 Analyze the shape and sizing requirements

 Identify the suitable sample size and develop the sizing system

 Develop the pattern and analyze the pattern fit

 Develop the garment and analyze the effect of materials and body

movement on performance of clothing

Body mass index (BMI) is a number which can be calculated by dividing the

weight in kilograms by the square of the height in meters. It is commonly

used for assessing body fat content in large-scale population surveys

Classification BMI (Kg/m2) Risk of comorbidities

Underweight <18.5 Low (but risk of other clinical

problems increased)

Normal range 18.5–24.9 Average

Overweight 25

Pre-obese 25–29.9 Increased

Obese class 30.0–34.9 Moderate

Obese class 35.0–39.9 Severe

Obese class 40 Very severe

Waist-to-hip ratio (WHR)
In addition to BMI, a great deal of research has focused on the waist-hip

ratio (WHR) in the determination of body shapes and attractiveness. WHR

can be measured in two ways. One way is to divide the waist girth by hip

girth, which has also been regarded as a factor correlating with female fertility

[67]. The other way is to divide the waist width by hip width as seen from the

front view, which was relevant to the body’s visual cue. A low WHR was

believed to have the optimal fat distribution for women’s health [68], high

fertility [69, 70] and attractiveness [71]. The judges were asked to evaluate

attractiveness using a set of line-drawn figures of women’s bodies grouped

into three series – underweight, normal and overweight. An optimal WHR of

0.7 was suggested. However, Henss [72] carried out similar research and

reported that the women with a WHR of 0.8 appeared more attractive.

Singh [73, 74, 75, 76] observed the changes in WHR of Miss America and

Playboy playmates for more than 30 years. It was found that the WHR of

subjects remained within a range of 0.68 to 0.72. For a healthy pre-menopausal

woman, the typical WHR was between 0.67 and 0.80 [77, 78, 79].

Breast size
Furnham et al. [87] investigated the effect of breast size on the assessments

of female attractiveness, and found that the size of the breasts made a significant

contribution to the attractiveness ratings. The effect of breast size on the

assessments and age estimations were dependent upon the overall body fat

and WHR.

Singh and Young [88] reported that, besides WHR, the breast size is the

main factor in influencing the judgment of female attractiveness, age and

desirability for a long-term relationship. Slender bodies with low WHR and

large breasts were considered to be the most attractive, healthy, feminine

looking, and desirable. Similarly, Low [89] suggested that slim young females

with large breasts have the most attractive body figure. It is also interesting

to learn that the age estimations highly depend on breast size, WHR and

weight, such that the perceived age of women with large breasts, high

WHR and high weight was raised by over ten years compared to their actual

age.

However, Kleinke and Staneski [90] found that medium breasts gained

most favourable ratings by the assessors from both sexes. As suggested by

Gitter et al. [91], males preferred large breasts only for small and medium

female figures, whereas females preferred smaller breasts. Adrian et al. [92]

even showed that breast size was relatively less important than WHR on the

influence of the attractiveness ratings, whereby large breasts only slightly

increased the rating of health and femininity. Heavy figures with a high

WHR and large breast size were rated to be the least attractive and healthy.

Hip size
Recent research has found that the size of different body parts might influence

the ratings of female body attractiveness, irrespective of WHR. Tassinary

and Hansen [93] reported that hip size was a stronger determinant of female
figures attractiveness than WHR. Catherine et al. [94] found that larger

figures with smaller hips were perceived as more athletic. They were more

attractive than the shapely heavy-body-weight alternatives. These results

indicated that hip size could be important to predict women’s attractiveness

perceptions. Several studies by Singh and Luis [95] also claimed that hip

size was more influential than waist size.

Malgorzata [96] showed that men are sensitive to WHR differences only

based on waist change instead of hip change. When the waist size decreased,

the attractiveness of the female figure increased, yet there was no significant

difference of attractiveness in a range of WHRs from 0.65 to 0.80. According

to Voracek and Fisher 2002 [97], Playboy centrefold models have shown a

tendency towards a higher WHR over the past 50 years. Tovée et al. [98]

discovered that over 90% participants perceived the subject with a bigger hip

size as the heavier. Therefore an increased hip size of WHR from 0.65 to 0.6

may lead to the perception of increased weight as well, and cause a decrease

in attractiveness rating.

