Petite women: the reflection of confidence for petite women through dress

Abstract

Petite women face many difficulties when purchasing clothing (Kam, 2006). This has been the common reaction expressed by a number of petite women all over the globe (Kam, 2006). Although there have been efforts made to accommodate petite women in South Africa( National Textiles Research brief, 2007) regarding clothing such as Edgars in particular there is still a large amount of petite women who feel dissatisfied. To test whether poorly fitted clothing does have a psychological effect on the petite women, interviews will be conducted with students attending CPUT and UCT. Research on theories revolving around the human mind and how the perception of other people influence our own perceptions of our self image were covered and the product of this research will be a new sizing system for petite women and a range of smart wear which allows women to express themselves age appropriately. The apparel industry has been growing and has worked side by side with technology to address many problems concerning fit and have succeeded in many departments. The fashion industry has in fact paid little attention to petite individuals not recognizing the psychological effect it has on the consumer and could largely benefit if the industry concentrates more on fit, aesthetic and design problems.