Abstract
The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between clothing microclimate and physiological responses, including subjective sensations, when, in a $15^{\circ}C$ environment, a range of temperatures inside clothing is broadly produced from using various combinations of upper and lower garments. Six male subjects participated in the investigation and the results were as follows. For all types of inside garments, the temperature of the clothing was lower than the skin temperature for the whole body in each case. The mean temperature for inside clothing ($\bar{T}_{cl}$) significantly showed the highest correlation with mean weighted skin temperature (r = 0.816) and was less positively correlated with the temperature of the inside clothing at the chest (r = 0.326) (p < .01). Values for both the energy expenditure and the heart rate were less positively correlated with the clothing microclimate (p < .01). The change of body heat content showed a negative correlation with the surface temperature of the innermost clothing (r = -0.519) and there was a difference between the innermost surface temperature and the outermost surface temperature of the clothing at the chest (r = -0.577). As td increased, the increase of body heat content declined (p < .01). There was a negative correlation between body fat and some of the temperatures inside the clothing (p < .01) and body fat had no significant correlation with the humidity inside the clothing. Subjective sensations were more highly correlated with $\bar{T}_{cl}$ than with the temperature of the inside clothing at the chest and had not significantly correlation with the humidity of the inside clothing. In conclusion, through these results, it can be seen that the temperature inside the clothing was related to various physiological responses and subjective sensations, and that the mean temperature of the inside clothing ($\bar{T}_{cl}$) showed a higher relationship with the temperature of the inside clothing at the abdomen than that at the chest.