Clothing and the Wearer

GFSD 101 A
Clothing Studies
Unit 3
Ms Harshita Bhown
Clothing and the age of wearer
You must have noticed that the type of clothes worn
change with age.
Clothes worn by an adult-woman are definitely not the
same as those worn by a college going girl.
Similarly, men will prefer to wear light and
comfortable clothes rather than fashionable ones.
Let us see how the type of clothes worn change with
age.
The selection of clothing should be done on the basis
of age, season, income, occasion and fashion.
 
Age: While selecting fabric one has to think of the age group of the child. For small
children, dainty prints in soft colors can be chosen. Nursery prints are not suitable for
elementary school children. When the children enter late childhood stage, the boys like
masculine colors, for examples blue, grayish blue, and brown and girls like to wear
feminine colors like pink, green and red. Some fabrics, which are delicate, are chosen for
girls clothing whereas, rough textured fabrics are suitable for adolescent boys. The style of
the dress also changes according to the age group of the child. The A-line dresses are
suitable for toddlers and infants. Later on, dresses with lots of gathers are suitable for girls’
frocks. In the same way type of collars are suitable for younger age group, for example
baby collar is not suitable for adolescent
Season: Some fabrics and colors are suitable for winter while others are not, for example
synthetics; silk and wool are suitable for winter as they are bad conductor of heat. Cotton
and blends of cotton with synthetics are good for summer as they are good conductor of
heat and absorptive. There are cool and warm colors. The cool colors are associated with
coolness, for example, blue, green, white etc. Warm colors are bad conductors of heat and
associated with warmth for example, red, golden yellow and orange. So warm colors are
suitable for winter, whereas cool colors are chosen for summer.
Income: Amount of money affects the selection of clothing. Children
belonging to high-income group can spend more percentage of money on
clothing as compared to low income. They can spend more money on
fashionable garments rather than on durable clothes. Parents belonging to
low-income group prefer durable clothes rather than delicate ones. So the
preference of the clothing changes according to the income of the family.
Low socio economic growth gives more importance to durability, comfort
and price as compared to becomingness and beauty.
Occasion: Selection of clothes also changes according to occasion. For
daily wear or informal wear, durable dresses with simple designs can be
chosen but for occasional or formal wear novel fabrics with new styles are
chosen.
Fashion: Fashionable clothes look beautiful. One looks odd when one go
out of fashion. Few fabrics and colors are in fashion while others are not.
Some clothes should be brought according to fashion and others should be
simple. Children belonging to high-income group can wear fashionable
clothes to great extent as compared to low-income group. Too much of
fashion should be avoided.
Selection of clothes should be very judicious so that we can buy best clothes by spending
minimum amount of money.
The clothes should be compatible to age, personality, and climate and should not be a hindrance
in normal working. Some factors affect the selec­tion of clothes, which may vary from person to
person as they are influenced by the requirement of the person. These factors are as follows:
Personality
The personality, value and culture of a person can be judged easily from his dress. There are
different types of personalities.
Highlighting salient features of the personal­ity and camouflaging the figure flaws to some
extent is possible through dress. Improper dressing makes person a laughing stock and causes
inferiority complex.
On the other hand, proper dresses help in building self-confidence which is essential for the
proper development of personality. This affects our behavior and mannerism and develops
harmony and per­sonality.
Clothes are an indication of caste, place, state, and occupation of the person. Clothes affect the
personality of the wearer. People who are introverts prefer light and sober colors whereas
extroverts like bright and gaudy clothes.
Dresses with delicate patterns and sober colors help in enhancing the natural characteristics of
tenderness and feminine. On the other hand, big patterns and straight lines go well with regular,
domi­nating and grand personalities. Some uni­forms are reserved for certain professions, which
help in enhancing their personality, e.g., wearing white coat by doctors and black by lawyers.
Clothes indicate your social sta­tus and interest. Simple and elegant clothes are hallmark of a
serious personality.
 Infant wear
 The clothing requirements
from birth to 12 months of
age are few.
 The major requirements of
the newborn are for
warmth, comfort and
cleanliness.
 Clothes should be soft and
light as babies have tender
and delicate skin.
Since they are sleeping most of the time
their clothes should be simple to put on and
take off.
It is also important that they should be easy
to maintain.
Cotton shirts that slip on or that have
double-breasted front opening with snaps
are some easy to wear styles.
 The diapers should be made of absorbent
and soft cotton material.
Factors affecting the selection of clothing for
infants.
An infant sleeps for most of the time, so it is important that his clothes
are loose and comfortable.
These should be made of soft and absorbable cloth (preferably cotton)
as they do not irritate the tender and soft skin of the child. Silken and
synthetic clothes should not be used for infants in any case.
Infant’s clothes are to be washed quite often, hence, the clothes should
be of such material which can be washed and dried easily. The clothes
should be unsearched. The seams should be flat; fasteners should not be
at the back.
Tight elastic should be avoided. Infant’s clothes should have openings
on the front, back or on upper side and it should be head long and
closed neck. Instead of buttons, there should be ties and fasteners at the
back of the dress as these may hurt the infant clothes because
inconvenience in and may get torn by sticking someway
Very tight clothes are not conducive normal growth.
If the clothes are shabby, unshaped, not to the liking of
their peer group, they may suffer from inferiority
complex. They are reluctant to play and with their
peers.
