A comparison of the body shapes of young Swazi women with those of body forms used in apparel manufacturing

Abstract

In order to achieve good apparel fit, it is necessary to identify, define and classify the size and shape of a population based on a combination of key body measurements (Petrova & Ashdown, 2008). Unrepresentative sizing systems ultimately lead to apparel fit problems which are further compounded by an unstandardised and ambiguous communication of sizing and fit within the apparel manufacturing sector (Chun-Yoon & Jasper, 1996; Winks, 1997; Simmons & Istook, 2004). According to Magagula and Zwane (2006), the sizing system used by the apparel industry in Swaziland is based on British anthropometric measurements taken in the 1940s; yet there is a significant variance in the body proportions and dimensions of different ethnic groups and within ethnic groups (Yu, 2004c:183). It is therefore predictable that young Swazi women would experience apparel fit problems with ready-to-wear apparel. Body forms are manufactured using body dimensions of the apparel manufacturer’s target market in order to yield satisfactory levels of fit. This is however not the case for the Swazi market, as very little current anthropometric data exists on Swazi women. As a result, small-scale apparel manufacturers encounter problems with regard to body forms that are not manufactured according to the shape of Swazi women. The aim of this research was therefore to identify and describe the most prevalent body shapes of young Swazi women using body dimensions, to identify and describe the body shapes of the currently used body forms through body dimensions, to describe and compare the most prevalent body measurements and proportions of young Swazi women and those of currently used body forms, and finally to test and evaluate the fit of the test garment which represents the most prevalent size and shape of the Swazi women, on the body forms. This study is explorative in nature as it helped to clarify a largely undefined area of body shape analysis in respect of young Swazi women. Under the quantitative research strategy, a survey research methodology was used. Anthropometric techniques and traditional tailor’s measurements were used to obtain body measurements for various dimensions of young Swazi women, and training in anthropometry was undertaken to ensure that the measurements were taken reliably and accurately. It emerges from the results of this study that the most prevalent body shape of young Swazi women is the triangular body shape, followed by the hourglass body shape, while the inverted triangle is the least common body shape. The two body form brands employed in this study on the other hand are found to bear different body shapes from each other. Though one brand appears to have the same shape as that of the most prevalent body shape of young Swazi women, it is apparent that there are notable differences regarding the degree of the body contours, i.e. the Swazi women are conspicuously heavier and more rounded at the hip area – as the measurement differences show. The expectation that this body form will offer a better fit to Swazi women as they have similar body shapes in principle, is not realised when the fit of the test garment is evaluated, due to the vast differences in the drop values. The fit problems that are predicted to be experienced by young Swazi women when using the body forms for pattern generation, based on the significant measurement differences, are indeed observed during the evaluation of the fit of the test garment on the body forms. The fit problems exhibited during the testing of the fit of the test garment based on the most prevalent body shape of young Swazi women on the body forms, are mainly due to a wider lower hip girth and shorter length proportions at the upper torso of the young Swazi women. The results of this study contribute to a better understanding of the body shapes that exist among young Swazi women and the fit problems that young Swazi women experience as a consequence of unrepresentative body forms being used in terms of size and shape. Furthermore, the need for all stakeholders in the apparel manufacturing industry to reach consensus on the standardisation and communication of sizing emerges as a step toward affording better fitting apparel to the Swazi women.