Textile Tutors

Friday, 17 January 2014

WHAT IS "SANFORIZED"?

The Sanforized trademark was first registered in the United States of America in 1930. Today the trademark is registered in over 100 countries worldwide. Our extensive network of global licensees uses the trademark on both 100% cotton and cotton-blend fabrics which meet special test requirements and conform to a precise standard of shrinkage established by The Sanforized Company.
Manufacturers of garments made of these fabrics may label their merchandise Sanforized. Thus the retailer and the ultimate consumer can tell at a glance that the fabric in a garment so labeled will not shrink out of fit.
This is uniformly true everywhere in the world, wherever cotton and cotton-blend merchandise is produced and sold, because the same processing, testing and inspection procedures are carried out with each and every licensee.

Sanforized technical service representatives perform constant inspection and check-testing at the plants of textile mills licensed to produce "Sanforized" fabrics. This insures that a uniform standard is maintained.
The Sanforized trademarks are known at both trade and consumer levels worldwide because of their universal assurance of quality. Textile users — manufacturers, retailers, and consumers — have confidence in Sanforized. They ask for it. They have been asking for it for more than 70 years.
The Sanforized license program is unique and without parallel in the textile and apparel industries. Our leadership and expertise in quality shrinkage control are well-known in every major textile market of the world.
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WHAT CAUSES SHRINKAGE?

During spinning, weaving, bleaching, dyeing and the various finishing processes, yarns and cloth are under a continuous tension.
Yarns and/or fabrics are not fixed materials. They consist of separate, stretchable fibers which submit to the tension. In other words, fabrics do stretch in length and width. The tension within the yarns, which is caused by this stretching, can be eliminated when the friction within the fabric is reduced. This reduction in friction occurs during laundering where both water and soap act as a lubricant. The lubricant, along with the mechanical action of the washer, helps the fibers relax and contract to their original length before the elongation takes place. This means that the fabric shrinks and recaptures its original equilibrium.
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CONTROLLED COMPRESSIVE SHRINKAGE PROCESS

The internationally well-known and most important shrinking process today dates back more than 70 years. Though the correct expression for this process is Controlled Compressive Shrinkage, the average person knows it as SANFORIZED. The process is a purely mechanical treatment without any addition of chemicals.
The word SANFORIZED is derived from the first name of the inventor of the compressive shrinkage process, Mr. Sanford L. Cluett.
The Sanforized Company, a division of GTB Holding Corp., New York, USA, is sole owner of the registered trademarks Sanforized, Sanfor and Sanforizado.
The Sanforized label means dimensional stability for garments made up of Sanforized labeled fabrics.
The purpose of the process is to shrink fabrics in such a way that textiles made up of these fabrics do not shrink during washing.
The amount of potential wash shrinkage must be determined prior to shrinking. A full width sample is wash-tested according to the test method. After the lengthwise and widthwise shrinkage has been determined, the compressive shrinkage machine can be adjusted accordingly.
The process can be described by the following schematic:

Fabric (F) passes through the skyer (S) or other moistening device and is moistened by water and/or steam. This will lubricate the fibers and promote shrinkability within the fabric. Normally, a fabric must be moistened in such a way that every single thread achieves a moisture content of approximately 15%. This allows compression of the fabric with very little resistance.
When the fabric passes through the clip expander (C), we obtain the required width. The clip expander also transports the fabric to the most important part of the machine: the rubber belt unit (indicated by arrows in above figure). In the close-up of fig. 1, we see the endless rubber belt (R). By squeezing rubber belt (R) between pressure roll (P) and rubber belt cylinder (RB), we obtain an elastical stretching of the rubber belt surface. The more we squeeze the rubber belt, the more the surface is stretched. This point of squeezing is known as the pressure zone, or the nip point.
Fabric (F) is now fed into the pressure zone. When leaving the pressure zone, the rubber belt recovers itself and the surface returns to its original length carrying the fabric with it. The effect of this action is a shorting of the warp yarn which packs the filling yarns closer together. At this actual moment, shrinkage occurs.
After compaction within the rubber belt unit, the fabric enters the dryer (D). Here the fibers are locked in their shrunken state by removing the moisture from the fabric.
After the compressive shrinkage process is completed, another sample of the fabric is taken. This sample is also wash-tested. The final result of this test must meet the Sanforized Standard, in length and width before it may carry the Sanforized label.
All Sanforized Licensees are contractually obligated to follow the required test method and meet the standards set forth by The Sanforized Company.

