Recent changes in women's business identities present an opportunity to explore the social meanings conveyed by dress in a specific and changing context. Using a grounded theory approach, interview data from twenty‐four business women were analyzed for recurrent themes. These women felt they could choose from a variety of dress images in order to express appropriate or socially acceptable meanings, including credibility and competence in business. A dynamic, multi‐dimensional model of the meanings comprising an “ideal” image for business women is proposed. These meanings include conservatism, fashion, masculinity, femininity/sexuality, creativity, and conformity. The meanings are conceptualized as approximately opposing forces causing tensions, thus requiring conscious balancing by business women. Each meaning has an extreme which can endanger the credibility of the wearer. The balance of meanings is mediated by several contextual factors.

This is the first of three papers in which we review aesthetics literature published from 1970 to 1992, found outside and inside the field of textiles and clothing. The majority of the literature external to the field of textiles and clothing came from books and journal articles of the fields of anthropology, art history, marketing, philosophy, and psychology. We limited our review of textiles and clothing literature to articles found in Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, Dress, Home Economics Research Journal, Journal of Consumer Studies and Home Economics, and Textiles Research Journal. In this paper we provide definitions of the aesthetic object or experience found in the literature and also propose five categories useful in organizing aesthetics literature. The categories are: Creator, Creative Process, Object, Appreciation Process, and Appreciator. We review Creator and Creative Process literature. The Creator consists of literature that addresses the psychological and socio-cultural factors affecting the creator's aesthetic ability, participation in production, processes of production, and physical manifestations of the aesthetic product. The Creative Process contains literature that addresses the internal processes that take place in the creator during development of ideas through to the completion of the aesthetic product. A more thorough understanding of these topics has implications for the education of textiles and clothing students, as well as provides new insight into the process of creation of textile and apparel products in current and past societies from around the world.

This is the last of three papers in which we review aesthetics literature published from 1970 to 1992, found outside and inside the field of textiles and clothing. In this paper we review Appreciation Process and Appreciator literature, including research that explores internal processes that take place during the aesthetic response to a preexisting object or event. Also included is literature that focuses upon the psychological and socio-cultural factors influencing the person involved in the appreciation process, in terms of his or her aesthetic ability, and preference, evaluation, and selection of aesthetic objects. For this paper, the literature external to the field of textiles and clothing came primarily from books and journal articles of psychology. Other major contributors were the fields of anthropology, art education, and marketing. We limited our review of textiles and clothing literature to articles found in Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, Dress, Home Economics Research Journal, Journal of Consumer Studies and Home Economics , and Textiles Research Journal. Broad comparisons are made between aesthetics literature outside and inside the field of textiles and clothing.

This is the second of three papers in which we review aesthetics literature published from 1970 to 1992, found outside and inside the field of textiles and clothing. In this paper we review Object literature, including perception and preference of formal, expressive, and referential aspects of the object and its functions. For this paper, the literature external to the field of textiles and clothing came in large part from books and journal articles of the fields of anthropology, marketing, and psychology. We limited our review of textiles and clothing literature to

The perceptual and affective responses of 44 women to actual illustrated and photographed fashion advertisements during focused interviews were explored. Content analysis methods identified categories of response; frequency of response categories for the two media were compared using Fisher's z tests. Significant differences in perceptual responses included greater visual interest created by the use of color in photographs, greater interest in layout and design features of the illustrations, and interest in characteristics of the models in the photographs. Affective response differences included greater preference for photographic advertisements and the garments in them. Contrary to suggestions from professionals in fashion advertising, no significant differences were found in viewers' perceptions of information about the products in the advertisements or perceptions of meaning and aesthetic response.