Perceived Body Size Affected by Garment and Body Mass Index

This study investigated the effect of garment size on perceived body size. The perceived body sizes of nine Chinese men, with Body Mass Index between 17.0 and 37.1 kg/m², wearing five sizes of white T-shirts were assessed using Thompson and Gray's Nine-figural Scale. Garment sizes on perceived body sizes were different for those of different Body Mass Index. A backpropagation neural net model was used to model the nonlinear relationship between the perceived body size and the body's BMI, body chest girth, and garment ease (difference between garment and body chest girth). When the BMI was less than 20, wearing larger-sized T-shirts tended to increase perceived body size. For large chest sizes and for taller persons (BMI of 20 to 28) large garments made the wearer look thinner. However, for small persons (BMI of 20 to 28) effect of garment size was relatively small. Obese persons (BMI of >28), wearing garments too tight or too loose were perceived as larger. Minimum perceived body size was found for garment ease of 2 to 3 cm.