Thursday, 16 January 2014

SeaCell® and smartcel sensitive: fibers, which make you feel as being home

A famous idiom says: Home is where your heart is! With SeaCell® and smartcel™ sensitive smartfiber AG launches two natural fibers that are the basis for soft and smooth textiles which guarantee a feelgood factor. Bedding, towels and other home textiles that are made of smartfiber’s fibers have a nurturing and regenerative effect on the user’s skin. That precisely corresponds with the expectations of modern, active customers. They want natural textiles with a positive effect on their skin – a wish SeaCell® and smartcel™ can fulfill. SeaCell®-fibers contain health-promoting active agents of seaweed, allow an active nutrient exchange between fiber and skin and thus provide a long lasting effect of well-being and protection against environmental influences for the user. smartcel™ sensitive is the first antibacterial fiber on the market with the essential trace element zinc. This fiber innovation combines revitalizing skincare with antibacterial properties. Both of smartfiber’s natural fibers are particularly suited for the application in all kinds of textiles and are already integrated in numerous product lines of renowned international suppliers. Their products provide wellness for the skin of their customers – thanks to SeaCell® and smartcel™ sensitive.

Home is where SeaCell® is – the wellness-fiber with seaweed for an active generation

SeaCell® – the cellulose fiber with incorporated seaweed – is the basis for natural textiles of high quality that link real complacency to an additional benefit for the skin. The seaweed in the SeaCell®-fibers contains salutary active ingredients like vitamins, minerals and trace elements. Because of an active nutrient exchange between fiber and skin, it has a health-promoting and skin caring effect. Furthermore, seaweed with so-called antioxidants contains a natural protection against free radicals and sustainably reduces damaging environmental influences on the skin. This radical scavenging efficacy has been verified by the ABEL® antioxidant test of the University of Jena. SeaCell® provides a particularly soft and smooth touch. Whoever sleeps in duvets and pillows with SeaCell® can experience a heavenly night that is pure wellness. SeaCell® provides you with comfort and care: After a busy day, just snuggle in your wellness blanket and enjoy the calming effect of the seaweed on your skin. Body and soul can recover much better from everyday stress – because home is where SeaCell® is.
The SeaCell®-fibers are produced in a completely natural and environmentally friendly way. The astonishing fact about this development is the solid integration of the substances into the fiber. The regenerative effect will remain consistent in the cellulose fiber even after several washing cycles. SeaCell® provides the healthy combination of palpable comfort, numerous processing possibilities and good compatibility with other fibers in knitted and woven fabrics as well as in fleeces. Concerned with the environment and hence up-to-date, SeaCell® brings the positive achievements of nature back to men. Hence, the European Union has awarded this process with the European Environmental Award 2000 in the category “technology for sustainable developments”. SeaCell® can be used for the production of home textiles that combine cozy comfort with gentle care and provide protection against negative environmental influences. With SeaCell® you live in harmony with nature.

smartcel™ sensitive: soft hygiene with a revitalizing effect – your skin appreciates!

The smartcel™ sensitive fiber uses the antibacterial and skin caring effect of the essential trace element zinc for all kind of home textiles with a soft, regenerative effect. Since it is directly incorporated into the fiber, zinc is not only an important part of the human nutrition but also skin regenerating and antibacterial, plus it enhances the healing of inflammation and wounds. The effect is triggered when the skin gives off moisture (sweat), and an active exchange between the fibers and the skin is produced. The metabolism of bacteria is disrupted and odor is reduced. This antibacterial effect of zinc could be detected several times by various independent tests.

Because of the nurturing and hygienic effect on the skin and body, smartcel™ sensitive is particularly suitable for home textiles, since, most of the time, they are in direct contact with the skin. In addition to an enhancement of the wear comfort and the protection of stress factors or similar environmental stesses, the revitalizing properties of this fiber particularly help allergic persons and people who are susceptible to diseases such as neurodermatitis or psoriasis. So to speak, by using bedding with smartcel™ sensitive, the skin regenerates itself during sleep. By the insertion of pharma grade 4 zinc white – a snow-white zinc oxide that is used medically as well as in food – into the fiber a dyeing of textiles in all colors – including white – is possible. And: smartcel™ sensitive is equally effective in combination with wool mixes.
Quality is an ace up smartfiber’s sleeve: The fibers SeaCell® and smartcel™ sensitive are certified by Eco-Tex® standard 100, product class 1 (for baby products) and have been tested by several independent institutes regarding their efficiency.

SeaCell® and smartcel™ sensitive:

fibers, which make you feel as being home

Home is where SeaCell® is – the wellness-fiber with seaweed for an active generation

smartcel™ sensitive: soft hygiene with a revitalizing effect – your skin appreciates!

