衣服設計のための中高年女性の着脱動作の観察

Abstract

It has been reported that elderly Japanese women find it difficult to complete the motion of putting on and off clothing. In this study, we aimed to analyze motions involved in putting on and off jackets to solve this problem, which will lead to barrier-free clothing. Subjects were 13 volunteer healthy middle-aged Japanese women and 29 young women. Two jackets were used for the study. One was a basic jacket with a tailored collar and tailored sleeve, named "tailored sleeve." Another was developed from the pattern of "tailored sleeve" and had a diamond-shaped gusset in the underarm area, named "gusset sleeve." We prepared each type of jacket in two sizes. The putting on and off motions were recorded by 2 digital video cameras and observed. Time taken to complete the motion was not significant between two types of jackets. But the motion putting on "gusset sleeve" was smoother without wrinkles on the surface of the jackets caused by pulling with hand or arm than "tailored sleeve." It suggested that a diamond-shaped gusset in the underarm area makes it easier to put the arm through the sleeve.