NTC Project: S02-CD04 (Formerly I02-E04)
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Sensory Science: Social and Physical Interactions in Textile Evaluation
Project Team:
Leader:
Email:
Members:
Susan Kaiser, U.C. Davis, Social and cultural aspects of clothing and
textiles
sbkaiser@ucdavis.edu Phone: (530) 752-9277
Ning Pan, U.C. Davis, Fiber science and mathematical modeling
Joan Chandler, U.C. Davis, Consumer studies of textiles
Janet Hethorn, U. of Delaware, Visual analysis; garment fit
Goal Statement:
The goal of this project is to develop an interdisciplinary model integrating social and physical
dimensions of human sensory (e.g., tactile, visual) responses to textiles in both two-dimensional and
three-dimensional forms.
Abstract:
A significant portion of the value added to textiles is sensory in nature. In this project, we are
developing a sensory science framework to understand the relationships between physical properties
and human perceptions. This study requires an interdisciplinary approach, and our overall goal is to
develop an interactive analysis of how mechanical and tactile evaluations of two-dimensional fabrics
map with three-dimensional fit and comfort. This project will also enable us to link physical and
perceptual measurements, and quantitative and qualitative data. One part of the research involves
developing a relational model between (a) consumer tactile and visual evaluations of various denim
fabrics commonly used in jeans and (b) the physical fabric “fingerprints” of these same fabrics. In
this third and final year of the project, we will fully characterize a set of fabrics using this relational
model and then extend the model to incorporate physical and perceptual dimensions of fit and
comfort (in the form of pants worn on human subjects’ bodies). Further, wearers’ and perceivers’
evaluations of fit will be assessed and compared in order to interpret the interplay between visual
and tactile sensory responses.
Initial Study: Consumer Evaluations
We began this project with a focus on consumer evaluations. Specifically, we first focused on
sensory perceptions of jeans—an article of clothing that is especially meaningful to many
consumers, especially university students. Because previous studies have indicated that softness is a
key factor in organizing consumer perceptions of textiles (Pan et al., 1998), we focused our analysis
on the softness of jeans as they appear in store websites and as they look and feel in three
dimensional “real life.” In the first phase of the project, we examined how the softness of jeans is
National Textile Center Annual Report: November 2004
NTC Project: S02-CD04 (Formerly I02-E04)
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communicated and perceived—visually in terms of media imagery, and in both visual and tactile
evaluations of actual jeans. The goals of this project were to (a) determine the differences in
perceptions of softness between jeans designed for males and females, and (b) compare perceptions
of softness between website images and actual jeans.
The respondents were students in a general education class at the University of California, Davis.
Because we found no significant differences in the students’ perceptions as a function of their
gender, we collapsed their responses in the data below. The students were ethnically diverse and the
average age was 20.9 years.
We showed the 68 respondents six images of jeans (one female and one male pair) from each of
three popular store websites: J. Crew, Abercrombie and Fitch, and GAP. The respondent rated the
image of the jeans on softness, durability, and preference on 7-point semantic differential scales.
After viewing each of the six images from the websites and completing the scales, the respondents
were shown the actual garments and asked to complete a similar set of semantic differential scales
related to the physical garment’s look and feel. We wanted to determine their perceptions and
expectations based on the images of the jeans on a website compared to the actual jeans. Focus
group interviews were conducted to understand the subjects’ feelings about favorite clothes, jeans,
and shopping behavior. These interviews helped to explain how people shop for jeans, as well as
their preferences and perceptions of softness and other qualities such as durability.
Findings
Generally women’s jeans are perceived as softer than males. However, there are some discrepancies
between the website perceptions (i.e., the expectations) and the actual perceptions (i.e., the look and
the feel of the real jeans). The direction of the discrepancies (i.e., whether the jeans feel softer than
expected, or vice versa) appears to be influenced by issues associated with gender stereotypes and
advertising/brand imagery, as well as based on the websites’ abilities to communicate softness
visually (e.g., through fading, degree of darkness).
