A Comparative Study on Clothing Behaviors of Elderly Men and Women

The elderly are faced with unique problems in regard to their clothing life, which require solutions from various perspectives. Given these facts, this study was aimed at reviewing and comparing the clothing behaviors of elderly people in order to provide some basic data which apparel businesses targeting the elderly might find useful. The elderly people aged 55 and older and living in Seoul were sampled at random for a survey. The survey used the methods of interview and self-administered questionnaire. 418 questionnaires were distributed to women, and 504 to men. The collected data were processed using SPSS/PC for factor analysis, correlation, single-factor ANOVA and T-test. The results of the survey can be summarized as follows ; 1. Among 8 factors determining the clothing behaviors of elderly people, the importance of clothes and manageability of clothes scored highest on average, while conformity with one's peers scored lowest. 2. The clothing behaviors of elderly people differed significantly depending on their demographic variables. 3. The level of satisfaction with one's life and appearance differed significantly depending on their demographic variables. 4. Clothing behaviors of elderly people were closely correlated with their level of satisfaction with their life and appearance.