The Comfort Dimension; a Review of Perception in Clothing

Abstract

For a clothing system, comfort is a fundamental necessity. In this paper, basic definitions and elements of clothing comfort and the general research trends were reviewed. In particular, understanding comfort of textile materials, its relevance to clothing choice and some assessment methods have been discussed. The impact of fabric and clothing attributes on clothing comfort was explored. Psychological, physical and physiological perceptions of clothing comfort were reviewed, including subjective and objective modes of assessment. A thorough discussion of handle comfort was presented, including assessment methods. Statistical presentations from selected comfort studies were also reviewed. Other sensory comfort properties particularly acoustic and appearance were also mentioned. From the aforementioned reviews, it was noted that the main focus for most researchers has been on sensorial and thermal comfort. Practical Applications To comfort researchers, this review gives resourceful insights relevant to subject selection and the general research trend on clothing comfort. For clothing manufacturers, the compiled consumer feedbacks by wearers of particular clothing are tools for product improvement to enhance utility. Finally, this review informs consumers about clothing comfort, which will contribute to informed decision making during purchasing.

Some Riddles in Clothing Thermal Behaviors

“…Still it is not intended to be a comprehensive review of the topics, as there are, nonetheless, books 2,5 6 and a few published articles 1,[14][15][16] for that. In the discussions below, to maintain focus on the targeted issues, even though there may be various improved forms of the original theories, we only use the one sophisticated enough, not necessarily the most updated/accurate, to facilitate our analysis.…”

Panties Usage: Feel Comfortable or Sexy?

“…Otherwise, some authors analyzes the satisfaction with clothes from the emotional perspective, mainly related to body image, social aspects, and self-realization (Kamalha et al, 2013;Norton et al, 2013;Rudd & Lennon, 2000;Tiggemann, 2012;Tsaousi & Brewis, 2013;Chattaraman & Rudd, 2006).…”

“…In a more sociological approach, body image, personality, values or beliefs, personal interests and awareness among others interfere in comfort perception. Besides, garment attributes like style, texture, esthetics , fashion, suitability, design and color influences the comfort perception (Kamalha et al, 2013;Norton et al, 2013;Wages, 1974). It is important to maintain an affirmative self-image to perceived quality of life, as attractiveness has been viewed as a means to gain access to the power in a male world (Rudd & Lennon, 2000).…”

“…According to the responsible for the research, lingerie has its prices and sales driven by level of enchantment they achieve with consumers (IEMI, 2015). Emotion has an important role in the understanding of panties preference, and emotion in products and design is an important field of research (Desmet, 2002Desmet & Hekkert, 2002;Green & Jordan, 2004;Jordan, 2002).…”

Psychophysical Validation of A Digital Method to Assess Ill‐Defined Visual Boundaries: An Example with Fabric Openness Factor

“…The goal of the majority of these works is the estimation of the magnitude of human sensations based on instrumental measures, with examples of such studies found in the field of fabric hand (Zheng et al 2004;Mazzuchetti et al 2008;Rombaldoni et al 2010;Jeguirim et al 2012;Wang et al 2012) and analysis of wet and clingy (Tang et al 2015) and comfort (Kamalha et al 2013) sensations, for instance. Our study also belongs to the sensory field but addresses the problem from a different angle.…”