Analysis of Body Size Measurements for U.S. Navy Women's Clothing and Pattern Design

Abstract

Abstract : Data from major anthropometric surveys of U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force women are analyzed with a view toward establishing sizing programs for U. S. Navy women's clothing. Summary statistics, percentile and frequency tables, and measurement descriptions are presented for 49 variables related specifically to clothing design. A high degree of comparability was found between the two measured samples in most dimensions, although the Army women, measured in 1976-77, were found to be slightly taller and heavier than the USAF subjects surveyed in 1968, and to have somewhat larger waists and smaller bust dimensions. Using the data from the two military women's surveys and key dimensions and sizing intervals specified by the Navy Clothing and Textile Research Facility, a sizing analysis was conducted. Several different approaches were tried, but the resulting sizing programs do not satisfactorily cover the measured samples and presumably would be similarly deficient for a U.S. Navy population. The authors recommend the selection of different key dimensions arid sizing intervals suggested by the actual distribution of body size variability in the military women's samples. A limited-objective survey of U.S. Navy women is also recommended for purposes of resolving various noted discrepancies.