This paper proposes to use a fuzzy-neural network system to predict and display the drape image of garments made of different fabrics and styles. The new approach is used to develop a prototype drape prediction system to predict the drape of a lady's dress style made from different fabrics. The advantages and disadvantages of the new approach, compared with conventional ones, are discussed.

This paper reports on an experimental investigation on the effect of added fullness and ventilation holes in T-shirt design on clothing comfort measured in terms of thermal insulation and moisture vapour resistance. Four T-shirts in four different sizes (S, M, L, XL) were cut under the traditional sizing method while another (F-1) was cut with specially added fullness to create a 'flared' drape. A thermal manikin 'Walter' was used to measure the thermal insulation and moisture vapour resistance of the T-shirts in a chamber with controlled temperature, relative humidity and air velocity. The tests included four conditions: manikin standing still in the no-wind and windy conditions and walking in the no-wind and windy condition. It was found that adding fullness in the T-shirt design (F-1) to create the 'flared' drape can significantly reduce the T-shirt's thermal insulation and moisture vapour resistance under walking or windy conditions. Heat and moisture transmission through the T-shirt can be further enhanced by creating small apertures on the front and back of the T-shirt with specially added fullness. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: The thermal comfort of the human body is one of the key issues in the study of ergonomics. When doing exercise, a human body will generate heat, which will eventually result in sweating. If heat and moisture are not released effectively from the body, heat stress may occur and the person's performance will be negatively affected. Therefore, contemporary athletic T-shirts are designed to improve the heat and moisture transfer from the wearer. Through special cutting, such athletic T-shirts can be designed to improve the ventilation of the wearer.

This paper reports a study on the effect of moisture management in the design of cold protective clothing. In this research, two kinds of clothing systems were tested, a traditional clothing system (clothing A), and a specially designed moisture management clothing system (clothing B). Both clothing systems have the same four-layer structure (underwear, vest, coat, and outer jacket), but with use of different functional fabrics. The experiments were conducted in a climate chamber where the temperature was controlled at —15 °C. Eleven young male subjects took part in wear trial experiments, in which they were dressed in clothing A or B and walked on a treadmill. The humidities and temperatures at the skin surface and at different layers of the clothing system were measured together with measurements of thermal and moisture sensations. The experimental results showed that the moisture management property of fabrics significantly affected the moisture diffusion and temperature distributions in the cold protective clothing systems, and influenced the thermal and moisture sensations.

This paper reports on an experimental investigation of the effects of T-shirts design on clothing thermal comfort measured in terms of clothing thermal insulation and moisture vapour resistance. Ten short sleeved T-shirts of varying opening styles and mesh styles were designed and produced for testing on the sweating fabric manikin-Walter. Clothing thermal insulation and moisture vapour resistance of the T-shirts were measured when the manikin simulates walking motion and standing posture. The results showed that, the positions of openings and ventilation panels affects the total thermal insulation and vapour resistance; among the various designs tested, openings applied at two vertical side panels along the side seams can most effectively release heat and moisture from the body.

Our sizing system is commonly used for mass production today and offers the closest fit by producing various sizes. However, wearers' socio-psychological concerns are not taken into account during the development of the system, which may churn out ineffective fits. This study provides knowledge of menswear evaluation by taking into account men's physical and socio-psychological dimensions.A questionnaire survey was carried out in this study that 143 males participated in this quantitative study. Various scaling items were adopted to examine the subjects' sociopsychological dimensions in terms of clothing evaluation (i.e. clothing functions and fashion involvement) and their preferences in eight styling attributes with a preferences-based study called menswear aesthetic attributes preferences (MAAP). By using multiple regression, eight styling attributes of menswear design were predicted by physical and socio-psychological dimensions. This study successfully categorise modern males according to their preferences of menswear, with regard to the predictors of menswear design preferences in physical (i.e. BMI) and psychological dimensions (i.e. menswear functions and menswear involvement). Subjects were divided into 3 clusters: 1) Fashion & Masculine; 2) Low-Function Value; and 3) Camouflage & Comfort; in which they were identified as having different clothing preferences as they had unique characteristics in clothing functions and levels of fashion involvement.