• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.209-219
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• 2019

This study analyzed and compared wearer mobility for different types of clothing that also included the potential to develop firefighter station uniforms using range of motion (ROM) and electromyography (EMG). This study focused on a comparison of wearer mobility affected by different materials and shapes of the station uniforms worn under firefighter turnout gear. Japanese standard uniform (UNI), stretch-wear (ST), and compression-wear (CP) were used as station uniforms for the experiment. This study analyzed wearer movements and quantified ROM and EMG. In addition, the subjective evaluation of wearer mobility and comfort were assessed for comparisons. Nine healthy male students participated in the experiment. Wearer mobility was analyzed using ROM and EMG data obtained by measuring five motions; in addition, subjective evaluations were also obtained. As compared with the standard station uniform, ROM increased 6.8 % and 7.2 % due to stretch-wear and compression-wear. The benefits of wearing stretch material or compression material to improve muscle performance (such as reduced percent of maximum voluntary contraction) were not proven. Differences between materials and designs influenced subjective wearer comfort. In particular, the wearing of compression materials was shown best in terms of wearer comfort that may also allow greater wearer mobility.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.145-159
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• 2011

The study aimed to analyze the status quo of manufacturing work environment and the work clothes' clothing comfort and wearer mobility of welding and grinding work processes in the machine and shipbuilding industries in South Korea. A questionnaire survey was conducted for the study, which consisted of questions about work clothes' clothing comfort and wearer mobility according to body parts. The findings derived from the research were: the high impact levels of work environment factors on welding and grinding work processes were noise, metal fragment, superheat, toxic gas, UV ray factors. Subject workers' assessment of work clothes' clothing pressures were in the levels between 3 (i.e. moderate) and 4 (i.e. comfortable) in a range of 5-point scale. The impact levels of wearer mobility factor were high on the work processes of welding and grinding in machine and grinding in shipbuilding. While welding process in shipbuilding showed a 'moderate' wearer mobility level and this was because its work postures were uncomfortable yet the rate of the motion change was low. The consideration to develop the work clothes specialized for certain work processes should include the materials' protecting performance from the hazardous work environment factors; and work clothes' designs that provides workers with maximized clothing comfort and wearer mobility for bending or tilting postures of upper, lower and lateral body parts defined in the study.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.13-31
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• 2012

The purpose of the study was to analyze the work clothes' clothing comfort and wearer mobility of painting workers with the consideration of the work environment features in the machine and shipbuilding industries in South Korea. A questionnaire survey was conducted for the study, which consisted of questions on the clothing comfort and wearer mobility aspects of painting work clothes by clothes types and body parts. The work clothes' clothing comfort and wearer mobility levels were scaled in 5 points i.e. 1(: very tight/very uncomfortable) to 5(: very slack/very comfortable). The painting work environmental hazardous features were considered as high impact levels of workplace temperature, oxygen deficiency, organic solvent, toxic gas factors while metal fragment factor only impacts 'low' in the painting processes with the findings throughout this study. Since the painting work consisted of surface washing and the spray and touch-up painting processes, which was carried out in an outdoor work place, the painting work clothes should meet high performance of waterproofing from the painting material and air permeability specially in summer as well as thermal performance in winter. The subjects painting workers' assessment of the existing work clothes' clothing oppression was in the levels between 3 (i.e. moderate) and 4 (i.e. comfortable) in a range of 1 to 5 points. The existing painting work clothes' wearer mobility was evaluated 'very uncomfortable' in all work clothes parts, especially, armhole length, biacromial breadth, sleeve length of the jumper; and body rise, waist, hip, thigh and knee circumferences of the pants.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.495-509
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• 2021

