Body Mass Index and Body Satisfaction: Does Availability of Well-Fitting Clothes Matter?
- Submitting institution
-
Manchester Metropolitan University
- Unit of assessment
- 32 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
- Output identifier
- 255477
- Type
- D - Journal article
- DOI
-
10.1177/0887302X20915528
- Title of journal
- Clothing and Textiles Research Journal
- Article number
- -
- First page
- 1
- Volume
- n/a
- Issue
- -
- ISSN
- 1940-2473
- Open access status
- Compliant
- Month of publication
- April
- Year of publication
- 2020
- URL
-
https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/625081/
- Supplementary information
-
-
- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- Yes
- Number of additional authors
-
8
- Research group(s)
-
D - Fashion
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- It is well documented that mass-produced clothes are not made to fit a diverse range of body shapes and poor fit can impact negatively on body satisfaction (Downing-Peters 2014, Grogan et al. 2013). This study focuses asks whether the mere availability of well-fitting clothes for women of various weights can have an impact on women’s body satisfaction. It is the first study showing a corelation between a decrease in the number of shops stocking well-fitting clothes for women and a rise in their BMI. We argue that this signals to women with high BMI that their bodies are inappropriately sized and that difficulty in accessing clothes that fit constitutes structural weight stigmatisation. These findings furthermore challenge current assumptions that haphazard systems satisfy the fit needs of most people Conducted by an interdisciplinary team of clothing and psychology experts, the article is published in the internationally recognised Clothing and Textiles Research Journal which is well respected in the field of clothing sizing studies. Significantly this new evidence demonstrating the negative impact that non inclusive sizing systems can have on women is a powerful tool to persuade the fashion industry and policy makers to re-think sizing systems and develop more inclusive strategies for people of all weights, shape and size, with specific reference to the needs of larger sizes. This project involved a process of comparative analysis applied to three separate data sets: 456 women’s body scans, responses from the scanned women and a set of retailers’ online size charts. A prospective study design where body measurements were taken at Time 1 and body satisfaction was measured at Time 2 was adopted. The use of a 3D scanner enabled accurate measure of women’s bodies. Correlational and mediation analysis were conducted and reviewed by all members of the team.
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -