A Quantitative Analysis of Dress Dimensions: Comparison of Models for Taiwan and the United States from 1966 to 1986

Abstract

This research compared variations in the six dress dimensions measured by Richardson and Kroeber (1940) occurring over a 21-year period in Taiwan and the United States. The sample was drawn from illustrations in fashion magazines. Mean annual dress measurements were graphed Cycles were apparent in both cultures for skirt length and possibly decolletage length. Cycles for skirt width were apparent in the United States only. Waist width, waist length, and decolletage width did not exhibit cyclical variation. Multiple regression tests were usedfor each dress dimension in each culture to compare a model based on gross national product, consumption expenditures, and stock market price index to one containing these variables plus median age of the population. The economic and demographic model tended to predict dress dimensions better than the economic model. Of the economic variables, gross national product and consumption expenditures were most consistently related to dress in both cultures.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Batterberry, M. , & Batterberry, A. (1977). Fashion: The mirror of history. New York: Greenwich House .

Behling, D. (1985). Fashion change and demographics: A model. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 4(1), 18-24.

Belleau, B.D. (1987). Cyclical fashion movement: Women's day dress 1860-1980 . Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 5(2), 15-20.

Bigelow, M.S. (1979). Fashion in history (2nd ed.). Minneapolis: Burgess.

Boucher, F. (1987). 20,000 years of fashion. New York: Harry N. Abrams.

Bradfield, N. (1987). 900 years of English costume. New York: Crescent.

Dichter, E. (1985). Why we dress the way we do. In M. R. Solomon (Ed.), The psychology of fashion (pp. 29-37). Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath.

Hamilton, J.A. (1987). Dress as a cultural sub-system: A unifying metatheory for clothing and textiles. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 6(1), 1-7.

Hanushek, E.A. , & Jackson, J.E. (1977). Statistical methods for the social sciences. New York: Academic Press.

10.

Horn, M. , & Gurel, L. (1981). The second skin (3rd ed.). Boston: Houghton-Mifflin .

11.

Jasper, C.R. , & Roach-Higgins, M.E. (1987). History of costume: Theory and instruction. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal , 5(4), 1-6.

12.

Kohler, C. (1963). A history of costume. New York : Dover.

13.

Kroeber, A.L. (1919). On the principle of order in civilization as exemplified by changes of fashion. American Anthropologist, 21, 235-263.

14.

Kroeber, A.L. (1952). The nature of culture. Chicago : The University of Chicago Press.

15.

Laver, J. (1950). Dress. London: John Murray.

16.

Laver, J. (1982). Costume and fashion: A concise history. London: Thames and Hudson.

17.

Lowe, E.D. , & Lowe, J.W.G. (1985). Quantitative analysis of women's dress. In M. R. Solomon (Ed.), The psychology of fashion (pp. 193-206). Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath.

18.

Mabry, M.A. (1971). The relationship between fluctuations in hemlines and stock market averages from 1921 to 1971. Unpublished master's thesis, University of Tennessee, Knoxville .

19.

Nystrom, P.H. (1928). Economics of fashion. New York : The Ronald Press.

20.

Payne, B. (1965). History of costume. New York : Harper & Row.

21.

Richardson, J. , & Kroeber, A.L. (1940). Three centuries of women's dress fashions: A quantitative analysis. Anthropological Records, 5, 111-154.

22.

Russell, D.A. (1983). Costume history and style. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

23.

SPSS, Inc. (1983). SPSSX user's guide. New York: McGraw-Hill .

24.

Wai, H.T.T. (1982). Social influences on fashion. Unpublished master's thesis, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA.

25.

Webb, W.M. (1912). The heritage of dress. London : The Times Book Club. (Original work published 1907)

26.

Weeden, P. (1977). Study patterned on Kroeber's investigation of style. Dress, 3, 9-19.

27.

Young, A.B. (1937). Recurring cycles of fashion 1760-1937. New York: Harper & Brothers.