The fit of men's dress shirt collars

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate the fit of men's dress shirt collars among men 18 years and older and sized small to large. Fit was evaluated by the subject's response to a comfort scale based on physical comfort. Static fit (ease) was determined by subtracting the neck measurement from the collar measurement. Dynamic fit was determined by subtracting the ease for movement from the ease in the collar.

Men from Virginia Tech and the vicinity of Blacksburg, Virginia were asked to participate. One hundred men volunteered for this study.

The data analysis was conducted on 90 of the 100 surveys. Some surveys were eliminated due to incomplete information. Pearson Correlation Coefficient was used to determine if there was a positive correlation between ease and comfort. The data were analyzed with Analysis of Variance to determine if there were significant differences between age groups for perceived comfort or for ease. Analysis of Variance was used to determine if there were significant differences between size groups for perceived comfort, for ease for movement or for ease. Analysis of variance was also used to determine whether there were significant differences between age groups and size groups for comfort or for ease.

The results of the study showed that 2.2% of the subjects did not have ease in static fit and 4.4% of the subjects did not have ease for movement in dynamic fit. There was a significant positive correlation between ease and comfort. There were significant differences between age groups for perceived comfort but not for ease; there were significant differences between size groups for ease but not for ease for movement or perceived comfort; and there were no significant differences between age groups and size groups for perceived comfort or for ease. Although the median value for ease for movement was 1/4 of an inch, 16 of the 90 men (17.8% ) had greater than 1 14 of an inch ease for movement. The results of the present study and Langan's study (1984) indicated that the tie may be the major contributor to neckwear tightness.