Quality is an ace up smartfiber’s sleeve: The fibers SeaCell® and smartcel™ sensitive are certified by Eco-Tex® standard 100, product class 1 (for baby products) and have been tested by several independent institutes regarding their efficiency.

What is Seacell fiber?

The idea behind SeaCell™ is actually quite simple: natural, pure and effective active ingredients from the sea should give us and our skin a treat. Ecological, environmentally aware and hence up to date, SeaCell™ brings the positive achievements of nature back to men. On this basis, the idea of using natural substances to develop the SeaCell™ fiber, which is beneficial, skin protective and health-promoting, evolved. It lays the groundwork for products that modern people with demands and quality awareness expect.

The SeaCell^® fiber was ground from natural seaweed become less than micron granule, then add its powder into wood-cellulose NMMO solution benefit environmental protection. By way of Lyocell manufacturing process, turn into what seaweed element and cellulose form the SeaCell^® fiber.

Seaweed has much advantages include carbohydrate, amino acid, fat, cellulose, abundant mineral substance. Such as calcium, magnesium, sodium, and vitamin A, E, C constituents, etc. They make a good effect on improve skin's looks naturally. Lyocell possess characteristics of natural cellulose, high strength, soft touch, and moisture absorbing fast.

Seaweed has another feature is amazing adsorbed ability for metal ion. Because it contains phenolic compound possess the ability that combines with heavy metal. In manufacturing process of seaweed fiber, put silver ion into complete shaped cellulose fiber, forever embedded sterilization metal in fiber inside, this is SeaCell^® Active. After washed can't lose efficacy of antibiotic.

Properties of SeaCell^® Pure:

1. Cellulose characteristic make feel much soft nature.

2. SeaCell^® fiber possess higher strength and size stability, even if washing operation number above ten times can maintain inhere touch sense and efficacy.

3. Wear comfortably; suck sweat 50% faster than cotton.

4. Mineral and vitamin in the SeaCell^® fiber can slowly release at wet environment, make skin possess health care effect.

5. Active compound can arouse cell activation in seaweed fiber.

6. Seaweed fiber can protect your skin avoid external environmental hurt.

7. The process is environmental protection completely.

8. Adapted to be used for underwear, sportswear, bed sheet, decoration, and other fabric that contact skin.

Properties of SeaCell^® Active:

1. SeaCell^® Active possess all properties of original SeaCell^® Pure fiber, and add 6900 mg/kg silver ion in fiber, make the fiber hold forever antibiotic characteristic.

2. SeaCell^® Active possess antibiotic, resist mildew, and avoid eczema that is first of all cellulose fiber on market.

3. Seaweed fibers possess metal-bonding element, let silver ion exist in inside fiber, washing operation will not affect the efficacy.

4. SeaCell^® Active is effective in cure, make become non-weaving that be for a wound dressing, possess good ventilation and moisture-absorbing, can keep skin drying, avoid infection.

Adapted to be used for underwear, infant dress, cure fabric, and other fabric that contact skin.

This is where the SeaCell™ innovation comes into play: The health-promoting properties of the maritime natural substance are being used by producing a unique fiber that combines cellulose with seaweed. The exceptional about SeaCell™ is how the seaweed has been permanently incorporated into the fiber, locking the effects of the marine substances into the fiber for good.

What is Lyocell fiber?

Tencel Lyocell Short-Cut Fiber

Tencel® lyocell is produced from purified dissolving grade wood pulp and an amine oxide solvent. The pulp is a renewable resource and is dissolved directly into the solvent, filtered and extruded through spinnerets to form continuous fibers. These fibers are then washed to recover the solvent and then dried to form a continuous tow. The result is a pure, 100% alpha-cellulose fiber. The long chain molecules within the fiber are arranged in a highly oriented crystalline structure, resulting in high strength, absorbency and excellent retention of mechanical properties in the wet state.

When cut into short-fibers, lyocell, either used at one-hundred percent or in a blend, processes efficiently in all wet- laid papermaking technologies. Crimped short-cut fibers, with their inherently open nature, process efficiently in air- laid applications. In addition, lyocell can be fibrillated with mechanical refining to produce high surface area fibers with submicron fibrils that provide both mechanical binding and filtration efficiency for the production of specialty high performance papers.

Lyocell fiber is ideal for filtration applications that require highly uniform papers and for papers that are in contact with food. Lyocell can also be used for hot oil and beverage filtration and is suitable for uses defined under 21 CFR 176.170.

At the end of the product life, lyocell biodegrades completely during biological treatment, such as burial or anaerobic digestion, into carbon dioxide and water.

