ABSTRACT

The study focused on development of suits for women with figure flaws in Colleges of Education, in Anambra State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study identified different figure flaws for different women; measured women with figure flaws; established average body measurement for women with figure flaws; constructed suit for women with figure flaws; and determined the appropriateness of suit in terms of fit, acceptability and aesthetics as assessed by judges and models in small, medium and large sizes. Five research questions guided the study. Research and Development (R&D) methods were adopted. The population of this study was 612. The population comprised 213 garment makers and 399 female academic staff in Nwafor Orizu College of Education, Nsugbe, and Federal College of Education (Technical), Umunze. The sample size of the study was 172. The study employed purposive sampling technique. Purposive sampling technique was used to select five judges from 159 women from the two colleges of education in Anambra State who are experts in clothing and textile who in turn selected 21 women (judgmentally) with figure flaw that were measured. Researcher selected 13 garment makers who were willing to participate in the study. Three instruments: a questionnaire, a measurement chart, and assessment chart for judges developed by the researchers were face-validated by 3 experts and were used for data collection. Average body measurements were established by measuring 21 women with obvious figure flaws. Average body measurements obtained were used to develop suits for women with figure flaws in three size categories of small, medium and large. Lecturers knowledgeable in clothing and textiles and the models rated the constructed suits under camera, using assessment criteria charts for clothing fit, aesthetics and acceptability. Data derived from the study were analysed using percentages and means to answer the research questions while Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) statistics was used for testing the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Major findings from the study include the identification of figure flaws, suit preferences of women, average body measurements of women with figure flaws, and design specifications required for the construction of suits. Three patterns segregated according to relevant body parts were produced. The models were satisfied with the fit conditions of the prototype suits although alterations or modifications were made in a few areas to fully submerge the figure flaws. Based on the assessment of the judges, it was concluded that the developed suits successfully addressed the figure flaws of women. The results of hypotheses showed there was significance difference in the mean ratings of Judges and models on the fit, acceptability and aesthetics of the developed suit for different sizes of women with figure flaws. The study recommended that the developed suits could be used as prototype for mass production of suits for women with figure flaws in Colleges of Education in Anambra State.