Freedom in Dress: A Search for Related Factors

Lowe, Elizabeth; Anspach, Karlyne A.

doi:10.1177/1077727x7800700207

Cited by 11 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…This research confirms Lowe and Anspach's (1978) findings that lack in freedom of dress can be a result of one's role in society. As obese women, our participants felt they were at fault for not having choices or alternatives in exercise clothing.…”

Section: The Only Solution To Express Feminine Gender Is Through Weigsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…According the conceptual framework of Lowe and Anspach's (1978) freedom in dress, most obese heterosexual women do not perceive alternative exercise clothing choices and thus they are not able to make successful clothing choices. Our findings continue to confirm previous studies where larger women perceive there to be limited clothing choices (Chowdhary and Beale 1988;Colls 2004;Colls and Evans 2014;Christel 2014;Kwon and Parham 1994;Peters 2014).…”

Section: No Freedom In Dressmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, if there were more freedom in dress (Lowe and Anspach 1978), perhaps obese women might freely choose to wear men's exercise clothing but without the choice, they feel marginalized and constrained to, at some degree, express masculine gender. While none of the participants said they felt others might perceived them as part of the LGBTQ community, they did feel marginalized.…”

Section: No Freedom In Dressmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It seems our sample feels that blame and social rejection can only be solved by losing weight. While they have a lack of self-confidence in clothing choices (Lowe and Anspach 1978), they seem to feel that once they lose weight, they will be rewarded with deserible alternative options and they will be able to join the 'deserving' group that falls within the acceptable/non-deviant body size and then have the freedom to express feminine gender.…”

Section: The Only Solution To Express Feminine Gender Is Through Weigmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Coping by crossdressing: an exploration of exercise clothing for obese heterosexual women

2016

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IntroductionParticipation in physical activity has dramatically decreased over the past decade, especially among American adult women over the age of 18 (Physical Activity Council Report 2015). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports 69.1 % of the population in the United States is considered overweight and within this group, 35.1 % is classified as obese (2015). Consumer reports (Cox 2012) show that over 65 % of women in the US wear plus-size clothing, which is defined as apparel over a US size 14 (Alexander et al. 2012). Prior research supports that weight bias is a barrier to physical activity (Ball et al. 2000;Vartanian and Shaprow 2008). Having desired clothing for exercise can promote physical activity and help obese women overcome weight bias (Lou Watkins et al. 2014). However, there is a lack of research on exercise clothing, especially with regards to the plus-size market. AbstractOver the past decade participation in physical activity for adult women has decreased while body size has increased. Overweight and obese individuals are considered the majority demographic in the United States; however, plus-sized clothing sales are minimal in comparison to other segments. Furthermore, there is little known about the clothing practices of obese women who engage in physical activity. The current study addresses this research gap by exploring obese heterosexual women's clothing practices for exercise, with an emphasis on what women wear, their perceived choices, alternatives, and satisfaction. Lowe and Anspach's (Home Econ Res J 7(2):121-127, 1978) notion of freedom of dress was the guiding conceptual framework for in-depth interviews with (n = 56) obese women. A majority of the women perceived having limited freedom in dress, and reported crossdressing in men's clothing to engage in physical activity, which resulted in a perceived lack of gender expression. Crossdressing is wearing clothing of the opposite sex and gender expression is a way in which a person acts to communicate gender within a given culture. Women in this study indicated and the authors discuss that as clothing size increases, perceived freedom in dress decreases. In order to increase freedom in dress, our participants tended to believe it is their personal responsibility to lose weight. Christel et al. Fash Text (2016) et al. Fash Text (2016) 3:11 According to the International ASTM standard table of body measurement, clothing designed for women with a 35.5″ waist circumference correlates to a plus-size 18 (ASTM D6960-04 2004). Plus-size apparel often costs more and is offered in fewer styles, colors, and varieties than apparel in standard sizes (Greenleaf and Kauffung 2015). In turn, plus-size consumers have a difficult time finding outfits that fit well, and many of these women feel excluded and frustrated during shopping experiences (Otieno et al. 2005;Scaraboto and Fischer 2013). Not having appropriate clothing for exercise can lead to further body issue concerns, and the desire to not participate in physical a...

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Section: The Only Solution To Express Feminine Gender Is Through Weigsupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: No Freedom In Dressmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: No Freedom In Dressmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Only Solution To Express Feminine Gender Is Through Weigmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Coping by crossdressing: an exploration of exercise clothing for obese heterosexual women

2016

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“…Not entirely the opposite of conformity, it is considered a separate dimension of appearance management and characterized by three dimensions: as an individually or subjectively defined state of mind, as various phases involved in the process of “dressing freely” (purposeful planning, execution, and pleasure in the results), and on the basis of restrictions and satisfactions related to clothing—economic (budget), social (peer group), or perceptual (aesthetics; Lowe & Anspach, ). This construct has primarily been implicated in studies related to purchase decision making (Lowe & Anspach, , ), though it nonetheless contributes to the conception of CSC as a state of mind that takes exception to the fashion system.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clothing style confidence: The development and validation of a multidimensional scale to explore product longevity

Armstrong

Kang

Lang

2018

J of Consumer Behaviour

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Personal style has been more frequently cited in the sustainable consumption discourse in recent years. The purpose of this research project is to conceptualize and operationalize clothing style confidence (CSC), defined as confidence about the individual way people express themselves with clothing and accessories. This study aims to advance a systematic understanding of the role of CSC in product longevity by developing a measurement scale through qualitative interviews, expert review, a survey to purify the scale, and a survey to validate a scale. The project began with 23 interviews among men and women who self‐identified as style confident, which aided in the development of 108 initial items. These items were reviewed by seven experts, resulting in the retention of 77 items. An online survey via a mass e‐mail facilitated through a large southwestern university's communication office yielded 141 responses for the purpose of scale purification, resulting in 26 items for the validation phase. An online survey was then conducted with a consumer panel purchased via Research Reward, yielding 451 usable surveys for scale validation. A measure of CSC that is both reliable and valid resulted, including 22 scale items across five distinct dimensions: style longevity, aesthetic perceptual ability, creativity, appearance importance, and authenticity. Analyses reveal a significant relationship between CSC and wardrobe engagement as well as wardrobe preservation, indicating that CSC is related to a more attentive and aware approach to clothing use that supports product longevity.

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The Influence of Aesthetic Design of Consumption Space on Content-Posting Intention on Social Media: The Moderating Role of Aesthetic Perceptual Ability

Yang

Tang

et al. 2021

Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Conference on Management Science and Engineering Management

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Freedom in Dress: A Search for Related Factors

Cited by 11 publications

References 5 publications

Coping by crossdressing: an exploration of exercise clothing for obese heterosexual women

Coping by crossdressing: an exploration of exercise clothing for obese heterosexual women

Clothing style confidence: The development and validation of a multidimensional scale to explore product longevity

The Influence of Aesthetic Design of Consumption Space on Content-Posting Intention on Social Media: The Moderating Role of Aesthetic Perceptual Ability

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