depth interviews with a convenience sample of 30 plus-size females aged 12-17 years and their families.

The current US sizing system does not fully meet the measurement needs of this study group. Functional fit requirements often dictate the apparel purchased by plus-size female teens. Expressive and aesthetic desires often go unfulfilled by the apparel that satisfied their functional needs. Confusion over apparel size designations interfered with brand and store loyalty and resulted in fewer purchases from both physical and online stores.

Plus-sizes are the fastest growing segment of apparel and offer brands and retailers substantial opportunity for market growth. Plus-size female teens desire to increase their apparel purchases, but have been hindered by certain product development and merchandising practices. Participants made suggestions for brands and retailers to increase sales in the plus-size female teen market.

This study is unique by uncovering previously unknown issues regarding apparel fit and purchase behaviors of the plus-size female teens as well as relating participant’s advice to the apparel industry on this target market.

The purpose of this paper is to assess tall women's satisfaction with the fit and style of apparel for tall women.

A total of 75 US women, who were at least 5 feet 8 inches and between 18 and 54 years old, were asked to rate their level of satisfaction with misses‐size and tall‐size apparel, in general, and with seven garment categories (jackets/blazers/coats, button‐up blouses, pullover tops/sweaters, skirts, jeans, pants, lingerie).

T‐tests revealed that participants were more satisfied with the fit of tall‐size apparel than with the fit of misses‐size apparel, but were more satisfied with the style of misses‐size than with the style of tall‐size apparel. In addition, participants most frequently used the misses‐size designation to purchase clothing and rated style as more important than fit. Despite reported dissatisfaction with the fit of misses‐size apparel, participants appeared willing to sacrifice fit to have the desired styles.

The study was limited to US women in Southwestern Virginia. Thus preferences affected by regional product offerings may be reflected in the responses.

The paper provides discussion on implications of mass customization in resolving the conflict tall women report between the desire for properly fitting apparel and the desire for current style trends.

No existing empirical research has examined tall women's satisfaction with products specifically designed for their special anthropometric and style preference needs. This research serves as the foundation for extending research for the market segment from an applied and basic research approach.

The concept of developing clothing sizes has taken importance in recent years due to increasing expectations of consumers for branded clothing and its value in terms of fit and durability. The kids’ ready-to-wear brands are expected to pose the least fit issues, thereby covering a wider population of a particular size. This necessitates the standardization of measurements. The lack of standardized approaches has caused fit issues like mismatching of sizes and alterations, in a heterogenous consumer market, like India. The performance of branded apparel depends on the quality of the measurements considered in developing sizes and the approach for standardization. There is a lacuna in the measurements used by the kids’ apparel domestic brands. This study aims to propose an anthropometric approach for deriving quality measurements that can be used effectively in developing kids’ sizes to fit a wider population of kids, thereby reducing the need for alterations.

The measurement data was gathered through the quantitative method. An anthropometric survey was conducted by measuring school kids. A total of 544 kids (girls and boys) of age group 6–8 years were measured to obtain prime anthropometric measurements required for ready-to-wear apparel production. WHO manual and ISO 8559, 1998 meant for anthropometry survey for garment industry was referred for accurate measuring following the landmarks for measuring.

The findings revealed differences in the anthropometric measurements based on gender and age. The anthropometric measurements showed variations within the same body mass index (BMI) range. S, M and L sizes were identified within an age group. The apparel manufacturers and designers need to focus on the discrepancies occurring in the body measurements of an age group to address and control fit issues in kids ready to wear apparel.

The anthropometric approach can be significantly used to control undesired fit and comfort issues in kids’ ready-to-wear apparel.

This study helped to understand the importance of scientific measuring practices to arrive at standardized measurements to develop sizes in ready-to-wear apparel manufacturing.

This study measures the levels of satisfaction regarding retail attributes and apparel fit among speciality‐size (petite, tall, large) college women. Previous studies have measured satisfaction among older speciality‐size women, but none has focused on younger women. The study utilised a conceptual framework based on Renoux's theory of retail satisfaction which consisted of three dimensions: shopping system satisfaction, buying system satisfaction, and consuming system satisfaction. Renoux's theory of retail satisfaction was applied to speciality‐size college women when considering apparel purchases. Female students from nine geographically diverse universities completed the questionnaire. The 358 respondents were categorised into three speciality‐size groups based on their height or clothing size. Respondents who were not categorised as being speciality‐size were placed in an average category. Analyses of variance were used to measure the levels of satisfaction. Findings indicated large‐size college females were the only group who had significant dissatisfaction in regard to shopping and buying systems (retail attributes). The results were surprising because there are numerous stores specifically targeted to large‐size females; however, these stores do not appear to be satisfactorily meeting the needs of the large‐size college females who participated in this study. Petite, tall and large‐size college females indicated dissatisfaction with various apparel fit variables, with the large‐size group being most dissatisfied. The results indicated that apparel manufacturers should re‐evaluate their sizing standards; perhaps a universal, international sizing standard is warranted.

This study aims to probe customers’ expectations and explore discrepancies across various domestic kids’ ready to wear (RTW) apparel brands for measurements, fit, shape and labelling/nomenclature.

Data were collected through qualitative and quantitative methods. Interviews were held with the consumers to understand their perceptions and expectations with the kids’ wear brands for measurements, fit and labelling. The approach had a twofolded purpose of addressing the consumers’ dissatisfaction and the apparel manufacturer’s perspective.