Some of the benefits of lyocell fibers are:

High tensile strength (2X rayon dry / 3X rayon wet)
Highly absorbent
High wet and dry modulus
Round Cross Section
Swells radially when wet
Easily dyeable to strong color-fast shades
Does not melt
Outperforms cotton and rayon at high temperatures
Can be oxidized and carbonized

Comparison of Fiber Physical Properties

*At 5% strain
Property	Units	Lyocell	Polyester	Rayon	Cotton
Dry Tenacity	g/den	4.5 - 5.0	4.5 - 5.5	2.3 - 2.7	2.3 - 2.7
Elongation at break, dry	%	24 - 26	15 - 55	20 - 25	7 - 9
Wet Tenacity	g/den	3.9 - 4.3	4.5 - 5.5	1.4 - 1.8	2.8 - 3.4
Elongation at break, wet	%	16 - 18	15 - 55	23 - 35	12 - 14
Water Imbibition	%	65 - 70	N/A	90 - 100	44 - 55
Cellulose DP		550 - 600	N/A	250 - 350	2 - 3000
Initial Modulus, wet	g/den*	250 - 270	N/A	40 - 60	200

Typical Properties of Lyocell Fiber

Property	Units	Typical Values
Denier	g/9000m	1.25, 1.5, 2.2, 3.0
Cut Length	mm	0.5 - 25 (precision cut)
Cross-section		Round
Luster		Bright, dull
Crimp	per cm	0 - 2.5
Finish		Various
Dispersibility in water		Very good

Lyocell Short-cut Fiber Specialty Paper Applications

Adhesive substrates
Battery separators
Cigarette filters and papers
Electrical papers
Filtration media
Food casings
Flushable wipes
Fiberglass binder
Medical papers
Napkins, tablecloths, tissues
Reinforcement papers
Security / banknote papers
Tea bags

Wednesday, 15 January 2014

Social Psychology of fashion

FASHION is a series of recurring changes in the choices of a group of people which, though they may be accompanied by utility, are not determined by it. The fact that the new departure is not made because it is better differentiates the changes that constitute progress from those which constitutefashion. Fashion is marked by rhythmic imitation and innovation, by alternate uniformity and change, but neither of these phases obeys the principle of utility. The prevalence of fountain-pens or alarm-clocks is due to utility. The telephone and the cash register are universal, but not fashionable. The ornamental tiles of a fireplace may be a fashion, but not the tiles of a bathroom floor. Progress follows the line of advantage, substituting always the better adapted; it never returns on itself, never substitutes fish-oil for kerosene, horse-cars for trolley cars. Fashion, on the other hand, moves in cycles. Could we run the successive fashions of woman's hat or sleeve or skirt during a century through a biograph rapidly, what a systole and diastole we should see, an alternating dilation and contraction like the panting of some queer animal!

A style is a uniformity of practice, but it may or may not imply a psychic uniformity, i.e., an agreement of belief or feeling. So far as the hoop-skirt is believed to be the best possible garment, or is felt to be becoming and

Outward conformity usually betokens an inward conformity

(95) feminine, its vogue concerns social psychology. But so far as women without illusions about it wear the hideous thing to avoid being conspicuous, or to get the prestige of "stylish," the practice has no psychic plane behind it, and it does not interest the social psychologist. In general, Veblen is right when he says: " So long as it is a novelty, people very generally find the new style attractive. The prevailing fashion is felt to be beautiful. This is due partly to the relief it affords in being different from what went before it, partly to its being reputable. . . . The canon of reputability to some extent shapes our tastes, so that under its guidance anything will be accepted as becoming until its novelty wears off, or until the warrant of reputability is transferred to a new and novel structure serving the same general purpose. That the alleged beauty, or 'loveliness,' of the styles in vogue at any given time is transient and spurious only is attested by the fact that none of the many shifting fashions will bear the test of time. When seen in the perspective of half a dozen years or more, the best of our fashions strike us as grotesque if not unsightly."[1] "A fancy bonnet of this year's model unquestionably appeals to our sensibilities to-day much more forcibly than an equally fancy bonnet of the model of last year. . . . The high gloss of a gentleman's hat or of a patent-leather shoe has no more of intrinsic beauty than a similarly high gloss on a threadbare sleeve; and yet there is no question but that all well-bred people (in the Occidental civilized communities) instinctively and unaffectedly cleave to the one as a phenomenon of great beauty, and eschew the other as offensive to every sense to which it can appeal. It is extremely doubtful if any

(96) one could be induced to wear such a contrivance as the high hat of civilized society, except for some urgent reason based on other than aesthetic grounds." [2]

