Abstract:
Research suggests that there is a plethora of information on the size and shape of the average and plus sized women in South Africa (Winks, 1990; Pandarum, 2009; Muthambi, 2012; Afolayan & Mastamet-Mason, 2013 and Makhanya, 2015). However, there is very little information on petite women‟s body shapes, their body measurements and their shopping behaviour, especially in South Africa, for manufacturing ready-to-wear garments.
The purpose of this petite women study was to investigate the shapes and sizes of a sample of petite South African women and develop size charts for the upper and lower body dimensions.
This study used a mixed-method; purposive, non-probability sampling method to achieve the objectives of the study. A (TC)² NX16 3D full body scanner and an Adam‟s® medical scale were used to collect the body measurement data of 200 petite South African women, aged between 20-54 years with an average height range of 157cm, residing in Gauteng (Pretoria and Johannesburg). Other data collection instruments included a demographic questionnaire to collect the subjects‟ demographic information such as, age, height, weight, etc.; and the psychographic questionnaire to gather the petite subjects‟ demographics as well as their perceptions and preferences on currently available ready-to-wear shirt and trouser garments.
Of the 200 subjects that were initially recruited, based on the petite women‟s body height that ranged from 5‟ 4” (163 cm) and below, the most prevalent body shape profile that emerged from the dataset, was the pear body shape which was evident in 180 of the 3D full body scanned petite women subjects. Therefore, the anthropometric data for these 180 subjects was used in the development of the experimental upper and lower body dimensions size charts and as the basis for the fit test garments developed in this study. The collected data was analysed and interpreted in Microsoft Excel and the IBM SPSS Statistics 24 (2016) software package, using principal component analysis (PCA) to produce the experimental size charts for the upper and lower body dimensions necessary for creating prototype shirt and trouser garments. Regression analysis was used to establish the primary and secondary body dimensions for the development of the size charts and for determining the size ranges. The experimental upper and lower body dimensions size charts were developed for sizes ranging from size 6/30 to size 26/50. Subsequently, the accuracy of the size charts developed in this study was evaluated by a panel of experts who analysed the fit of the prototype shirt and trouser garments, manufactured using measurements for a size 10/34 size range from the size chart, on a sample of the petite subjects. The fit of these garments was also compared with the fit of garments manufactured using the 3D full body scanned measurements of a size 10/34 petite tailoring mannequin, that is currently commercially available for use in the production of garments for petite women in South Africa.
The shirt and trouser prototype garments developed using the size 10/34 upper and lower body dimensions size chart measurements had, overall, a better quality of fit than the garments made to fit the current, commercially available, size 10/34 mannequin. These findings thereby confirmed that the data extracted from the (TC)² NX16 3D full body scanner and the size charts subsequently developed using the data, has the potential to provide better/improved fit in garments for petite South African women than data hitherto published.
From the evidence of this study, it is recommended that the South African garment manufacturing industry needs to revise the current sizing system for petite women to accommodate the body dimensions and shape variations that currently prevail amongst consumers. The South African garment manufacturers and retailers also need to familiarise themselves with the needs, challenges and preferences of the petite consumers‟ target market that purchase ready-to-wear shirt and trouser garments in South Africa.
