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Apparel quality has two dimensions: Physical aspects or what the garment is; and
Per formance aspects or what the garment does. The physical aspects of a garment
determine its per formance. Therefore, consumers purchase garments with specific
physical aspects that they believe will fulfill their per formance expectations.
Physical aspects
Garment physical aspects provide a tangible form and composition. Physical aspects
include the garments design, materials, construction and finish. Design provides the
plan for the garment style. For example, is the shir t loose or fitted. Materials include
the fabric and other components that are used to produce the garment. For instance,
is the shir t made of cotton or blended fabric. Construction refers to the methods used
to assemble the garment. For example, which type of stitches is mostly used.
Finishes involve any garment wet processing, for instance, does the shir t have a
wrinkle free or a durable press finish. Garment physical aspects are intrinsic
attributes; they cannot be altered without changing the product itself.
the garments utility and durability. Utility refers to the usefulness. For example, does
the shir t fit? Does it function properly for intended use? Durability or ser viceability
refers to how well the garment retains its structure and appearance af ter wear and
care. Does it resist shrinkage? Does the seam remain intact? Aesthetic and
functional per formance occasionally overlaps. For example, fit may be an aesthetic
feature (i.e attractive fit versus unattractive fit) or it might also be a functional
feature (i.e comfor table fit versus uncomfor table fit) (Brown, 1998).
Hand
Hand is a broad term for the kinesthetic or movement aspects of a fabric. Hand
refers not to the comfor t but to the emotional sensations resulting from touching,
moving, or squeezing the fabric with the human hand. Hand encompasses the
following aspects of the fabric; (1) Drape ability/flexibility, (2) Compressibility, (3)
Extensibility, (4) Resilience, (5) Density, (6) Texture, (7) Thermal character.
Dimensional Stability
Oneof the most impor tant per formance characteristics of the garment is dimensional
stability, the ability of the garments to maintain their original shape and size.
Dimensional stability affects the function of the garment in terms of appearance
retention and fit. It also affects comfor t, elongation and shrinkage.
Color fastness
Color fastness is the ability of the fabric to retain its color. Color fastness refers to
color retention in reaction to laundering (bleach, water, detergent, heat), light,
dr y-cleaning solvents, sea and pool water, perspiration and other chemicals.
Color fastness is the relative term; no garment is completely color fast. Lack of color
may be expressed in a variety of ways such as (1) fading, (2) frosting, (3) crocking,
(4) bleeding and (5) yellowing.
Pill Resistance
Snagging and pilling detract from a garments appearance and its usefulness. Snags
are pulls in fabrics made when the yarns catch on the sharp object. Pills are fuzz
balls, or balls of tangled fibers that form on the sur face and are held there by one or
more fibers. Pills may form all over a garment, but are likely to be most noticeable
where garment receives abrasion for example, in the underarm area, inside collars,
and on sleeves and cuffs.
Ease of Care
For many consumers, ease of care of a fabric is an impor tant utility feature because
of its effect on the care of the garment. All the fabrics used in the garment should
have same launder ability or dr y-cleanibility so the finished garment retains its
appearance and ability to function af ter refurbishing. Ease of care also refers to the
garments tendency to resists soiling and wrinkling.
In the readymade market, many companies are producing their products and for a
common man it becomes ver y difficult to choose any par ticular brand out of available
lots under identical conditions. It is quite natural that different garments may have
different behavior in terms of proper ties under name of different companies. Apar t
from functional criterias , fabric type plays an impor tant role in a readymade
garments formation as discussed in research done by Tarafder et al in 2007 on
Comparative study on physical testing of readymade shir ts for quality standards. For
their study, 15 readymade shir ts had been considered for investigation. All the shir ts
were type of polyester /cotton (80x20). Ten were of branded quality, 4 were
non-branded and one tailor-made. The results of the study indicated that there was a
wide variations obser ved in fabric specifications for a common variety of shir ting
fabric, like thread density, linear density, area density and crimp %. Average fabric
crease recover y was obser ved to be fairly good but between items variation was too
high. High pill resistance was shown by all the fabrics. Hydral shrinkage (%) for most
of the items was quite satisfactor y (Tarafder, Banerjee, et al, 2007).
It is extremely impor tant to study consumer preferences as there is severe
competition among shir t industr y to capture the market share because of number of
players ranging from brands to huge unbranded segment. The manufacturers and
retailers of shir ts need to meet the rising expectations of the consumers. It was
imperative to understand consumer preferences related to each characteristic under
intrinsic (quality) and extrinsic (appearance) cues for selection of a shir t due to
dynamic changes in mens clothing in terms of color, design, style and so on. The
study indicates that quality and appearance cues are critical elements in consumers
preferences for shir ts. It is clearly evident that irrespective of the segment of shir ts
i.e casual, formal or occasional, consumers based their preferences both on quality
and appearance cues. Other noticeable fact emerged was that similar preference
pattern was noticed in both branded and unbranded categories of shir ts. Also
noticeable was that durability under quality cue and size and fit under appearance
cues were considered as most significant dimensions by consumers as preference in
all segments of shir ts. Therefore, consumers preferences repor ts would be of
immense value to the clothing industr y (Dedhia E & Gupta M, 2009).
Refrences:
Brown Rice, J. (1998). Ready to Wear Apparel Analysis. 2nd ed, New
Jersey: Prentice Hall, 162-170,193-195.
Das, S. (2008). Apparels for expor ts: Impor tance of quality
characterization. Indian Textile Journal, 45.
Dedhia E & Gupta M, (Sep - Oct 2009), Consumer preferences based on
quality and appearance cues, Journal of Textile Association,Volume 70, No. 3
Sudhakar, J.P., Gowda, N and Kannan, S. (2007). Assessing proper ties of
shir ting fabrics by using FAST, The Indian Textile Journal, Iss. Oct, 146.
Tarafdar, N., Karmakar, R., Mondal, M. (2007). The effect of stitch density
on seam per formance of garments stitched from plain and twill fabrics. Man Made
Textiles in India, Vol. L, No.8, 298, 301.
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