Fashion springs from the passion for self-individualization

Whatever the illusions it may create, the ultimate raison d'etre of fashion is the passion for self-individualization. It is eagerness to distinguish one's self from one's fellows that makes even savages so fond of ornament. This is one secret of the enormous profits of trade with unsophisticated peoples. If their vanity is shrewdly played upon, they will strip themselves of everything valuable they possess in return for small quantities of bright beads, tinsel, gaudy ribbons, and prints, which may serve them as means of self-individualization. On some of the South Sea Islands early travellers found that while no one would give anything for new kinds of fowls, domestic animals, or useful devices, "a few red feathers would buy the whole island." At first the mark of distinction most preferred is a trophy of the chase or war -head-dress of eagle's feathers, necklace of bear's teeth or claws, girdle of scalps, bracelets of the jawbone or clavicle of one's foes. These document one's prowess. The trophy, to have any virtue, must be genuine - an evidence of the wearer's prowess, and not of the prowess of another. Hence trophies bought or inherited confer no honor. Eventually the idea of embellishment arises, and with it a host of objects which are not trophies come to be worn. These artificial ornaments are at first attached to the body, and hence evidence how much pain the wearer has consented to endure. Labrets and noserings, like the honorable face-scars the German student duellist is so proud of, show one's grit. With the growth

(97) of dress, ornament attached to the person gradually yields to ornament attached to the dress, the more painful ornament-carrying mutilations being abandoned first. This shows that man is not, after all, quite an irrational being; occasionally he evinces a scintilla of common sense. The greater conservatism of woman makes her persist in ornament, even mutilation (car piercing, waist pinching), after man has totally abandoned such folly. but in such conservative relations as warrior, officer, or courtier, man still wears ornaments. Starr finds that "ornament dwindles with progress toward a true civilization," that " there is no place for ornament in a true democracy," and that "a revival of ornament indicates a retardation of democratic ideas."

The self differentiating impulse is still powerful

The passion for inequality lies very deep in human nature, and we Americans have our share. Brooks says:[3] " The lack of sympathy with heroic and unselfish attempts to realize equality is itself evidence of the common dislike of equality. One of the later experiments, at Ruskin, Tennessee, for which great hopes had been felt, has met disaster. I have gathered many opinions from the press, but among them all no kindly note of appreciation. Has the world at heart a fixed, unconscious hatred of equality? "

" Heraldry now is a charmed word for multitudes of very humble people. Librarians are suddenly plagued by the importunity for genealogical evidence of distinguished ancestry. Daughters of this and daughters of that; clubs, coteries, everywhere springing into life, bound to discover proof that they are not quite like other people. I saw a Colonial Dame flushed with delight be

(98) cause on a great occasion in another city her badge had given her showy precedence over certain of the Daughters of the Revolution, who at home never failed to let her feel her social inferiority. She said, 'In all my life no minute ever gave me a joy like that.'[4] The women need have no shame, they cannot outdo the men in this pursuit. Scarcely a town that is not gay with embellished orders stamped with every display of royal and knightly nomenclature. Read the list of officers from the Sublime Grand Master down, and ask what aristocracy in history ever went farther in its hunt for feathers. Two or three years ago there was a gathering of three or four orders in Boston. From a single copy of the Herald I take the following modest titles, - Grand Dictator, Grand Chancellor, Supreme President, Grand Vice Dictator, Supreme Warden. This outbreak is a- droll commentary upon a society that has found so much to ridicule in the 'haughty infirmities' of the Old World. It has sprung, however, straight from human nature.[5] We have won wealth and some leisure that have brought us into contact with foreign sources of distinction that we lack. No people ever displayed the passion for inequality more greedily than we. One builds a yacht, and if he can dine an English prince at the Cowes races, or entice the German emperor on board at Kiel, this single breath of royal atmosphere at once endows the enterprising host with

(99) the rarest social privileges at home. Every circle breaks at the touch of the king's hand.

" This craving to index one's self off from others, by any mark that can be hit upon, is not very vicious, perhaps not always bad, but it is the essence of inequality and shows how rooted an instinct it is within us. I asked the head of a fashionable city school about the parents that brought their daughters to her. 'It is,' she said, ' so unusual as to surprise me when a parent shows any other real anxiety than to secure for her child certain social connections. Education has no meaning except as it furthers this end.' If this is snobbish, what is it for working-girls' dubs to exclude household domestics? I have known Boston shop-girls at their dances to put up a placard marked 'No servants admitted.' No social group that can be named is free from this itching."