Hazy and dull colors should not | selected for children.
Rather bright gaudy colors are good for them.
 School going children
 Children of this age group are in the
growing stage.
 They like to run about and play and
are very active.
 Hence, their clothes must be made
of strong and durable fabrics which
can take a lot of wear and tear.
 While selecting, do take care to see
that there is adequate cloth inside
the seams which can be opened up
to fit rapidly growing children.
 The clothes must also be easy to
launder as they get dirty frequently.
 Factors affecting the choice of clothes for
children
Season /Climatic Factors: Various seasons affect the choice of clothes. Some fibres
and colors are suitable for summer while some are not. Light weight garments made
out of cotton are suitable for summer while heavy woolens, silks are suitable for
winters. Cotton and its blends are good conductors of heat hence suitable for
summer season. Cool colors like blue, white, green etc are ideal for summer. Warm
colors like red, orange etc are suitable for winters.
Age: The age and sex of the wearer affects the clothing choices. Bright and colorful
colors suit children better for both the sexes up to the age of 2 years. Dainty prints in
soft colors are ideal for children. Generally speaking, delicate fabrics in feminine
colors like pink, green red are good for girls while rough textured fabrics in blue,
brown, grayish blue are suitable for boys.
Income: The amount of money that a family can spare for clothing has an impact on
the clothing choices. High income groups can earmark a large portion of their
income for clothing as compared to low or middle income groups. Hence they can
splurge on fashionable clothes while middle income groups spend on durable clothes
rather than fashionable clothes. Low socio economic groups give importance to
durability, comfort and price rather than on fashion and beauty.
Suitability to occasion: The choice of a dress should
be appropriate to the occasion. Daily wear clothes
should be durable with simple designs while dressy
clothes can be dramatic or stylish with a lot of
trimmings.
Suitability to figure: Selection of clothes should
enhance the appearance of the figure. The style of
dresses also changes with age. Baby’s clothes should
be smooth with no draw strings. A-line dresses are
good for toddlers and infants. Flouncy gathered
dresses/frocks are good for girls while rompers, pants
and denims are preferred for boys.
Fashion and latest trends: The latest fashion trends influence
clothing choices, especially so in the case of a pre-schooler. Peer
group influence is great during this period and so the styles
followed by peers are accepted as a trend. Fashions keep changing
from season to season and silhouettes change gradually from year
to year, so appropriate styles that are in trend for the current
season should be selected. Hence classic styles would stand the
test of time and are appropriate in any season.
Maintenance and upkeep of clothes: The care and maintenance
required by garments also affects ones clothing choice. It is
common knowledge that synthetics are easier to maintain than
cotton and silks. Woolens require gentler handling. Suede and
leather garments also require special handling.
Durability, ease of washing, freedom of movement, comfort and
personal taste of the child are some of the factors that should be
kept in mind while selecting clothes for children.
 The later teen age
This is the age when one
starts going to college.
Teenagers are very conscious
about clothes and want to
wear the ‘latest’ styles.
They like to have variety in
their clothes because they do
not want to repeat the same
dress every day.
 For them, fit and style are
important qualities of clothes
and construction is not often
considered.
It is advisable to select clothes which they can mix and
match so that they can achieve variety with few
clothes.
Similarly if a teenaged boy gets a couple of pair of
jeans and a few T-shirts, he can combine them to
achieve variety in his wardrobe.
 Factors affecting the choice of clothing for
Adolescents
Adolescents like distinctive and unit colors. Clothes
with bright color reflecting enthusiasm, cheerfulness
liveliness should be used for them.
They like clothes that are in fashion their clothes
should be creative, stylish and according to the latest
fashion.
Generally adolescents do not like influences of their
parents and regarding their clothes.
Adults
Selection of clothes for adults depends to a large extent
upon the type of work that a person is engaged in.
A working woman will need clothes which are easy to
launder and which do not need much ironing because
she has very limited time.
She will also prefer to wear clothes which do not
easily wrinkle as she must look good till the end of the
day.
 Factors affecting the choice of clothing for
Adults
In adulthood, the clothes undergo change. Simple and
elegant clothes desirable for mature and elderly
Clothes with design and flowering print look childish.
Clothes should be chosen after analysis of the color of
the skin, and body figure.
In this age, more emphasis should be the profession,
occasion, and price than on the prevalent fashion. In
absence of any of this consideration the dress would
look awkward.
 Old age
Old age brings its own problems.
The body becomes stiff, the eye sight
becomes weak and energy level is
considerably reduced.
You must have also observed that
normally old people wear light material.
The clothes they wear must be loose
and comfortable rather than fashionable.
Also, it would be advisable for the
clothes to have front openings which
are easy to see and manipulate and large
buttons and button holes.
 Factors affecting the choice of clothing for
old age/elderly.
In this period, there is loss of flexibility in the body which causes
inconvenience in movements, hence, clothes should be| loose and
comfortable.
Eyesight also gets weak and hence big buttons with button holes
should be used in place of hooks. Use of zip is also convenient.
Their dresses should be in consonance with their age.
Clothes should be light and easy to wear. They should have simple
designs and easy to wear from either side with durable stitching.
Clothes should be stain resistant, easily washable and wrinkle
resistance as the elders may not have enough energy to launder
their clothes frequently. Thus, we find that age is an important
factor in selection of clothes.