Page 130 - Anthropometry, Apparel Sizing and Design

126 Anthropometry, Apparel Sizing and Design

have been consistent: the key position where to measure. Most of them agree on the
bust, waist, and hips. Because there were no size designations developed yet, manu-
facturers used their own, which were based on their predecessors (Gould-Decauville
et al., 1998).

5.2.4 Mass production and the establishment of standards

At the end of the 1930s, mass production for armed forces’ uniforms triggered the
establishment of standards in many areas (O’Brien and Shelton, 1941). According
to O’Brien and Shelton (1941, p. 1) “no scientific study of body measurements used
in the construction of women’s clothing has ever been reported. As a result, there were
no standards for garment sizes.” Meanwhile, merchandise returns in the stores due to
poor fit were high, and it was not unusual for the necessary alterations to increase the
cost of a ready-to-wear garment by as much as 25% of its original cost (Winks, 1997).
Mass production, variations in measurements, and size designation, in addition to the
ones presented in the catalogs, all led to a high percentage of returns and the need for a
standardized sizing system (Yu, 2004). Therefore the Women’s Measurements for
Garment and Pattern Construction (WMGPC) was conducted. Indeed, between July
1939 and June 1940, >10,000 women were measured (14,698 women exactly). The
survey took place in eight states. And only White Caucasian women were used for this
anthropometric survey. The results were then published by the US Department of
Agriculture in 1941. The WMGPC reported the objective was “to provide measure-
ments which could be used for improving the fit of women’s garments and patterns.”
For the first time, anthropometric measurements were used to help the apparel indus-
try standard sizes and size designation (O’Brien and Shelton, 1941; Goldsberry et al.,
1996a, b; Chun-Yoon and Jasper, 1996; Ashdown, 1998; Workman and Lentz, 2000;
Burns and Bryant, 2002; Fan et al., 2004; Schofield and Labat, 2005). More impor-
tantly the survey report stated that the data would best be used for sizing charts
divided, among other things, into “short,” “regular,” and “tall.”

5.2.4.1 Development of size designations
Body measurements of the national survey were compiled in order to develop size
designation and to facilitate commercial communication. These resulted from the
cooperation of various interest groups, which fulfilled a perceived need within the
industry (Kadolph, 1998). Furthermore, in 1945, the Association for Mail-order Sales
recommended a standard way for labeling size designations for the garment industry.
It was in 1958 that the US Department of Commerce published the Body Measure-
ments for the Sizing of Women’s Patterns and Apparel, the commercial standard
“CS215-58.” Although interesting and useful the statement was as follows: “The
adoption and use of a commercial standard is voluntary.” Then, its primary and sec-
ondary goals were:
1. To provide standard classification, size designations, and body measurements for consistent
sizing of women’s ready-to-wear apparel (misses’, women’s, juniors’, etc.) for the guidance