Apparel preferences of pregnant employed women

Women who have postponed childbirth to become established in a career are now embarking on parenthood while continuing to work throughout much of the pregnancy. As a result, pregnant employed women need clothing that will project an appropriate image. The purpose of this research was to determine the types of garments that pregnant employed women prefer to wear to work and to identify factors influencing the selection of those garments. Results indicated that there were differences among age range groups in selection of workplace attire, and among educational level groups in general fashion appeal of classically styled garments, selection of attire for the workplace, selection of nylon for the summer season, and in care required for garments. There were differences among income range groups in the classic category of general fashion appeal, in the selection of silk fibre for winter wear, and in care required for garments. This study supported the concept of a new and separate segment of the consumer market dealing with pregnant employed women. They have special needs for attire based on age range, educational level, and income range, that will project an appropriate image in the workplace and offer physical and psychological comfort as well.     

Language and market inclusivity for women entrepreneurship: the case of microfinance

Inclusive markets are key to fostering female entrepreneurship, and the microfinance sector has recognized and acted on this. Existing research has studied how institutions and organizational factors facilitate the process by which microfinance and other financial intermediaries tackle gender-based financial exclusion. But while the role of cultural institutions has been recognized as important, little research has systematically integrated culture in the study of gender-based financial exclusion. We posit that language is a cultural institution that influences the extent to which financial intermediaries are successful in outreaching women and supporting female entrepreneurship. Inspired by a performativity approach, we develop a set of hypotheses that delineate how a specific feature of language, gender marking in grammar, moderates the role of institutional (state capacity) and organizational (NGO status and global ties) factors in shaping microfinance outreach to women. Using the ratio of female to male borrowers in 2361 microfinance organizations from 115 countries during the period 1995–2015, we confirm that market inclusion of women depends on organizational and institutional factors, and that gender marking in grammar influences those relationships.     

Working with risky consumers: multi‐professional care for substance‐using pregnant women

Substance use is increasingly common in many countries. Consumption and lifestyles associated with consumption often involve a number of specific health and legal risks for users. For pregnant women, the risks extend to the health and care of their unborn children. A multi‐professional approach to the management of substance use in pregnancy is recommended as best practice but, as with all strategies, effectiveness depends on the way that professional workers implement policy. This study evaluated evidence of multi‐professional working within local maternity services in and around a Scottish city by (a) collating and analysing data from the maternity records of 163 substance‐using women, who delivered between January 2001 and December 2003; and (b) conducting a questionnaire survey in 2004 with 120 midwives and neonatal nurses for their views on maternity care for substance‐using women and their babies. Despite the importance placed on multi‐professional working by midwives and neonatal nurses, maternity records indicated operational inconsistencies with implementation in some cases and not in others. Policy was not yet to be seen embedded in everyday practice.     

Contemporary outer dress and clothing market source use of Middle Eastern women

Contemporary Qatari women's outer dress and clothing market source use were explored using Hamilton's¹ dress as a cultural subsystem metatheory. Data were gathered by interviewing 50 Qatari female nationals. Dependent variables were traditionalism of outer dress worn in public and private situations and clothing information and acquisition sources. Independent variables were demographic characteristics of age, education, socioeconomic status, work status and travel. Analyses included correlations and t-tests. Outer dress was traditional in most public, but less so in private, situations. As age increased, clothing traditionalism increased. The most used market sources were store displays, TV, video, tailors and the suq. Store display use increased with age, while use of video, TV and salespersons increased as education decreased. Women travelled outside Qatar to acquire clothing and when travelling, most women wore non-traditional outer dress. Findings were compared with a study completed in Saudi Arabia,² Qatari women's contemporary outer dress was less traditional and they used both traditional and non-traditional information sources and traditional acquisition sources more than Saudi women.     

Clothing as an environment for older adults' successful ageing

This research tested a conceptual model for proximity of clothing to self (PCS) in relation to age identity, self‐actualization, psychological well‐being, self‐assessed health, sex and chronological age among older adults, aged 65 and over, within the human ecological perspective. A mail survey was sent to a national random sample of 1700 older adults in the US resulting in 195 usable respondents in the final sample. The respondents returned two completed questionnaires, which were (1) Clothing: A Resource for Successful Aging? (to measure PCS, age identity and demographic variables) and (2) Personal Orientation Inventory (to measure self‐actualization). The results indicated that older adults' psychological well‐being, one component of successful ageing, was directly affected by their self‐assessed health, age identity and self‐actualization. PCS indirectly influenced individuals' psychological well‐being in a slightly negative way in later life. In sum, clothing may be used as a needs satisfier for different levels of needs or related more closely with needs in addition to self‐actualization needs for older adults. Further research should be conducted to explore relationships among PCS, different levels of human needs, clothing‐related variables and psychological well‐being for this age group. In practice, the effort should be given to teach the use of clothing (or other human‐built objects) as a tool or need satisfier to contribute to success in a person's later life by offering some educational or training programmes through local senior community centres or universities.     

Clothing construction for students of merchandising: lecture versus laboratory

Two methods of teaching clothing construction to students of merchandising were compared using a lecture group, laboratory group and a control group. A pretest, post-test, and attitude questionnaire were administered to the lecture and laboratory groups. The control group took the pretest only. Statistical analysis of pretest and post-test data showed no significant difference in the amount of improvement between the lecture and laboratory groups, although there was a difference between groups on the pretest. The questionnaire indicated that attitudes were significantly higher (positive) in the laboratory group than in the lecture group, regardless of the amount of prior clothing construction experience. Implications of the study are that the lecture format of instruction is as effective as the laboratory in conveying principles of clothing construction, even though student attitude in the lecture was not as favourable as in the laboratory group.     

Clothing for the elderly at home and in nursing homes

Age-related changes and clothing problems of elderly people at home and in nursing homes have been systematically studied in both an objective and a subjective way with medical literature studies, interviews and user studies. There are certain demands which the clothing design must meet in order to fulfil the requirements specified by the functional ability of the ageing individual. The consequences of the age-related changes on the construction of clothing are analysed and some clothing examples described.     

儿童服装市场营销策略

<正> 商业企业制定童装市场营销策略是针对儿童市场的特点和消费需求的差异性,以研究消费者需求为中心,结合企业的经营定位所进行的不同形式的营销策略初探。 一、童装市场的概况 目前的服装市场普遍存在“重女装,轻男装”,“重成人,轻童装”现象。童装市场在服装市场中的地位较低,但随着家长对儿童消费观念的变化,给童装市场带来了发展空间。因为,儿童成长发育较快,童装穿着周期较短,具有持续的需求