Clothing Comfort
Introduction
Clothing is the most important necessity of day-today
human life. Without food a person can survive for few days
but without clothing it is not possible to survive in the
civilized environment. The role of clothing is multipurpose
e.g.
To protect human body form different environmental
conditions.
To lead civilized life.
To feel comfort.
To increase attractiveness.
To save human body form unusual situation etc
Definition of clothing comfort:
Clothing comfort is a state of mind when it is at its
lowest stress level. Comfort is defined as the absence of
perceived pain- and discomfort. Clothing comfort is a
state of satisfaction indicating physiological,
psychological and physical balance among the person.
Balanced process of heat exchange between the human
body, the clothing system and the environment Thermal
comfort as an expression of mind that expresses
satisfaction with the environment.
Clothing comfort history
As old as human being
People adjusted their clothing according to need
Turban in tropical area is an example for
protection from ultra violet rays.
Heavy clothing for North Pole people
Dress variation is based on need of comfort
Climatic variation pushed people to have
different clothing
Types of clothing comfort
Thermal… heat and mass transfer ,
Sensorial…tactile, touching, hand-feel,
Movement…movement of body parts,
Social… status, forces dress,
Psychological…aesthetic sense, design is different for kids and old
people, colorful dress for ladies,
Functional…helpful for any function, firefighter dress,
Main types of comfort
Main types of comfort
Factors determining clothing comfort
External
Internal
External
Ambient temperature
Wind speed
Moisture in environment
Global temperature
Cultural
Overall environment
Internal
Metabolic rate
Level of activities
Health position
Economic position
Social experiences
Psychological situation
Thermal discomfort
Accumulationof heat in micro
climate(between the skin and clothing)
Change in skin temperature more than 35°C
and less than 30 °C
Accumulation of sweat on the skin
Used for
Protection
Socialup gradation
For certain function (medical textile
etc)
Clothing requirement dependents
Activities level, Economic background,
Social status
Age and level of health, Environment,
Weather, Certain situation (bridal dress
etc.)
Faith, Religion, Territorial, culture,
Many more factors.
Garments design and comfort
Garment design is related to beauty of clothing as well as also
related to effectiveness. When we buy clothing, we are careful to
its beauty, color, design, fashion etc. matters as well as its expected
effectiveness. Garment design may vary depending on age, as well
as environmental condition.
Garments design for extremely cold weather is very important.
Under such situation design of the clothing should be such that air
can’t pass through or’ get in easily through the collar, cuff, ankle,
front opening and waist opening. If zipper is used in the clothing,
should be protected from water and air getting inside through
zipper, by using flap on the zipper. The width of flap should be wider
to operate zipper and flap when hand gloves are used. Velcro is used
instead of zipper for the manufacture of clothing for very old age
people and for child's, which are very easy to operate for them.
Use of Velcro in the clothing has advantage of easy
operation but also have some disadvantages, for example,
the hook part of the Velcro damages the fabric surface by
combing action of the hooks and dirt is deposited in the
hooks during washing as a result the performance of the
Velcro is reduced.
For the hot weather, clothing is made from very light
weight fabric, especially clothing made from very light
weight cotton fabric is comfortable to use.
At the end of it could be concluded that the comfort ability
of the clothing is related to weight of clothing, thickness of
clothing, heat resistant property of clothing, flexibility or
softness of clothing and design of clothing.