Continuing Work
Fabric Fingerprints
We measured the denim fabrics’ (derived from the above jeans) sensory-related variables
mechanically (physically), in order to map these with the consumer (social) responses. We used the
fabric fingerprinting method of Pan et al. (1993). This method details the overall sensory evaluation
of fabric performance as a graphical technique using circular diagrams that “fingerprint” or
characterize fabrics. A number of physical tests (tensile, bending, shearing, compression and fabric
thickness, and frictional) are performed on a fabric in addition to determining parameters similar to
the Kawabata system. Then the measurements are correlated with fabric performance using
multivariate analysis. The physical testing results are mapped on a circular chart with each having an
axis coming from the center. The resulting chart gives a visual representation of the physical
National Textile Center Annual Report: November 2004
NTC Project: S02-CD04 (Formerly I02-E04)
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measurements of a fabric and that chart can be compared to the charts or “fingerprints” of other
fabrics. Previous work by Pan et al. (1998) has suggested that the method correlates well with
consumer tactile evaluations of fabrics.
We cut samples from the same six jeans that were included in the above consumer analysis. The
samples were tested on the Instron tester for their tensile, compression, bending, and shearing
properties, and on the KES-FB friction tester for their friction properties. From the resulting
mechanical data, a fabric fingerprint was produced for each fabric. We then compared the fingerprint
data with consumer responses. By way of example, the physical data and corresponding fingerprints
for the women’s and men’s GAP jeans are included below:
GAP
W
RC (%)
1.00
MMD
T
0.50
MIU
2HG
0.00
2HB
LT
RT (%)
WT
National Textile Center Annual Report: November 2004
NTC Project: S02-CD04 (Formerly I02-E04)
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GAP
M
RC (%)
1.00
MMD
T
0.50
MIU
2HG
0.00
2HB
LT
RT (%)
WT
As revealed by the above fingerprints, as well as the consumer data, the men’s and women’s
GAP jeans vary in their physical and perceptual properties. We are continuing to relate the two
more directly in order to determine how a combination of mechanical measurements can predict
consumer response.
Fit, Comfort, Brand, and Social Context
To delve more deeply into the question of how brand and social context influence consumer
perceptions of fit and comfort, a pilot test was conducted with 33 consumers. These questions
covered issues such as brands of jeans and the associations that accompany these brands, how
students mix and match their jeans with other items of clothing and brands, when and where students
wear jeans, and to what extent they consider jeans “flexible”—physically and socially. Building on
this pilot study and previous research (Freitas et al., 1997; Kaiser et al., 1993), data were collected at
the University of Delaware in the early Fall of 2003. Seventy-three students were asked to develop
collages using at least five images from magazines, catalogs or any other visual source. They were
also asked to provide five words that describe their personal styles. In subsequent focus groups, the
students discussed issues of fit, shopping, brands, comfort, styles, and other issues associated with
why they do or do not wear jeans and which brands they prefer. These data were analyzed, and a
similar protocol was used in a comparative study at the University of California at Davis in the Fall
of 2003.
National Textile Center Annual Report: November 2004
NTC Project: S02-CD04 (Formerly I02-E04)
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Jeans: Three Dimensional Fit
There is a complex relationship between young women and their (tight) clothing. Since ancient
times, women have worn restrictive garments such as corsets to communicate femininity, beauty,
youth and social status. The ambiguous relationship between women and their (tight) clothing
reflects an ancient ideal (the origin of the corset is said to be Minoan Crete) and the value of social
comfort for certain groups of consumers. This phase of the study examines jeans as a source of
physical restriction and the ways that young women articulate their identity through fit.
Fit is probably the most significant factor when it comes to buying a pair of jeans. No matter how
good a price is or how great a pair of jeans looks on the hanger, jeans have very little value if they
don’t fit well on the body. Fit can be the ultimate selling factor and because no two bodies are alike,
good jean fit can be hard to find. The following quotes from our respondents (UD refers to a student
from the University of Delaware, and UCD to University of California at Davis students) reflect
their feelings about jeans and fit:
Fit is very important and sometimes even if I’m not crazy about the finish of the
jeans, I will still buy them if they fit right. (UD)
So far in my shopping experiences price has not been an issue when it comes to
pants. No price is too much to pay for a great fitting pair of jeans. (UD)
I usually don’t care about the brands of my jeans. What matters most is how jeans
fit. (UCD)
Although fit is highly subjective, most students have surprisingly similar views as to how jeans
should fit on the body. The phrase “tight but not too tight” was consistently used to define ideal fit
regardless of the individual’s body type, brand preferences, or personal style.