The study investigated the effects of five commercial body shaping foundation items on clothing pressure, blood flow, body shaping effectiveness, and wearer satisfaction for middle-aged women. The study measured clothing pressure at each of the 10 designated measurement points for twelve subjects wearing the foundations. Blood flow changes were recorded and body shaping effectiveness was analyzed by comparing differences in girth when wearing and not wearing the foundations. The subjects rated wearer comfort along a 7-point Likert scale. The results were that clothing pressure was present at all measurement points, and all foundations placed the least pressure on the anterior underbust girth. In addition, clothing pressure was high in the order of the lateral, posterior, and anterior areas. As clothing pressure increased, blood flow and velocity decreased and overall wearer satisfaction was assessed to be less comfortable. Body shaping effectiveness was evident across all the items, as all decreased girth measurements significantly. In conclusion, the appropriate level of clothing pressure provided by experimental foundations which is positive for blood flow and has an excellent body shaping effect was found to be between 0.53 and 1.77 kPa.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.61 no.9
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• pp.97-113
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• 2011

To develop the work clothes for the employees in the mechatronics industry in South Korea, a questionnaire survey on many aspects of the work clothes such as type, color, detailed design and function preference of the subject employees has been carried out in the study. The results throughout the survey highlighted certain functions such as extensibility, thermal and air permeability of importance for the work clothing performance. To improve the discomfort caused by some work motions (i.e. squatting down, ascending/descending the stairs, raising arms), more allowances were given to the measurements (i.e. body rise + 2cm and crotch depth + 1cm for squatting down pose; thigh circumference + 1cm and knee circumference + 1cm for ascending/ descending the stairs pose; chest circumference + 5~6cm and jumper length to the level of hip circumference line for raising arms pose) for work clothes patternmaking. The evaluation of the two types of spring/summer and winter work clothes' clothing comfort and wearer mobility suggested certain points to improve the clothing performance (e.g. ventilation slits on the back pleats, arm pits and collar band of the spring/summer suit using net material and lining for the winter suit using quilted thermal materials) and wearer mobility (e.g. pants hem buckles for the easy work motion), which also enabled to fulfill the workers' work clothes design preference.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.395-407
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• 2008

As global interest in clothing spreads over the smart clothing which arouses high added-value in the apparel industry, this study is to develop a smart jacket with an electrically-vibrating device maintaining excellent appearance and comfort. The vibrating device has a massage function that could relieve muscle pain near shoulders and neck. The purposes of this research are to develop jacket pattern for men in their thirties considering body shapes and fashion trend, to develop a wearable device that is composed of motor and controller and integrate it into a jacket, and to assess the external appearance and functional satisfaction of the smart jacket through the wearing test. The results are as follows: 1. In order to develope an appropriate jacket pattern for men in their thirties, several patterns were assessed for their fitting comfort. The final pattern was completed after making alterations some parts, and showed high satisfaction as 3.6(on a five-point scale) in all categories. 2. A vibrating device was developed by connecting motor, controller, battery and switch. Developing this device, focus was maximizing the strength of motor and minimizing the heat generated from motor and controller. Snaps were placed between inner and outer cloth of jacket so that the vibrating device could be easily attachable and detachable. The motor was located around Trapezius where muscles often get stiff. A switch was designed to be used in selecting the modes of Strong, Weak, and Cross Tapping. 3. The wearing test was conducted to examine outer appearance, comfort for motion, and functionality of the smart jacket. The results of assessing outer appearance showed that the location for attaching the vibrating device was not noticeable but looked natural, and there is almost no change in outer appearance when the vibrating device operates. The result of assessing comfort of action revealed that wearer's satisfaction was high in all categories about activity, wearer's comfort, etc. The result also showed that wear's satisfaction for effects of vibrating massage, easiness in using the device, heat generation was not less than 3.5 in all categories except a category about noise.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.24 no.7
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• pp.1073-1080
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• 2000