Designing intimate apparel to fit different

body shapes
Designing a good fit brassieressiere starts from an understanding of the female body.

Human beings are the only mammal where females of the species develop

permanently enlarged busts before the first pregnancy. Female busts go

through constant changes throughout the day as well as through their life

cycle. Busts’ shape, density and volume are affected by weight changes,

hormonal changes (e.g., menstrual cycle and menopause), reproduction

(e.g., childbearing and nursing), and aging. These changes are expected to

impact on changes in brassieressiere fit requirements and fit satisfaction.

Age difference in bust configuration
Ashdown and Na (2008) compared upper torso postural changes caused by

aging by comparing 3D body scan data of 40 women aged between 19 and

35 and 40 women aged 55 and older. Results showed significant differences

between the group of younger women and the group of older women in

their bust configuration. The older women showed greater bust point and

bust point distances, shorter bust point to waist heights, and smaller upper

anterior thoracic angles (a lower, fuller bust, and bust points were farther

apart). These age-related physical changes often lead to older women

reporting frustration over the lack of clothing choices which are in line

with their changed fit requirements identified five key criteria which influence brassieressiere purchasing
amongst

older women – (1) aesthetics, (2) comfort, (3) practicalities for brassieressiere purchasing,

(4) bust support and (5) psychological aspects – after interviewing

13 females aged between 45 and 65. Under the ‘support’ criteria, three

requirements are for the brassieressiere to uplift, to give general support and to overcome bust sag.

Body shape and brassiere fit

Chen et al. (2010) analyzed 3D scanned data and fit perception of 103 female

college students in order to find out whether body-shape characteristics,

including shoulder slope, bust prominence, back curvature and acromion

placement (see Fig. 14.8) were significantly associated with brassiere-fit problems,

including poor brassiere support and brassiere-motion restriction. Each body-shape

characteristic was divided into three subcategories: (1) shoulder slope into

‘square’, ‘average’, and ‘sloped’ categories, (2) bust prominence into ‘large’,

‘average’, and ‘small’, (3) back curvature into ‘round’, ‘average’, and ‘fl at-back’

categories, (4) acromion into ‘backward’, ‘average’, and ‘forward’ categories

(see Fig. 14.8).

In their study, Chen et al . (2010) found the backward-acromion participants

with large breasts were least satisfied with brassiere support, whilst the

backward-acromion participants with average breasts were mostly satisfied

with brassiere support. In addition, the result showed the round-back participants

with the backward-acromion were most satisfied with their brassiere support.

Also, a majority of the flat-back curvature participants did not have any

brassiere-fit problem with upper-back motion restriction regardless of the types

of shoulder slope, whilst the average-back participants with square shoulders

indicated brassiere-fit problems with upper-back motion restriction. The

backward acromion participants with square shoulders were most satisfied with their brassieres, with no
upper-back motion restriction, whilst the forward

acromion participants with square shoulders were least satisfied with brassiere motion

restriction.

Ethnic difference and brassiere fit

Understanding of differences in body shape between Asian and

Caucasian body configuration seems to be slowly emerging. After studying

the scanned body data of 180 women (90 Asian and 90 Caucasian)

aged between 19 and 63, Shin (2009) found significant differences in key

body measurements between Asian and Caucasian women in terms of the

parameters commonly used in brassiere design, patternmaking, and manufacture.

One significant body measurement is the sternum (a key measurement

relevant to gore sizing), where Asian women generally displayed a

wider sternum width (more than two-tenths of an inch) and breasts which

are closer together in terms of bust point to bust point (nipple to nipple)

measurement.