Democracy recognizes certain kinds of inequality

The healthy democratic spirit does not deny that there are important worth-differences among people, nor does it frown upon the passion for self-individualization. Its point of insistence is that the worth-degrees recognized by society ought to relate primarily to intellect, character, and achievement, rather than to apparel and equipage. The idea is that the attributes taken as the basis of social distinction should be deep-lying rather than superficial, important rather than trivial.

The fashion process has two movements

Fashion consists of (I) imitation, (2) differentiation. In imitation, the inferior asserts his equality with the supe- rior by copying him in externals. But this endeavor of the inferiors to assimilate themselves upward is countered by the effort of the superiors to differentiate themselves afresh from their inferiors by changing the style. The prompter the imitation of the inferior, the more frequently

(100) must a new fashion be launched. The death of a fashion is seen when feather boas go out as soon as the domestics have come to adopt them; when ladies renounce the bicycle because the servant girl has one. The terms " gentleman" and "lady" are abandoned as soon as common people employ them profusely.[6] Then it is remarked how " noble " are the ancient terms " man " and " woman " ! When the barber and the fortune-teller call themselves " Professor," the members of the college faculty discover the " simple dignity " that lies in the appellation " Mr. " The impulse to differentiate has been stimulated by the disappearance of class costume and the coming in of democratic competition. The fountains of the great deep have broken forth, and the artisan's wife on the frontier of civilization follows closely the Paris fashions. Thus Bryce[7] observes: "I remember to have been dawdling in a bookstore in a small town in Oregon, when a lady entered to inquire if a monthly magazine, whose name was unknown to me, had yet arrived. When she was gone I asked the salesman who she was and what was the periodical she wanted. He answered that she was the wife of a railway workman, that the magazine was a journal of fashions, and that the demand for such journals was large and constant among women of the wage-earning class in the town. This set me to observing female dress more closely, and it turned out to be perfectly true that the women in these little towns were

(101) following the Parisian fashions very closely and were, in fact, ahead of the majority of English ladies belonging to the professional and mercantile classes."

The suppression of competitive consumption

There have existed societies in which the inferior were not allowed presumptuously to vie with the superior. "In old Japan," says Hearn,[8] "sumptuary laws probably exceeded in multitude and minuteness anything of which Western legal history yields record." " Every class of Japanese society was under sumptuary regulation." " The nature of them is best indicated by the regulations applying to the peasantry. Every detail of the farmer's existence was prescribed for by law, - from the size, form, and cost of his dwelling, down even to such trifling matters as the number and the quality of the dishes to be served to him at meal-times." "A farmer with a property assessed at twenty koku (of rice) was not allowed to build a house more than thirty-six feet long, or to use in building it such superior qualities of wood as keyaki or hinoki. The roof of his house was to be made of bamboo thatch or straw; and he was strictly forbidden the comfort of floor mats. On the occasion of the wedding of his daughter he was forbidden to have fish or any roasted food served at the wedding feast. The women of his family were not allowed to wear leather sandals: they might wear only straw sandals or wooden clogs; and the thongs of the sandals or the clogs were to be made of cotton. Women were further forbidden to wear hair bindings of silk, or hair ornaments of tortoise-shells; but they might wear wooden combs and combs of bone -not ivory. The men were forbidden to wear stockings, and their sandals were to be made of bamboo. They were also forbidden

(102) to use sunshades, or paper umbrellas." "In Izumo I found that, prior to Meiji, there were sumptuary laws prescribing not only the material of the dresses to be worn by the various classes, but even the colors of them, and the designs of the patterns. The size of rooms, as well as the size of houses, was fixed there by law, -also the height of buildings and of fences, the number of windows, the material of construction."

The disappearance of sumptuary laws

Certain restrictions on the consumption of the lower classes prevailed in Europe during the later Middle Ages. Long since, however, these bulwarks to upper-class pride have been swept away, and there is now no station in life from which a person may not aspire to resemble those of a higher station.

Caste inhibits competitive consumption

In immobile caste societies the inferior does not think of aping the superior, and hence the superior is not obliged to devise new styles. Says Veblen:[9] "Certain relatively stable styles and types of costume have been worked out in various parts of the world; as, for instance, among the Japanese, Chinese, and other Oriental nations; likewise among the Greeks, Romans, and other Eastern peoples of antiquity; so also, in later times, among the peasants of nearly every country of Europe. These national or popular costumes are in most cases adjudged by competent critics to be more becoming, more artistic, than the fluctuating styles of modern civilized apparel. At the same time they are also, at least usually, less obviously wasteful; . . . They belong in countries and localities and times where the population, or at least the class to which the costume in question belongs, is relatively homogeneous, stable, and immobile. That is to say, stable

