Title:
EFFECT OF AGE ON STYLES OF CLOTHING PREFERRED BY WOMEN IN CHANDIGARH

Authors:
Gunjan Chawla , Rita Kant

Abstract:
Clothing is an important basic requirement for everyone. It is a way of protecting the human body from extreme weather conditions and hostile environment conditions. Clothing is a style in which one represents oneself and expresses one’s feelings and personality type. The present research was undertaken to study the Effect of Age on Styles of Clothing Preferred by Women in Chandigarh. A survey was conducted for which a questionnaire was prepared and used as an interview schedule to collect data. The sample of the study included girls and women between the ages 25 to 45 years. The analysis of data showed that younger women in the age group ranging between 25 to 30 years in comparison to older women in the age group ranging from 31 to 45 years feel that "Fashion Magazines" do not influence their Clothing Choices. Also, women in the age group of 25 to 30 years and 31 to 35 years feel that their Clothing Choices are not affected by "Looking at What Others Wear". Further, women of all age groups were neutral towards "Movies" influencing their Clothing Choices. It was further seen that women of age group of 25 to 30 years, 31 to 35 years and 36 to 40 years like to wear "Western Casuals", whereas Older Women in the age group of 41 to 45 years like to wear "Indian Casuals". It was also seen that women of age group 25 to 30 years, 31 to 35 years and 36 to 40 years were neutral towards the preference for "Circular Silhouettes" but, women of age group 41 to 45 years prefer wearing "Circular Silhouettes". Also, "A-Line Silhouettes" were preferred the most by the women of age group 25 to 30 years, 31 to 35 years and 41 to 45 years but women of age group 36 to 40 years said that they prefer "Circular Silhouettes" to "A-Line Silhouettes". Thus on the whole this research helped to conclude that women of different age groups feel differently about what and who inspires them to wear a certain style of clothing. Older women like to wear more of Indian style casual clothing and younger women prefer more of Western style casual clothing. Also there are distinct choices in preference for silhouettes as well. Younger women prefer ALine silhouettes and older women like Circular Silhouettes. This could be because of the change in body type of women as they grow older. Circular silhouettes seem to keep the actual body type under wraps; hence the preference for the same. Findings of this study can be useful for those involved in the business of fashion clothing