Moisture transfer property of fabrics has known as one of the most important factors deciding wearer's subjective comfort not only thermally but also of sensorial. As a decisive property of fabric materials in determining human sensorial comfort, moisture vapor management property of heat resistant workwear material was examined in terms of increasing and decreasing rate and maximum value of relative humidity in the microclimate under the sweat pulse situation. An unique moisture regulation index, B$_{d}$, was calculated from the measurements using a novel dynamic sweating hot plate apparatus and was used to assess the buffering capacity of fabrics against a moisture vapor sweat pulse.e.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.810-823
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• 2020

This study evaluated the effect of functional characteristics of the fabric for Bikram yoga clothing and fit measured in clothing pressure on the wearer's physiological response and perceptive sensation before and after exercise in hot conditions and during a resting period in standard conditions. The test garment consisted of two tops (T1, T2) and two pants (P1, P2) each with different functional characteristics of fabric. Using various combinations of the test garments, assessment of the thermal sensation and comfort was performed before/after yoga and after resting. This study revealed that thermal sensation and wearing comfort significantly changed based on the functionality of the fabric of top garment before the exercise period. In addition, the results showed that based on clothing pressure, the feeling of comfort was different between before yoga and after resting. The appropriate choice of fabric material was important when constructing Bikram yoga clothing worn in hot conditions; however, level of clothing pressure was also found to be an essential design factor for comfort during rest after exercise.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.36 no.9
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• pp.928-939
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• 2012

This study evaluates wear comforts of water-vapor-permeable (WVP) garments through a measurement of various parameters such as skin and rectal temperatures, microclimate between skin and clothing, sweat rate, and subjective sensations (thermal, wet and comfort sensations) to correlate the physiological responses of the human body with its comfort feeling. Wear comfort during a specific exercise on a treadmill in a climatic chamber (temperature T = $20{\pm}0.5^{\circ}C$ and relative humidity H = $50{\pm}10%$) were studied using eight men wearing seven sportswear outfits (a long sleeve shirts and a long pants) made with seven different WVP fabrics. A comfort sensation was found to be highly correlated with skin T (p<.001), microclimate (T and H) between skin and clothing (p<.001) and sweat rate (p<.05). A regression model correlating comfort sensations and physiological responses obtained from wearer trials could be established: Y = 14.167 - 0.362 ${\times}$ X1 + 0.424 ${\times}$ X2 - 0.238 ${\times}$ X3 - 0.561 ${\times}$ X4 + 0.253 ${\times}$ X5 + 0.214 ${\times}$ X6 - 0.393 ${\times}$ X7 + 0.023 ${\times}$ X8 - 0.043 ${\times}$ X9. (Y = comfort sensation, X1 = forehead skin T, X2 = forearm skin T, X3 = hand skin T, X4 = thigh skin T, X5 = T of chest microclimate, X6 = T of thigh microclimate, X7 = chest sweat rate, X8 = H of back microclimate, X9 = H of thigh microclimate. The regression model obtained in this work can be used by manufacturers to objectively estimate the comfort sensation of sportswear before it is introduced to the consumer market. This study provides salient information to sportswear manufacturers and sportswear consumers.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.560-575
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• 2015

This study developed brassieres using a suspension system with the elastic panel on the inside of the brassiere cup to replace the wires for 20s women with large and elongated breasts. The following results were obtained by analyzing clothing pressure and a subjective evaluation of brassieres with elastic panels at the bottom or side of the various reduction ratios and with the shoulder straps of the brassiere. Brassieres with dual panels (rather than with only the bottom panel) lowered clothing pressure as well as improved wearing comfort and function. Compared to brassieres with a panel of 10%, brassieres with a panel of 15% lowered clothing pressure and provided superior wearing comfort. In this case, the higher the reduction ratio of the side panels increased clothing pressure on the shoulder, but provided superior well-fit, bust-up, and vibration restraint. To reduce the reduction ratio of the side panel decreased clothing pressure on the shoulder and decreased support functions. Therefore, the reduction ratio of the side panels should be determined by preferable functions such as wearing comfort that depend on the needs of the wearer. It is suggested that a brassiere with a dual elastic panel can replace the brassiere wire.