I don’t want jeans too tight because though I want to look good, I still want to be
comfortable when I sit. (UCD)
I like when my jeans are tight but not that it makes my fat bulge. (UD)
For years women have been fitting themselves into tight, body hugging garments for the sake of
fashion. According to Valerie Steele in The Corset, since the 1600s “critics of fashion frequently
observed that women used clothing to alter the apparent shape of their bodies, padding their hips and
breasts and squeezing their waists, or making themselves look taller…” Steele notes that while some
women did experience corsetry as an “assault on the body” it was simultaneously an indicator of
femininity, status, beauty, respectability, self-discipline and youth. According to our study, many
young women continue to associate close fitting garments--in this case, blue jeans--with similar
ideals and qualities. Just as corsets accentuated the figure by pushing up the breasts, cinching the
National Textile Center Annual Report: November 2004
NTC Project: S02-CD04 (Formerly I02-E04)
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waist and flattening the tummy, young women today look for jeans that will flatter certain areas of
the body while concealing others.
I have found that my jeans have one thing in common-they are all tight-fitting
jeans. I feel more held together in a pair that ‘sucks’ in the places on my body that
I don’t like and then accentuates the areas that I am comfortable with. (UD)
I like a pair of jeans that fits my body shape perfectly, which means it should
cover the flaws I have…[jeans should] flatten my humungous butt. A pair of
comfortable jeans should enhance my figure; not super-loose or super-tight.
(UCD)
I think jeans have to be fitted jeans--not too tight. They have to be tight enough to
show your curves yet loose enough to bend over and not worry about them
tearing. (UCD)
Luckily the advent of stretch in jeans has made it possible for “fitted” jeans to be physically
comfortable. In the eighties, stretchy synthetics like Lycra spandex were being woven into blue jeans
to allow for a “second-skin” look, but one that allows the wearer to sit down and bend over. The
slightest inclusion of spandex (as little as 2%) makes a huge difference in the overall look of the jean
and how it feels/fits on the body. Stretch jeans were favored by more than half of our respondents,
although some made it clear that they don’t like their jeans to look stretchy or “painted on” the body.
I like stretch jeans which fit fairly tight but are still comfortable. (UD)
Spandex allows for so much more movement than a regular pair of jeans. That
way I can wear more ‘feminine’ jeans, to feel like I look alright, yet be just as
comfortable as if I were wearing a baggy, frumpy pair. (UCD)
Social Comfort and Uniformity
Social comfort can be achieved through an intricate balance of individuality and conformity. An
eighteen year old female attending a university for the first time is in the preparatory stages of her
adult life. The university aids in the process of socialization as it trains her for specific skills and
roles she will use in the future. For her, wearing jeans represents her desire to cohere with the
university culture and to express mutual interests with other students, while maintaining a sense of
individuality.
The negotiation of appearance at a large university emerges as each individual brings to the group
context their own interpretations of individual and group values. Individual appearance elements are
combined and recombined, and a negotiated look is likely to evolve that signifies group values. Just
as small groups negotiate appearance based on collective understanding of norms and values, many
students of public, large-scale universities follow an implicit “dress code” that arises from everyday
National Textile Center Annual Report: November 2004
NTC Project: S02-CD04 (Formerly I02-E04)
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negotiation and communication among students. This dress code varies according to region, degree
of contact with the public, as well as the cultural and historical context of the university, but is
nevertheless rooted in the blue jean.
