The effect of the difference in female body shapes on clothing fitting

Abstract The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of body shapes of the studied group of women using different body shape classification methods. The objective was to investigate the fit of clothing for the average body shapes identified. Forty female participants from Slovenia, aged 20–30, were included in the analysis. Body shapes were classified using three methods: Visual assessment of body shape (VABS), female figure identification technique (FFIT), and body shape classification method (BSCM). For each classification method, ANOVA tests were performed to determine whether there were statistically significant differences in body measurements across the identified body shapes. A comparison of body shapes was carried out and also visualised by simulating 3D body shapes. The fit of clothing to body shapes was analysed with the help of virtual 3D prototyping. Four characteristic body shapes have been identified, namely triangle (pear, spoon), hourglass, rectangle and inverted triangle. The VABS method differs slightly from the other two (FFIT, BSCM), which give very similar results. When applying the FFIT and BSCM, the triangle body shape is the most representative, followed by the hourglass shape, the rectangle and the inverted triangle shape. Simulating the fit of the basic dress pattern design on 3D body shapes using the best match of dress size shows that the dress fits the hourglass shape best, while the fit for the other three shapes is inadequate. The latter indicates the need to make most of the garments for the triangle body shape and a corresponding number of garments for the hourglass and rectangle body shapes to ensure the correct fit of the garments.