Exploring Perception on Sizing and Fit of Clothing for Malaysian Children

Abstract

The proliferation of the clothing industry is caused by clothes not only for basic necessity but also as a trendy fashion. Meeting an appropriate sizing and comfortable clothes are the most important elements for consideration of purchasing. Currently, not many studies have been done to define the satisfaction on fit for children clothing in Malaysia. This study will solve the problem of uncertainty on sizing and fit of clothing for Malaysian children from the perceptive of parents or guardians. Their expectations for the best fitting of children’s clothes have been discussed. Girth and length was used in measuring key dimensions which were height and bust for upper body and height and waist girth for lower body. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) has been performed resulted that only higher-income households had greater discrepancies with respect to expectations and satisfaction levels items than lower-income household (pvalue=0.007). Overall, the result revealed that parents or guardians were not satisfied with the current sizing system which the size labelled differ between brands and manufacturers. This could lead to consumer confusion and dissatisfaction in clothing selection for both shopping channel which is physical stores or via online.