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A suitable dress form is necessary for patternmaking when manufacturing a garment for the global market. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the similarities and differences in visual impressions and preferences of dress forms between Japanese and British female university students.

The authors carried out sensory evaluations of the visual impressions of dress forms using images of four forms made in Japan, France, the UK and the USA. The participants (18 Japanese and 11 British female university students in their 20s) assessed them using the semantic differential method. In total, 22 adjective pairs concerning style, image and preference factors were used. The authors performed a principal component analysis on the results for style and image. For preference factors, one-way analysis of variance was used to analyze whether there was a difference in preference between the dress forms.

The Japanese students evaluated dress forms by considering balance and cool (fashionable) as the first principal component, and frailty and delicacy as the second. A large bust-to-waist ratio strengthens the impression of the latter component. The Japanese preferred dress forms of the kind worn by fashion models. Their preference was heavily influenced by the first principal component, but this preference decreased when the dress form evinced a weak impression. The British students assessed dress forms using healthy and cool (fashionable) as the first principal component, and frail and thin body as the second. A ratio of the width of the shoulder to that of the waist (at the front) of 1.6:1 and a rounded back shape from the side view were considered healthy.

These results can help understand the Japanese and British customers’ impressions and preferences on the dress form. Moreover, apparel manufacturers choose a suitable dress form to manufacture garments for the global market, by considering similarities and differences in people’s preferences.

To suggest a garment for a wider market, the purpose of this paper is to assess the appearance of garments manufactured by a combination of four methods of flat pattern making and four dress forms from different countries. The paper also compares Japanese and British women’s evaluations of these garments’ appearances.

The authors made 16 garments by combining 4 pattern making methods with measurements from 4 dress forms and evaluated their appearance. The four dress forms were from Japan (Kiiya, called “Kii”), France (Siegel & Stockman, called “St”), the UK (Kennett & Lindsell, called “KL”) and the USA (Wolf Form, called “Wo”), and the four pattern making methods were from Japan (Bunka), Italy (Secoli), France (ESMOD) and the USA (Fashion Institute of Technology, called “FIT”). The authors captured 64 sets of pictures of the 16 garments with the 4 dress forms from the front and the side. The authors then showed images of the four garments made using the same pattern making method with measurements from the four dress forms to subjects for assessment. The subjects – 15 Japanese and 11 British women in their 20s – ranked the pictures in descending order of appearance.

Subjects from both countries rated garments manufactured using the Bunka and Secoli pattern making methods with the Kii and KL dress forms, and those made using ESMOD and FIT with St and Wo as the highest, even though the dress forms used for pattern making and those for wearing were not coincident. On the contrary, many garments made using Bunka and Secoli with St and Wo, and those made using ESMOD and FIT with Kii and KL were rated lowest in terms of appearance, even though the target dress form and wearing dress form were coincident. Therefore, there are appropriate body measurements for each pattern making method that can render the relevant garment more attractive, likely because these measurements are derived from assumed body proportions in the pattern making method of each country.

Although the evaluation of the appearance of garments is an important factor in garment manufacture, scant research has addressed this issue. Moreover, the comparison between Japanese and British women provided here will help manufacturers make garments that are more attractive to people in both countries.