I usually wear jeans when I am at school because that is what I feel the most
comfortable in when I am sitting in a lecture hall. I have found this to be a college
trend for me. When I was in high school I wore jeans, but I also had a tendency to
dress up a lot more. (UCD)
I wear jeans almost everyday, so I wear jeans everywhere, to school...the only
time I don’t wear them is to church. (UD)
Jeans are the ultimate accessory and necessity to my wardrobe. I wear them
everyday and I hardly think twice about it. (UD)
The social comfort that arises in the uniformity of dress is usually not distinguished from physical
comfort. Surely there is some comfort in wearing the most widely accepted item of clothing ever
made, but it is impossible to ever really know whether university students wear jeans because they
are a comfortable garment, or whether they wear jeans because everyone else does. Some theorists
believe that social and physical comfort can never be distinguished because both are deeply
embedded in one another. According to Branson and Sweeney (1991), clothing comfort is a state of
satisfaction indicating physiological, social-psychological and physical balance among the person,
her clothing, and her environment. The Gestalt approach regards comfort as a whole so unified that
its properties cannot be derived from the sum of its parts. Both perspectives focus on interactions
among physical, physiological and social-psychological stimuli, which explain the lack of distinction
in students’ descriptions of comfort. The social comfort embedded in the widespread acceptance of
jeans makes it a “tried and true” favorite among young women.
I wear jeans wherever I can. School. Clubs/bars/lounges. Restaurants. Everywhere
and anywhere. This has always been the case. I don’t have many dress pants or
khakis. In my closet, you will see only jeans. (UCD)
I usually wear jeans every day unless there’s a special occasion; then I wear
something else. I like to wear jeans because they go with everything and they’re
comfortable. This has always been the case with me. I own like 10+ jeans. I just
can’t seem to throw them away. (UCD)
Unless there is a dress code saying that I cannot wear jeans or it is inappropriate
to be wearing them, I always have them on. (UD)
Blue jeans are more versatile today than ever before. They have been accepted as a day-into-night
garment for the younger generation and are the foundation upon which stylish young women build.
Whereas baby boomer parents would not think of wearing blue jeans to a nice dinner or nightclub,
National Textile Center Annual Report: November 2004
NTC Project: S02-CD04 (Formerly I02-E04)
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female college students match them with high heels, a dressy top and chandelier earrings for a night
out.
For me, jeans are for all occasions. I wear them to work, school, to the clubs, to
hang out with friends or to go to parties. It all depends on what type of shoes (nice
high heels, sandals or tennis shoes) or what type of shirt (UC Davis sweater,
sparkly or revealing top, or a tank top) I wear. (UCD)
I have recently begun to wear jeans more often because...they’re so versatile, and
you can find a good pair for almost any occasion. There are so many different
styles and colors to choose from that it is hard for me to not find a pair that will
suffice my needs. (UD)
We see from these responses that blue jeans are an important part of getting dressed for these young
women. Not only did they recognize blue jeans as a staple in their wardrobes, but they also favored
the same overall look.
I would have to say I prefer a low rise pair of jeans with a slight flare or boot cut
over any other style. I am fairly short, so the low rise elongates my legs and adds
length to my torso. (UD)
I like my jeans to fit snug in the waist and butt, and then have good room for
movement from then on down with a flare bottom. Since I’m tall, I like having
fitted but then wide leg jeans with heels. (UD)
There is no method to my madness... however, my favorite pair is a pair of low
rise, boot cut jeans with angled pockets and buttons. (UD)
Low-rise, tight fitting, boot cut or slightly flared jeans were preferred by almost all of my
respondents. For them, personal style is negotiated with other students in relation to the current
norms of fashion. The homogeneous flared look has remained “fashionable” because it tends to
flatter a 50-year-old as much as it does her teenage daughter. The kick at the bottom balances out the
wearer’s hips and is far more flattering than say, a tapered leg. These young women perceive
themselves as expressing uniqueness as opposed to uniformity in the blue jeans they wear.
