The major objective of the study was to investigate how catalog and non-catalog shoppers perceived the risks involved in purchasing apparel from catalogs. The study also investigated catalog and non-catalog shoppers' shopping orientations and their demographic characteristics. The principal components analysis of the data collected from 131 female subjects revealed four types of perceived risks-financial risk, social risk, functional risk, and time risk—plus a Shopping Orientation factor. The results of multivariate and univariate analyses of variance indicated that non-catalog shoppers showed higher levels of risk perceptions of financial, social, functional, and time risks than did the catalog shoppers. However, there was no group difference on shopping orientation. Demographic variables also resulted in no group differences except in marital status. Sixty percent of the catalog shoppers were married, while only 47% of the non-catalog shoppers were married The authors recommend strategies, based on the results of the study, to catalog retailers of apparel.

The personal traits formed by perceivers of a stranger clothed in two sets of polar garment styles, daring-conservative and dressy-casual, were investigated in this study. The relationship between clothing interest ratings of subject and personal trait ratings of each garment style was also explored. The cues conveyed by four garment styles on the judgment of 18 personal traits evaluated on 1-7 semantic differential ratings revealed that a stranger dressed in conservative and casual styles was perceived to be more self-controlled, understanding, and reliable, whereas a person dressed in daring style was regarded as more attractive and individualistic than a person clothed in other clothing styles. On the other hand, a stranger clothed in dressy style conveyed social unease and dependency on others. Significant positive correlations were found between the clothing interest ratings of subjects and several personal traits of daring garment style, while significant negative correlations were disclosed between the former and attractive and popular traits of conservative and casual styles. These findings seem to indicate that first impression conveyed by different clothing styles was also influenced by the clothing interest of perceivers.

This study investigates the flex abrasion, stress-strain, and pilling performance of test fabrics woven from open-end and ring spun yams. The propensity of test fabrics to pilling is evaluated after repeated exposure to random tumble pilling (RTP) and the elastomeric pad method (EPM), using scanning electron micrographs. The as sociation between the pilling and other performance properties of test fabrics is also investigated. The SEM results reveal that the degree of pilling and fiber fracture on test samples after specified test intervals is influenced by yarn types and the pilling machines themselves. The first test interval produces a few fiber pull-outs but little pilling. The second interval produces flaking and transverse cracking of fibers and fuzz assemblies. The last two test intervals produce more extensive fiber fractures and fiber entanglements. The mean abrasion, tensile strength, elongation, and pill ratings of the test samples woven from two kinds of yarns are compared using t-tests. In all groups, the test samples woven from ring spun yams for both fabric directions out- perform open-end yams in flex abrasion and filling tenacity. The association between pill ratings and other performance properties investigated indicates that RTP ratings are positively related and EPM pill ratings are negatively related to abrasion and tenacity.

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The assessment of fabric hand is influenced by three variables—namely: products, evaluators, and end-uses. In this study the influence of perceiver variable on the hand preference of flame-retardant fabrics for children's sleepwear was evaluated. Subject hand ratings and response profiles as indices of perceiver preference were analyzed. The response profile was determined as a linear function of three stimulus values of flexural rigidity, coefficient of friction, and compact ness and subject hand rating. The results of the response profiles indicated that all three panel groups chose roughness for all four categories of test fabrics. Softness was preferred for all instances except for the medium-weight woven category by homemaker and student groups. For compactness-openness, the trained panel chose compactness for the flannels, wovens, and knit category, whereas homemaker and student groups chose openness for the plain wovens. knits, and overall sleep wear category.