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The purpose of this study was to provide more information about the effectiveness of the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) approach in textiles and apparel by applying it to a semester-long sustainability course.

A University-level course was re-designed using the ESD concepts. The course was taught from a consumer viewpoint using the product lifecycle as a focus, so the information was applicable to students’ lives and multiple consumer products. Quantitative results of a pre- and post-test taken by students measured changes in knowledge, attitudes and behavior related to sustainability. Qualitative data from open-ended questions collected student feedback on instructional strategies.

A significant change in knowledge and attitudes were observed on the post-test. Students perceived assignments that required critical thinking, research and related to their lives as the most beneficial.

The ESD approach changed student knowledge and attitudes to be more sustainable. Assignments that included real world examples had the most impact on pro-environmental attitudes and support the use of a student-centered pedagogy.

This study is based on a semester-long sustainability course designed with ESD, while many existing studies are based on a single intervention or lesson. The results of this study add to the body of ESD literature in the textile and apparel area and are applicable to other disciplines.

Virtual garment fit will be an important determinant for the online purchase decision of consumers in the near future. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop a conceptual model to explore the factors that might impact consumers’ virtual garment fit satisfactions (VFS).

Virtual body satisfaction (VBS), acceptance of the virtual try-on technology and virtual fabric properties were examined as factors that would potentially impact consumers’ VFS. Forty-five women, from 18 to 35 years old, were recruited for the study. Participants were scanned by using a 3D body scanner and their scans were used for virtual try-on. Seven circular skirts with different fabric properties were created by using a commercial 3D simulation software. Participants evaluated the fit of these virtual skirts on their own virtual bodies. Participants’ VFSs and their correlations with VBSs, acceptance of virtual try-on technology and virtual fabric properties were analyzed by Pearson’s correlation test.

Participants’ VBSs at hips were correlated fairly good with their VFSs (r = 0.50, N = 180, p < 0.01) and their acceptance of virtual try-on technology was weakly correlated to VFSs (r = 0.24, N = 180, p < 0.01). However, no significant correlation was found between virtual fabric properties and participants’ VFSs.

This study did not examine the ideal beauty notion, which may affect consumers’ expectations about how the garments should fit on them. Another limitation was the use of a single skirt design as a stimulus.

Studies that explore virtual garment fit often measure the garment ease or the virtual fabric tension and ignore consumer perspective, which is essential for online purchase decision. This study is unique as it prioritizes consumers’ perspectives.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of knit fabric stitch patterns, as indicated by fabric thickness variations, on moisture responsiveness for different seamless knitted wool-based fabrics.

Forty fabrics were created on a Santoni Top-2 circular knitting machine by using combinations of jersey, tuck and float stitches in combinations of wool/Nylon, wool, and spandex yarns. Physical properties of the knit fabrics as well as changes in fabric thickness during dry, wet, after 30 min air-drying and after 60 min air-drying conditions were compared. Repeated measures ANOVA tests and bivariate correlation analysis were conducted.

The results indicated that changes in moisture conditions had a significant effect on fabric thickness, and these changes differed by stitch pattern groups. Float patterns and tuck/rib patterns showed a continued relaxation of fabric thickness through all conditions, but tuck stitches and rib stitches showed a thickness recovery. Wool swatches, unlike the wool/Nylon swatches, increased their average thickness in after 60 min air-drying condition compared to 30 min air-drying condition.

This research documents the moisture responsive properties for wool based yarns, as emerging natural functional materials for seamless knitting industry, with applications in garments for activewear as well as healthcare.

The research evaluated the feasibility of 3D dynamic fit utilizing female compression tops by comparatively analyzing the virtual and actual dynamic fit.

Six female participants were 3D body-scanned and photographed in compression tops in four types of athletic movements (pull-up, kettlebell swing, circle-crunch and sit-up). Fit measurements, waist cross-sectional areas, waist width, waist depth, numerical simulation of clothing pressure (kPa) and objective pressure measurements (kPa) were collected from 3D virtual animation, 3D fit scan data and actual photos with the four types of athletic motions. The data were comparatively investigated between virtual and actual dynamic fit.

The 3D-animated body was not reflected with human body deformation because only bone structure was changed while maintaining the constant forms of muscle and body surface in athletic movements. Due to this consistency of virtual dynamic fit, there were significant differences with the actual dynamic fit at the top length, shoulder width and waist cross-sectional areas. Also, the virtual dynamic pressure indicated significantly higher levels than the objective dynamic pressure while presenting no significant correlations at the front neckline, breast, lateral waist, upper back, back armhole and back waist.

This study is the first to verify multiple aspects of virtual dynamic fit using 3D digital technology. This study provided useful information about which aspects of the current virtual animation need to be improved to apply in the dynamic fit evaluation.

The purpose of the present study was to improve the fit of women’s bifurcated garments by developing an equation that can predict the crotch length accurately by using a few basic body measurements. This equation could provide a simple mass-customization approach to the design of bifurcated garments.

Demographic characteristics and easy-to-record body measurements available in the size USA database were used to predict the crotch length. Different methodologies including best subset regression, lasso regression and principal components regression were experimented with to identify the most important predictor variables and establish a relationship between the significant predictors and crotch length.

The lasso regression model provided the highest accuracy, required only five body dimensions and dealt with multicollinearity. The preliminary pattern preparation and garment fit tests indicated that by utilizing the proposed equation, patterns of customized garments could be successfully altered to match the crotch length of the customer, thereby, improving the precision and efficiency of the pattern making process.

Crotch length is a crucial measurement as it determines bifurcated garment comfort as well as aesthetic fit. The crotch length is usually estimated arbitrarily based on non-scientific methods while drafting patterns, and this increases the likelihood of dissatisfaction with the fit of the lower-body garments. The present study suggested an algorithm that could predict crotch length with 90.53% accuracy using the body dimensions height, hips, waist height, knee height and arm length.

Augmented Reality (AR) integrates computer-generated images to a physical environment in real-time. Online apparel shopping presents some product-related risks, as consumers can neither physically see and touch the products nor try them on. The present study examined whether AR conveys reliable apparel product information in terms of fit, size, and product performance; and how AR affects attitudes toward apparel and purchase intentions when shopping online.

This research was designed as a within-subject quasi-experimental study using repeated measures in two conditions: virtual try-on using the AR technology vs. physical try-on. A scenario was developed to help participants imagine themselves shopping online for a specific dress.

Results indicated that size and color of dresses were conveyed accurately when utilizing AR as compared to physical try-on. Visual attributes such as style, garment details, and coordination with other items were found to be satisfactorily predicted when AR was employed. Overall, attitudes towards both AR and real dress, and purchase intentions were favorable. Participants with higher telepresence levels were found to have more positive attitudes towards the dress and greater purchase intentions when using AR as compared to the participants with low telepresence levels.

Our findings implied that AR can provide enough information especially for garment sizes and visual characteristics when making purchase decisions. AR technology can be instrumental in introducing a certain style, building positive attitudes towards products, and driving sales, when the consumers perceive a certain level of “being there”. This study was limited to female students in North America. Also, because a single stimulus was used, the results cannot be generalized to other stimuli.

Our study findings showed that participants were able to select the right garment size by using AR. The average ratings for visual characteristics such as style and detail were above the neutral level when using AR; indicating that participants can understand visual attributes in AR when shopping online. Moreover, in the AR condition participants with higher telepresence levels had higher attitudes towards the garment and purchase intentions as compared to the participants with low telepresence. AR can be instrumental for online apparel shopping. Retailers need to understand the potentials of these technologies and work with technology developers to enhance consumers' experiences.