A Study on Clothing Images: Their Constructing Factors, Hierarchy, and Evaluative Dimensions

Chung, Ihn Hee(Department of Clothing and Textiles Graduate School of Seoul National University)

Clothing Image is one of the most frequently used basis for the classification of clothing styles and the construction of product positioning map in fashion industry. This study was intended to identify the constructing factors, the hierarchy, and the evaluative dimensions of clothing image, which will be helpful to style classification and product positioning.

The questionnaire consisted of 110 words expresing clothing images was developed, and eight clothing photographs were selected for stimulus. Each of 289 female subjects aged between 22 to 37 responsed to the 110 words for two photographs during September in 1991.

After survey, 110 words were reduced to 62 words based on their independence, then factor analysis was condected. As a result of factor analysis, 6 factors - grace, modernity, unattraction, activeness, dressiness, and youthfulness were found out as constructing factors of clothing images.

One additional interest was the effect of design line to the formation of clothing images. ANOVA identified that curved line designs were perceived to the more graceful, modern, dressy, and youthful, and straight line designs were perceived to be more unattractive and active.

The other interest was the effect of image factors to the total evaluation. So, regression was used. Consequently, the most influential factor to the total evaluation was found out as grace, after which unattraction, modernity, youthfulness and activeness followed by turns.

To explain the hierarchy of clothing image, cluster analysis was applied. For cluster analysis, nine words of unattraction image factor were eliminated. To observe the association of 53 words, dendrogram was introduced, and to interpret the result, eleven sub clusters were determined. This 11 clusters were combined again and again according to their similarities, until they integrated into the 'clothing image'. Two image groups classified fundamentally were 'graceful and feminine image', and 'mannish and simple image'.

Finally, multidimensional scaling analysis was employed to identify the evaluative dimensions of clothing image. Here, three dimensions were judged to be appropriate to explain the result. The first dimension in the multidimensional space was the evaluation in 'mannish image versus feminine image'. The second was the evaluation in 'simple image versus decorative image'. The third was the evaluation in 'pastoral image versus urbane image'. This result from multidimensional scaling analysis was supported by both image factors and image hierarchy.

Keywords: clothing image, Constructing factors of clothing image, Hierarchy of clothing image, Evaluative dimension of clothing image, Classification of clothing style, Positioning for fashion product