Although consumers' environmental concern has increased, little empirical research regarding environmental attitudes and clothing purchasing behavior has been reported. This study builds on the limited amount of research by employing a theoretical framework that focuses on endogenous and exogenous conditions that affect attitudes and behavior. The final sample of 402 women resulted from a national random sample of 1000. A survey measuring general environmental and clothing environmental attitudes, and environmental consideration when making clothing purchases was developed. Factor analysis reduced the attitude items to three general environmental factors and two clothing environmental factors. Path analysis was employed to examine the relationships among variables. Results revealed that demographic characteristics influenced general environmental attitudes which in turn influenced clothing environmental attitudes which ultimately impacts clothing purchasing behavior. Results further explicated the existing theoretical framework and provided support for a sequential approach.

This study examined the influence of a female instructor's clothing style on students' perceptions of an instructor's characteristics. Social perception provided the theoretical framework. Formality of clothing style, students' clothing interest, and students' gender were the independent variables. Perception of the instructor's characteristics was the dependent variable. A 25-item questionnaire was administered to 216 college students from three universities. Perceptions of the instructor's characteristics varied significantly with formality of clothing style. The students' clothing interest influenced perceptions to some extent; gender of students did not.

The Sproles'model of fashion adoption was selected to examine the adoption of the short skirt among employed women. Sproles'concepts of adopter identity and motivations were operationalized using measures from previous clothing-related studies of employed women. Results indicated that a large majority of the sample rejected the short skirt at the same time that retailers were heavily promoting the new style. Adopters and nonadopters differed significantly with respect to only two of the variables studied-age and perceived appropriateness of short skirts for work. Although factors not included in the study appeared to impact on the adoption process for employed women, Sproles' model allowed for the identification of variables which had value in predicting adoption of a new style. Theory-based empirical studies by retailers could be helpful in reducing the risk inherent in fashion marketing.

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of a female teacher's clothing style on student perceptions of teacher characteristics, including approachability, knowledge, respect, and overall acceptability. High school students were provided with photographs of a teacher model dressed in four clothing styles and were asked to select one of the photos for each of 20 statements designed to reflect teacher characteristics. Chi square results revealed differences between the clothing styles on 19 of the 20 statements.

Th is paper describes the application of a Multi-Tiered Model of Assessment to a costume history course. A review of assessment literature is followed by a description of the three-tiered model. Elements of the model applied to a general education costume history course include peer review, teaching journal analysis, locally developed and national measures of student perceptions, and measures of student learning outcomes. Strategies for course redesign based on the data are discussed. ment from multiple points of view, (c) emphasize student learning outcomes, and (d) disseminate assessment results to eff ect change. Each of these guidelines is discussed below. Focus on GoalsAn eff ective assessment begins with the stated goals and outcomes of the course, selects assessment strategies appropriate for these goals, and interprets assessment results in context of the goals. Th us, the course goals are the foundation of an eff ective assessment. As Palomba and Banta (1999) point out: