Page 80 - Anthropometry, Apparel Sizing and Design

Developing apparel sizing system using anthropometric data 109

studies, upper arm girth is noted as the strongest variable correlated to girth factor for
male samples (age 13–17) that has not previously been described in any sizing studies.
Moreover, under arm length and inside leg length are noted to have highest factor load-
ing correlated to length in males aged 13–17 and as compared with arm length and hip
height in females aged 13–17. Under arm length is also another variable found to have
high relationship with length, which is not common to other sizing studies.
Overall the girth variables chosen as the key dimensions are chest and bust girths
for the upper body. In contrast, hip girth is chosen for the lower body key dimensions.
The selection of these body dimensions as the key dimensions confirms the findings
from other research conducted in which the same common dimensions’ girth is found
to be significant as the key dimensions for the upper body while for the lower body the
hip girth is chosen instead of waist girth. The hip was a better choice as compared with
waist girth for some of these reasons; it was mentioned as a variable that has a variety
of relationship with the upper and lower torso (Gordon, 1986). It was found out that the
hip was a better selection for lower garment simply because this dimension cannot be
easily adjusted after it has been made (Gordon, 1986; Otieno and Fairhurst, 2000).
From previous studies it has been noted that the hip was a more stable measurement
and found to have high correlation with girth component and therefore determined to
be the key dimensions for the lower body (Ashdown, 1998).
In general, for example, Table 4.5, height was selected as the key dimensions for
both the upper and lower body. Height is selected based on the high factor loading.
The current study found that height represents almost 77%, 0.77 for length component
for female samples between age 13 and 17. This is consistent with the result from cor-
relation analysis in the other studies that shows height is very strongly correlated with
other length variables. From the opinion of other researchers, height is a must to be
incorporated in a sizing system ( James and Stone, 1984). In addition, according to
James and Stone, height was found an advantage especially for teenagers as it could
be easily measured in retail shops where a height chart could easily be obtained. As for
adults the body dimensions that can be considered the key dimensions are the chest,
bust, waist, and legs. Height is also regarded as a better estimator of size rather than
age for children as compared to adults (Simmons and Istook, 2003). Hence height is
the most suitable dimension to cluster the samples into different groups.
All the key dimensions mentioned earlier are finally selected for the classification
of the sample population. These key dimensions are selected based on the high rela-
tionship with the main body measurements, girth, and length. Furthermore, it has been
mentioned in previous studies that key dimensions must be convenient to take (Winks,
1997). This indicates that the selected key dimensions should be the ones that can be
measured easily and practical especially when it comes to children (Xinzhou et al.,
2018). In addition, it is also being stated that if these measurements will be used as
the size coding, the customers should be very familiar with the key dimensions, for
example, chest girth or bust girth for the upper body as compared with upper arm girth.
The next step after determining the key dimensions will be to classify the sample
population into the same sizes using the key dimensions. Key dimensions are selected
because those body dimensions are significant, very convenient, and familiar for con-
sumers to measure.