The implications for brassiere sizing are that, without the ability to adjust

gore size to accommodate the differing sternum widths, Asian women

will find their brassiere does not fit well in the crucial central area (i.e. between

the cups or gore) and consequently the breast will be forced against the

upper inner side of the cup, leading to potential discomfort. The bust
point to bust point differences (on average more than two-tenths of an

inch) will mean that Asian women are likely to experience less support

at the outer sides of each cup than their Caucasian counterparts. This is

because their breast configuration is such that the bulk of each breast

is more centrally located, with the nipples pointing in a more parallel

plane. The summary brassiere fitting picture which emerges for Asian women

is of a garment which is too loose at the lower outer edges and too tight

at the upper inner edges. For Caucasian women, significant support for

the outer edges of the breast is required. The success in push-up brassieres

demonstrates the appropriateness of the design – pushing outer edges

of breasts together and inwards to achieve the fashionable cleavage. The

wider bust point to bust point measurements for the Caucasian participants

perhaps partly explains the popularity of this type of brassiere amongst Caucasian consumers.

Golden ratio of the human body

The golden ratio is also regarded as one of the attractiveness ‘standards’ for

the human being. The Russian philosopher Krukovsky [122] wrote,

‘Contemplating the perfect, fine human face and body we come unintentionally

to the thought about some latent, but obviously felt mathematical refinement

of their forms, about the mathematical regularity and perfection of their

curvilinear surfaces’. For example, Aphrodite’s sculpture created by Agesander

is considered as a masterpiece of woman’s beauty (Fig. 1.6).

Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, the first-century Roman architect and writer

revealed the relationship of the human body to the circle and the square

[123]. His ten books on architecture were the earliest literature dealing with

human proportions. Marcus stated that there was a perfect harmony between

all body parts, which later was captured in Leonardo da Vinci’s [124] famous
sketch of Vitruvian Man [125] (Fig. 1.7) in 1509 named ‘Da Divina Proportion’.

Several research publications [126, 127, 128, 129] also indicated the presence

of the golden proportion in a correlation of the body parts of man, specifically

the hand.

According to classical average Greek body proportions (Fig. 1.8), various

body measurements were explained in a unit of head length. For the ideal

female, the height is approximately seven and half head lengths. The hip and

shoulder should have the same width. The fullest part of the bust is located

two head lengths from the crown. The breast point width is the same as the

distance from the breasts to the navel and from navel to division of legs
[130].

Brinkley and Aletti believed that an ideal female figure (Fig. 1.9) should

be well proportioned all over. Height proportion should be two-fifths of the

total height from the top of the head to the waist, the hipline should be half

the total length and knees should be in the bottom quarter. For general

measurements, the figure is well proportioned when the bust and hip are

almost the same measurement with the waist approximately ten inches smaller

[131].

According to a book in Chinese, the normal length of a Chinese woman’s

head (a) is about 22 to 26 cm, which is the same as the distance between bust

point and neck base (b). Breast sagging is indicated when this distance is longer than the head length. The
normal distance between two breasts (c) is

half of the shoulder width (d), which is 17 to 18 cm. An optimal breast width

and height are obtained when an equilateral triangle is drawn from the clavicle

to the two nipples. Figure 1.10 illustrates the definitions of the above-mentioned

measurements.
Golden ratio of women’s torso
In order to incorporate the concepts of beauty into intimate apparel design,

the Human Science Research Center of Wacoal [132] has been observing

individual women for over 40 years. Based on their research findings, Wacoal

has developed several indices of beauty including ‘Golden Proportions’ in

1955, ‘Beautiful Proportions’ in 1979 and ‘Golden Canon’ in 1995. In 1955,

the ‘Golden Proportion’ had an ideal height of 162 cm. The body height was

7.3 times the head length, and the optimal ratio indicated the ratio

bust:waist:height to be 53:37:55.

In 1979, Wacoal revised the proportion and proposed a new standard

called ‘Beautiful Proportion’. It specified the ideal body circumference in terms of a portion of body height,
for different age groups. In 1994, Wacoal

investigated 1,115 women’s body sizes and asked six judges to assess their
body beauty [133]. Based on both the manual measurement data and 3-

dimensional (3D) data, key parameters were identified that were strongly

related to a female’s body beauty, as shown in Fig. 1.11. It also shows the

balance of the width, height and circumference of bust, waist and hip.