(103) costumes which will bear the test of time and perspective are worked out under circumstances where the norm of conspicuous waste asserts itself less imperatively than it does in the large modern civilized cities, whose relatively mobile, wealthy population to-day sets the pace in matters of fashion. "

Acceleration of the fasion process in a commercialized democracy

In our society acquired social values prevail over hereditary social values. The phrase "in the swim" gives a hint of the unstable medium in which one must support one's self. The style of living, therefore, quickly affects social standing, and we have no reason to marvel that so much rivalry is centred in this sphere. In feudal society one did not enhance his good repute so much by profuse expenditure as by scrupulous abstinence from all productive employment - "the performance of leisure," as Veblen aptly terms it. But when, with the prosperity of the towns, the principal incomes come from city commerce rather than from country estates, the basis of social grading comes to be conspicuous consumption rather than conspicuous leisure; for merchant princes and bankers, unlike rent receivers, must attend to business. They cannot delegate their affairs. Hence commercial aristocracies - such as those of Venice, Genoa, Florence, and Antwerp - are distinguished for a sumptuous manner of life, far more splendid than that of the feudal lords. It was they, in fact, who taught the feudal lords to dismiss their useless retainers and surround themselves with luxury. Now, ours is a hustle civilization, in which ostentatious idling enjoys no such social consideration as it did in the decadence of feudal society. Hence, a cut-throat competition for distinction is concentrated on style of living. Social racing, the endeavor of the inferior to ape

(104) the superior and of the superior to elude him by side, stepping or setting a hotter pace, becomes ever more frantic and taxing.[10]

Why fashions are becoming less stable

Fashions, consequently, are becoming less and less stable. Once fashion changed slowly. " Patching " stayed in a century, so also did the pointed shoes of Richard II. But, owing to the great abundance and cheapness of textile materials, the imitative power of the inferior has been greatly augmented. The wealth of society is great enough to permit the waste of fashion. A larger and larger share of its resources may be squandered in vying for social distinction. Formerly, garments were handed down from parents to children, and putting them aside in obedience to fashion would have been quite too prodigal; even now fashion staggers at fine lace, cashmere shawls, Persian rugs, etc. Again, the technique of imitation has improved. Says Sombart:[11]"It is one of the master tricks of our manufacturers for making their wares more salable to give them the appearance of those objects which enter into the consumption of a higher social stratum. It is the greatest pride of the clerk to wear the same shirts as the capitalist, of a servant girl to put on the same jacket as my lady, of Mrs. Butcher to own the same plush furniture as Mrs. Privy Councillor. This striving is as old as social differentiation, but never could it be so gratified as in our time when there are no longer limits to clever imitation, when, whatever the costliness of the material

(105) or the elaborateness of the form, a counterfeit can soon be put on the market at a tenth of the original price.

"Again, note the promptness - thanks to newspapers, fashion journals, travel, etc. - with which a new style becomes known to everybody.[12] When, a few years ago, the drummer unpacked his sample case in some out-of-the-way town, a circle of gaping spectators formed, and one exclamation of admiration after another escaped their lips. Now it is, 'Excuse me, but I recently read in my paper of such and such a style, you don't seem to have it here at all, my dear sir !' So, scarcely has the long ladies' paletot (Cost $20) penetrated to the knowledge of the belles of a provincial town, before the local merchants will be offering 'the same thing exactly' at $7.50. When with much trouble is devised a summer-shirt style that not every young fellow can afford, - the unstarched colored shirt with the attached cuffs, - the next summer

(106) every shop will carry fancy shirts of just the same pattern at 25 cents apiece. One who, in the possession of a walking-stick with silver-mounted handle, feels at last secure from the rivalry of the vulgar sees the next day the same thing with a cheap pewter handle offered at a quarter. Thus springs up a veritable steeplechase after new patterns and materials. This rapid vulgarization of every novelty forces those who take a proper pride in themselves to think constantly on devising new styles. This mad hunt for novelties becomes wilder and wilder with every advance in the technique of production and distribution."

Distinctive features of modern fashion

The characteristics of modern fashion as distinguished from earlier fashion are: -

1. The Immense Number of Objects to which it Extends. - It touches cravats, umbrellas, walking-sticks, visitingcards, note-paper, toilet articles, docking horses' tails, the high check-rein, the pug, the exaggerated bulldog, the German poodle "raised under a bureau," "a dog-and-a-half long and half-a-dog high !"

2. The Uniformity of Fashion. - In the Renaissance period fashion was limited to a single city or class. Now it knows no territorial or class limits. There is only one fashion at a time. The women look to Paris, the men look to London. If the Prince of Wales forgets his watch and shows himself in his opera box with no chain, every watch chain in the house disappears by the close of the first act.

