Clothing and Identity Among Female In-line Skaters

Abstract

Role and identity theories provided perspective for this exploratory study of the needs and preferences of consumer athletes who participate in an emerging sport, in-line skating. Female in-line skaters (N = 54) were surveyed in Ohio and Florida regarding their skating commitment, sport clothing interests and preferences, and skating behaviors. Greater interests in achieving a unique and feminine appearance for performance enhancement and greater desire for fashion rather than comfort significantly predicted female skaters' likelihood of buying clothing specifically for in-line skating. Additionally, age and commitment to skating predicted the likelihood of purchasing special skating clothing. Findings are compared and contrasted with previous studies of sports and clothing addressing how identity in a sport without a long history and traditions in dress is enhanced with clothing, and the salience of brand name logos to sport identity. Finally, implications to manufacturers and retailers of sport clothing are suggested.

Satisfaction with current martial arts’ uniforms and purchase intention of new uniforms

“…Therefore, the expressive consideration was not suitable to assess all martial arts uniforms together in the current study. In addition, empirical studies have indicated that functional performance and aesthetic appearance, rather than expressive consideration, are essential factors for sportswear (Dickson and Pollack 2000). Furthermore, to fit individual study contents, many empirical studies have also excluded expressive considerations (e.g., Jin and Black 2012;Michaelson 2015).…”

“…First, to assess martial arts practitioners' satisfaction with their current uniforms, functional and aesthetic variables of the current uniforms were chosen based on the FEA model and previous literature (Dickson and Pollack 2000;Lamb and Kallal 1992). In the current study, functional attributes included quality, fit, comfort, and protection; aesthetic attributes included fashion.…”

“…In the current study, functional attributes included quality, fit, comfort, and protection; aesthetic attributes included fashion. They were all modified from previous research (e.g., Bye and Hakala 2005;Chen et al 2010;Dickson and Pollack 2000;Gupta 2011;Wheat and Dickson 1999). Quality refers to durability, construction, and resistance to shrinkage of the martial arts uniforms (Wheat and Dickson 1999).…”

Clothes make the rider? Equestrian competition dress and sporting identity

“…Dress is an important part of gender identity (Goodman et al, 2007) so the ways that standard competition dress make Toni (and other larger women) feel masculine is unsettling for her. Feeling uncomfortable and unattractive in competition clothes can have detrimental effects on sporting performance (Dickson & Pollack, 2000;Steinfeldt et al, 2013) so the lack of diversity in style and cut in equestrian competition dress may unfairly disadvantage some female riders.…”

“…Appearance is a primary form of communicationdeliberate and not deliberate -in the construction of identities at individual and group levels (Strauss, 2003;Hansen, 2004). Sporting dress has to be functional, maximising performance for elite and grassroots athletes, but it must also be comfortable and aesthetically pleasing, providing the wearer with a sense of herself as an athlete, and specifically identifying her with her chosen sport, team or other affiliation (Wheat & Dickson, 1999;Dickson & Pollack, 2000). Sporting dress can both empower and undermine athletes, having consequences for athletic performance (Steinfeldt et al, 2013), and so a large industry has built up around active sportswear.…”