The results indicated that 87% of consumers gave importance to well-fitted apparel. The apparel brands considered for the study showed inconsistency and discrepancies in the measurements, leading to consumer dissatisfaction and frustrations.

The findings of the study may be useful for fashion academia, kids RTW apparel manufacturers and designers who can relate to the role of standard measurements and the varying body shapes in RTW apparel. They can work closer to develop innovative practices focusing on the fit challenges in kids RTW apparel.

The implication of the lack of any standard measurement for Indian kids for apparel is well-established in the study.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze petite women’s body size and figure and investigate whether current petite sizing charts accurately reflect actual petit size women’s bodies. This study also categorizes petite women’s body shapes and suggests primary body measurements as a base size for each shape. The ultimate goal is to suggest fundamental body measurements for apparel companies to modify and improve their sizing.

This study used data from SizeUSA data to compare body measurements of 18-35-year-old petite women to regular women. The authors compared the results to measurement differences between petite and regular sizing charts of 14 apparel companies. Then, using the principal component analysis and cluster analysis, the authors classified petite women’s body shapes. Body measurements for each body type are contrasted with the current petite sizing charts, and then, the authors present differences as suggestions for modification and improvement of petite sizing.

Industry sizing system do not generally represent average petite size women preciously except for stature. Within the petite women, four body types were identified (top petite: 30.0 percent, bottom petite: 30.8 percent, regular petite: 23.6 percent, and plus size: 15.4 percent). Of the four groups, the ASTM D7878 generally represented the “top petite” sizing.

It is the first to analyze the industry petite sizing system utilizing population data and focus petite sizing for women aged 18-35. The authors believe this study could draw attention of the apparel industry, providing companies with ideas of how to improve their petite sizing for young women.

Beside the development of technology and accessibility, ease of use, ability to reach various products and compare many products at the same time make online shopping even more popular. Despite the great advantages provided by online shopping for either consumers or retailers, there are certain issues that must be solved to improve online shopping advantages. Finding right size is one of the biggest barriers against apparel online retailing. Since the use of apparels is directly related with fitting, choosing right size is becoming more critical for retailers and consumers. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the solution of the problem.

For the study, the specific size measurements of male shirts (collar, shoulder, chest, waist, arm length in cm) from four different sizes (small, medium, large, x-large) and from eight different brands were collected and stored in a database. Totally, weight, height and body measurements (collar, shoulder, chest, waist and arm length in cm) of 80 male candidates, between the ages of 18 and 35, were measured individually. These data were then used for experiments.

Any product with known measurements can be compared with users’ body measurement based on fuzzy logic rule and the best-fitted size can be selected for users. Similarly, using the proposed web design, users are able to see desired products on users with similar body type.

In this study, a new mathematical method based on fuzzy relations for apparel size finder is proposed. Beside, this method can group users based on body measurements in order to find people with similar size.

This study seeks to examine the effects product presentation types on consumer's perceived risk reduction about apparel attributes (i.e. silhouette, colour, texture, and fit), and the effect of 3D virtual models' body shapes on consumer's perceived risk reduction about apparel fit. Internet shopping trust and consumer's actual body size have been considered as moderating variables, respectively.

Three types of web sites were developed for the experiment. Participants were recruited by a survey firm, explored the web sites, and filled out online questionnaires.

3D virtual models significantly reduce perceived risk about the four apparel attributes more than 2D images. Especially, they are effective to reduce perceived risk about apparel fit when their bodies represent a consumer's actual body shape.

This study verifies the informative role of 3D virtual models in apparel shopping. The implications related to the usage of the technology and the suggestions for future research are discussed.

Plus size clothing is becoming a fashion trend worldwide due to the body positivity movement sparked off by the growing obesity rates and fat shaming incidents reported around the world. Although the problems relating to plus size clothing in the global context have been addressed, thereby establishing certain norms in the market, none of this work has proved helpful in assessing the level of customer satisfaction in the Sri Lankan plus size market. In view of this lacuna, this paper aims to probe customer preferences and identify the problems currently prevailing in the plus size women’s wear fashion market in Sri Lanka.

Data were gathered through both qualitative and quantitative methods. For this purpose, visits were made to several fashion outlets in the Colombo area offering plus size clothing to observe the available product categories, size ranges, fabrics, finishing methods and designs at each outlet. A closed-ended questionnaire survey was conducted to identify the perception of the customers on the current plus size fashion market. Semi-structured interviews with designers working at selected Sri Lankan fashion brands that catered to the plus size market were carried out to acquire an understanding of the current plus size fashion industry from the garment manufacturer’s perspective and to learn about the current construction techniques in the industry.

The results indicated that 55.6% of the plus size women who participated in the survey were either dissatisfied or only moderately satisfied with the current products available in the Sri Lankan market. The major cause for the dissatisfaction was the inability to find well-fitting clothes to suit their body proportions and the unavailability of trendy, fashionable clothes. Ideally, they preferred fashionable, comfortable, well-fitting and good quality garments. Unavailability of standardized sizing methods and lack of up-to-date information on the female body were identified as the main issues in the Sri Lankan plus size women’s wear market. Therefore, the necessity for a standardized size chart for plus size women based on Sri Lankan anthropometric data was emphasized by designers.

The findings will be useful for the Sri Lankan apparel producers as well as retailers as they will have a better understanding of not only the fit and aesthetic preferences but also the overall shopping preferences of plus size women. This will help them to develop marketing strategies to cater to this Sri Lankan niche market segment, as currently there is no documented information on plus size Sri Lankan women’s clothing preferences.