I don’t have a precise method to buying jeans...each pair is unique and is worn
differently than the others. (UCD)
Almost every pair of jeans I own is very much created by myself and with my
style. Personally, I have a hard time wearing something that looks very normal, or
that a lot of people wear, so I tend to add my style to almost everything. (UCD)
Everything from pockets to belt loops can make a pair of jeans unique. (UD)
National Textile Center Annual Report: November 2004
NTC Project: S02-CD04 (Formerly I02-E04)
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Garment Fit and Perception: 2-D and 3-D Interactions
The final phase of this project builds on the earlier studies by doing a thorough analysis of denim
fabrics (with varying levels of stretch) that will be constructed into jeans for different body types.
The goal is to develop an even larger picture of how 2-D fabrics map with 3-D fit and comfort. The
project will also enable us to link physical and perceptual measurements, quantitative and qualitative
data, and wearers’ and perceivers’ evaluations. The fabrics have been provided by Invista (formerly
Dupont Textiles and Interiors).
We will continue to complete fabric fingerprints, take other physical measurements, and study
social/sensory perceptions. In this way we will fully characterize the fabrics and how they are
evaluated. Then, garments will be constructed from these fabrics with varying levels of fit. (Dr. Janet
Hethorn, a co-PI on this project, is an expert in garment fit and evaluation.) The wearers of these
garments will evaluate them for fit and comfort, as well as other subjective perceptions. A series of
physical fit measurements will also be made, in order to characterize fully the relationship between
the garment and the body. The wearers will also be photographed in garments with varying levels of
fit. These photographs will be used in a subsequent study incorporating visual analysis. Separate
perceivers will observe the photographs and evaluate the level of fit. Wearers’, perceivers’, and
mechanical evaluations of fit will then be compared, as will the 2-D and 3-D evaluations.
This research has practical industry applications related to the value added sensory properties of
textiles. The project has been enriched greatly by our collaboration with Invista and, more recently,
interactions with Levi Strauss’s Advanced Innovation Team. Dupont Textiles and Interiors, enabling
us to anticipate how physical measurements of textiles relate to what consumers desire in fabrics and
garments. New methods for communicating sensory properties in visual media will also be a positive
outcome. Clothing catalogs and websites can be improved by using more accurate written, visual,
and graphic descriptions that relate to both consumer perceptions and the physical properties of the
fabric. In addition, we hope our research will move beyond the conceptualization of clothing comfort
as an “absence of discomfort” toward a model of sensory pleasure.
References:
Branson, D.H. and Sweeney, M. 1991. “The Conceptualization of Comfort with Regard to Clothing.”
Pp. 94-105 in Critical Linkages in Textiles and Clothing Subject Matter: Theory, Method and
Practice, ed. S.B. Kaiser and M.L. Damhorst. Colorado: ITAA Special Publication #4.
Freitas, A. J., Kaiser, S. B., Chandler, J., Hall, C., Kim, J.W., and Hammidi, T. (1997).
Appearance management as border construction: Least favorite clothing, group
distancing, and identity...not! Sociological Inquiry, 67(3): 323-335.
Lurie, A.(1976). The Dress Code. New York Review of Books, Nov. 25, p. 72.
Kaiser, S. B., Freeman, C. M. and Chandler, J. L. (1993). Favorite clothes and gendered
subjectivities: Multiple readings. Studies in Symbolic Interaction, 15:27-50.
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Pan, N., Kaiser, S., Chandler, J., Dallas, M.J., Brandt, B., Cameron, B., Brown, D. and Burns, L.
(1998). Fabric hand evaluation: Perception and instrumentation. Proceedings of the
International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Meeting, Dallas, November 18-21.
Pan, N., Zeronian, S.H., and Ryu, H-S. (1993). An alternative approach to the objective
measurement of fabrics. Textile Research Journal, 63 (1):33-43.
Steele, V. (2001). The Corset. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Acknowledgements:
We are grateful for the help with data collection and analysis from our students, Denise Kastrinakis,
Jie Tang, HuiMin Sun, Kadie Corless and Johnny Liew. In addition, our collaborations with Carmen
Covelli and Becky Lewis at Dupont are greatly appreciated.
Project website address:
http://trc.ucdavis.edu/textiles/
National Textile Center Annual Report: November 2004