The body as separates : an exploration in women#039;s size definitions for mass market apparel based on the body as separate parts

摘要

This research has been undertaken by theoretical and practical investigation via a critique of the historical and contemporary topics surrounding women’s apparel size definitions. This analysis has informed the development of an alternative size model to assist design and production of mass market apparel. It is broadly considered in industry, fashion education and popular media that the fit of women’s clothing sold in Australia is inconsistent and does not conform to a size standard. The current technical framework that directs the design and production of apparel is a flawed model based on an obsolete clothing standard, inherited practice and professional assumptions. The essence of this research investigates from a practitioner’s perspective, alternate approaches to, and views of, apparel size by prototyping models that facilitate a self-determined quantifiable approach. It explores whether anthropometric diversity rather than conformity can be represented and how to approach size definition outside the standardisation framework. The most significant body of knowledge has evolved around the unearthing of the methodology employed by the Berlei Corset Company to develop their typological shape model in 1927. Whilst the Berlei Corset Company has been the subject of previous scholarly studies, this is the first time it has been examined with a view to assessing its value in terms of workplace innovation as well as its cultural and historical value. The practical research models draw much from the analysis of the Berlei Figure Type Indicator as a catalyst in rethinking size classifications for apparel development. The Berlei anthropometric research has directly informed this project and provided the greatest methodological direction in quantifying the body as separates model.