Search results

A minority of consumers, the heavy users, account for the bulk of purchases in many product categories. The present paper applies the concept of heavy usage to the study of clothing purchase because little scholarly research has attempted to define general characteristics of heavy clothing spenders. Data from two surveys of adult women (n = 641 and 285) showed that those who spent more were more likely to be fashion innovators, shopped more for clothes and had higher fashion media exposure. Few demographic characteristics, however, distinguished these women from light and non‐users. These findings may be useful to managers seeking to market to the heavy users of clothing and to clothing theorists developing theories of clothing usage.

Undesirable garment drape often occurs because of the manufacturer’s desire to save fabric by rotating patterns to position them more closely in the marker, and thus cutting the garment off‐grain. This study was designed to subjectively and objectively measure the effect of grain alignment on fabric and garment drape. Data from an apparel industry survey were utilized to establish tilt values for quantitative analysis of drape and shear. Twelve tilt combinations were examined. No significant differences were found between drape values of control samples and those with tilt variations. Generally, shear stiffness and hysteresis values increased as tilt angles increased across all fabrics. Asymmetry of shear curves also increased. Twenty‐one apparel design students subjectively evaluated fabrics draped on a pedestal and skirts constructed in each tilt variation. Fabric drape amount evaluations were more highly correlated with drape values than were drape preference evaluations. Advanced design students were more sensitive to small differences in garment drape than were beginning students.

This paper reports on the effects of laundering on physical properties (pilling and edge abrasion) of washed denim fabrics.

Garment washed denim blue jeans were subjected to repeated launderings; the effects of the cycles on pilling and edge abrasion were determined. Data were collected by means of a laboratory experimental factorial design. Analysis of variance was used to determine significant differences in the three garment washed treatments; pre‐washed, stone washed and enzyme treated blue jeans. Duncan's test of multiple range determined the source of significance.

The pre‐washed jeans were more prone to pilling than the enzyme and stone washed jeans. On the other hand, the pre‐washed jeans experienced the least amount of edge abrasion while the stone washed experienced the most.

The results can be used by the denim garment manufacturers to design and engineer their products to suit the customer demands.

Jeans are an important part of a consumer's wardrobe and a large portion of denim garments are manufactured with some type of garment wash treatment. Results of this study will provide denim garment manufacturers with pilling and abrasion information regarding garment washing treatments to allow them to utilize the garment treatment that best meets their needs.

This study investigates if females fashion leaders and fashion followers differ in their attitudes toward buying imported and domestic apparel products. A sample of 283 female consumers between 18 and 25 years of age completed a mailed questionnaire. Repeated measures analysis of variance and t‐tests were performed to determine if differences exist between fashion followers and leaders regarding their attitudes toward buying domestic and imported apparel. Results showed that fashion followers have the same overall attitude toward buying American or imported apparel. However, fashion leaders have a more positive attitude toward buying imported apparel than buying domestic apparel. In addition, fashion followers and fashion leaders have similar attitudes toward buying American apparel, but fashion leaders have a significantly more positive attitude than followers toward buying imported apparel.

The purpose of this study was to explore the dimensions of apparel manufacturing strategy (i.e. cost, quality, flexibility, delivery time) and their relationship to style and sewing systems. U.S. apparel producers are seeking strategies that will make their production competitive to production in low wage countries. Two style types were defined: new styles and standardized styles. Results indicated that the production of new styles of apparel is related to the manufacturing dimensions of quality and delivery. The standardized style is related to the dimension of cost. Significant associations were also found between the multiple‐sewing systems used by plants and dimensions of manufacturing strategy (cost, delivery, and flexibility).

Describes the results of a survey of 281 adult women in the state of Florida. We used the 15 adjective pairs of the Malhotra self‐concept scale to measure their self‐image. A valid and reliable self‐report scale measured their fashion innovativeness, thus identifying those consumers most likely to buy new fashions after they first appear in the market. T‐tests compared the mean scores on the self‐image adjective pairs between 30 innovators and 251 later adopters. Pearson correlation analysis was also performed. The results of both analyses showed that the fashion innovators described themselves uniquely as more comfortable, pleasant, contemporary, formal, colorful, and vain than the later adopters. The results were quite consistent with an earlier published study of college students, lending confidence to this approach to profiling fashion innovators and suggesting that using self‐image could be a fruitful way to appeal to these important consumers.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of laundering on the drape, shear, and bending properties of bottom weight fabrics.

Six bottom‐weight 100 percent cotton fabrics were included. Collier's Drape Tester was utilized to obtain drape values. Bending and shear values were measured on the KES‐F Shear Tester and the Pure Bending Tester. Three laundering cycles (unlaundered, one and five home launderings) following AATCC methods were explored.

Laundry cycle did not have a significant effect on fabric drape, shear or bending properties. However, drape values increased overall, while shear and bending modulus and hysteresis decreased, resulting in a more drapable, pliable fabric after five laundry cycles.

Future research examining a wider variety of fabrics and conducting a greater number of laundry cycles to approximate an average yearly number of laundry cycles is recommended. An expansion of this preliminary study should give more conclusive evidence of the trends observed.

Objective measurement of drape and fabric mechanical properties related to drape after laundry treatments would assist the apparel manufacturer in developing laundry recommendations based on the fabric's performance and in selecting fabrics which maintain their drape characteristics, mechanical properties, and dimensional stability with use. Higher quality garments with increased consumer satisfaction would result.

Life studies are a rich source for further research on the role of the Afro‐American woman in society. They are especially useful to gain a better understanding of the Afro‐American experience and to show the joys, sorrows, needs, and ideals of the Afro‐American woman as she struggles from day to day.

Purpose – This chapter explores the work of one expert seventh-grade science teacher, Ann, as she used the gradual release of responsibility (GRR) to develop students’ knowledge and use of science language and conceptual knowledge. Ann’s use of scaffolds such as thoughtful definition, classroom discussion, and writing frameworks is explored, as well as her methods of incorporating language into science inquiry, and the evidence she gathered as proof of learning. Her instructional decision-making and specific instructional actions are analyzed to describe the ways she gradually guided students from heavily scaffolded learning opportunities, through guided practice with extensive modeling, and ultimately to independent and accurate use of science language and conceptual knowledge in spoken and written discourse.

Design/methodology/approach – In a researcher/teacher partnership modeled on the practice embedded educational research (PEER) framework (Snow, 2015) the author worked with Ann over four school years, collecting data that included interviews, Ann’s teaching journal, student artifacts, and vocabulary pre/post-assessments. The initial task of the partnership was review of science standards and curricular documents and analysis of disciplinary language in seventh-grade science in order to construct a classroom science vocabulary assessment that incorporated a scaffolded format to build incremental knowledge of science words. Results of 126 students’ pre/post scores on the vocabulary assessment were analyzed using quantitative methods, and interviews and the teaching journal were analyzed using qualitative techniques. Student artifacts support and triangulate the quantitative and qualitative analyses.

Findings – Analysis of students’ pre/post-scores on the vocabulary assessment supported the incremental nature of vocabulary learning and the value of a scaffolded assessment. Improvement in ability to choose a one-word definition and choose a sentence-length definition had significant and positive effect on students’ ability to write a sentence using a focus science word correctly to demonstrate science conceptual knowledge. Female students performed just as well as male students: a finding that differs from other vocabulary intervention research. Additionally, Ann’s use of scaffolded, collaborative methods during classroom discussion and writing led to improved student knowledge of science language and the concepts it labels, as evident in students’ responses during discussion and their writing in science inquiry reports and science journals.

Research limitations – These data were collected from students in one science teacher’s classroom, limiting generalization. However, the expertise of this teacher renders her judgments useful to other teachers and teacher trainers, despite the limited context of this research.

Practical implications – Science knowledge is enhanced when language and science inquiry coexist, but the language of science often presents a barrier to learning science, and there are significant student achievement gaps in science learning across race, ethnicity, and gender. Researchers have described ways to make explicit connections between science language, concepts, and knowledge, transcending the gaps and leveling the playing field for all students. Analysis of Ann’s teaching practice, drawn from four years of teacher and student data, provides specific and practical ways of doing this in a real science classroom. Scaffolding, modeling, and co-construction of learning are key.

Originality/value of paper – This chapter details the methods one expert teacher used to make her own learning the object of inquiry, simultaneously developing the insights and the strategies she needed to mentor students. It describes how Ann infused the GRR into planning and instruction to create learning experiences that insured student success, even if only at incremental levels. Ann’s methods can thus become a model for other teachers who wish to enhance their students’ learning of science language and concepts through infusion of literacy activity.

Randall W. Eberts, Ph.D., is the executive director of the W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, Kalamazoo, Michigan.Mary Hatwood Futrell, Ed.D., is president of Education International (EI), headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, and dean of the Graduate School of Education and Human Development at George Washington University, Washington, DC.Bob Harris, M.A., Dip.T (Sec.), (Australia), advanced study at the Institut Universitaire des Hautes Etudes Internationales, Geneva, is a former EI executive director and current senior consultant based in Nyon, Switzerland.Ronald D. Henderson, Ph.D., is the director of the Research Department at the National Education Association, Washington, DC.Rachel Hendrickson, Ph.D., is the higher education coordinator in the Membership and Organizing Department at the National Education Association, Washington, DC.Kevin Hollenbeck, Ph.D., is a senior economist and director of publications at the W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, Kalamazoo, Michigan.Susan Moore Johnson, Ed.D., is Carl H. Pforzheimer, Jr., Professor of Teaching and Learning at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Charles T. Kerchner, Ph.D., is Hollis P. Allen Professor of Education at the Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, California.Julia E. Koppich, Ph.D., is president of Koppich & Associates, an education policy research and consulting firm, in San Francisco, California.Carrie M. Lewis, J.D., is a senior writer-editor in the Government Relations Department at the National Education Association, Washington, DC.Christine Maitland, Ph.D., is a former higher education coordinator for the National Education Association who now works on higher education issues with the NEA’s Pacific Regional Office in Burlingame, California.Christine E. Murray, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Education and Human Development and dean of the School of Professions, State University of New York College at Brockport.Diane Shust, J.D., M.S.Ed., is the director of the Government Relations Department at the National Education Association, Washington, DC.Joe A. Stone, Ph.D., is W. E. Miner Professor of Economics at the University of Oregon, Eugene.Wayne J. Urban, Ph.D., is Regents’ Professor of Education in the Department of Educational Policy Studies at Georgia State University, Atlanta.Fred van Leeuwen is the general secretary of Education International, Brussels, Belgium.Maris A. Vinovskis, Ph.D., is Bentley Professor of History, senior research scientist at the Institute for Social Research, and faculty member of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Paul Wolman, Ph.D., is a senior policy analyst in the Research Department at the National Education Association, Washington, DC.