3. The Maddening Tempo of the Changes of Fashion. A wave of fashion passes downward through all ranks and outward to the rim of the Occident with ever greater speed. Hence the waves must be more frequent if the superiors are to differentiate themselves successfully, and

(107) so the pulsations are ever swifter. In ladies' fashions there are sometimes four or five changes in a season.

The rebellion against rebellion

But there are influences undermining this tyranny. People may conform to a fashion to assimilate themselves to the superior, or in order not to be conspicuous. The latter class change as tardily as they dare and as little as they can. Their influence, therefore, is against extravagances of style and against frequent changes. They are always on the rear slope of the wave dragging it down. Since the number of such people of independent judgment, good taste, and appreciation of health and comfort is increasing, they will in time outnumber the pace setters, conformists, and fashionables. Already we have dropped such irrational badges of social standing as feet pinching, nose-rings, labrets, check slits, flattened crania, and other mutilations. Choking collars, high heels, trains, and face painting[13] will likewise go. The plane of intelligence and good sense is rising. From 1855 to 1865 all the women, including as sweet women as ever lived, wore the crinoline. Twice since then its return has been decreed, and twice the monstrosity has been beaten back into limbo. Not that we are to look for any immediate let-up in social competition; but the growing body of independent people will reduce the instability, tyranny, extravagance, hideousness,

(108) and irrationality of fashion, and thus cause social distinc. tion to be sought and won in other ways. A growing loathing for allotting social esteem according to purely factitious and superficial tests and an increasing respect for achievement and inner worth will blunt the keenness of the struggle for external conformity. It is not to be forgotten that up to the nineteenth century men were more slaves of fashion than women. They were emancipated by the democratic movement, which broke the back of male fashionableness by inducing the upper classes to accept the plain frock-coat of the bourgeoisie.

Liberalization of costume

Much can be done by association in dress reform. By cooperating radicals can keep one another in courage and countenance. The growing resort to athletics by women accustoms to unconventional and comfortable costume for gymnasium, tennis, rowing, cycling, and bathing, and thereby narrows the sway of fashion. The male competition that must be sustained by business and professional women also compels the rationalizing of dress. Reform will probably come, not by the general adoption of some costume in flat contrast to fashionable apparel, but by adding to the number of occasions on which rational costumes already devised may be worn.

SUMMARY

Fashion springs from the desire to individualize one's self from one's fellows.

It consists of a succession of planes in respect to some feature or features of consumption.

It embraces two distinct processes - imitation and differentiation.

Fashion does not appear in a caste society and may be restrained by sumptuary regulations.

Democracy, when it is materialistic in spirit, stimulates competi. tion along the line of fashion.

(109)

Conformity to the fashionable style is more prompt and general than formerly, and the changes of fashion are more frequent.

The growth of intelligence causes the desire for self -individualization to seek satisfaction in other ways than fashion.

Fashion cycle and Fashion theories

Evolution of fashion cycle
Fashion acceptance is usually described as a fashion cycle.
The fashion cycle is usually depicted as a bell shaped curve with 5 stages.

Introduction
Rise in popularity
Peak of popularity
Decline in popularity
Rejection

Introduction of a style

Most new styles are introduced in the high level.
Designers creates the designs with few limitations on creativity, quality of raw material or amount of fine workmanship.
The create new apparel and accessory style by changing elements like line shape color ect…
Product costs are high and only few can afford.
Production in small quantity gives the designer more freedom, flexibility.
New products are shown to retail buyers and press.
At the first stage of cycle, fashion implies only style and newness.
Celebrities, TV stars, models buy these clothes as they want to wear them in some events.

Increase in popularity

When new styles are seen worn by celebrities on TV or magazines they attract the attention of the general public.
Viewers may wish to buy the new styles but perhaps cannot afford them.
Manufactures use less expensive fabric and modify the designs to sell in low price.
Some companies also do imitation of designer originals at low prices.
High priced designers now have secondary sales line which sell at lower prices so they are able to sell adoptions of their original designs in great quantity.

Peak of popularity

When fashion is at height of popularity it may be in such demand that more manufactures copy it or produce adaptations of it at many price levels.

Decline in popularity

After so many designs copies are mass produced, people get tired of that style and begin to look for something new.
Consumers still wear garments in style but they don’t buy them at regular prices.
Retail stores put declining styles on the sale rack.

Rejection of a style

In the past fashion cycle some consumers must have already turned to new look.
The rejection of a style just because it is out of fashion is called consumers obsolescence.
“FASHION WEARS OUT MORE APPAREL THAN THE MAN”

Length of cycles

Fashion always follows the same cyclic pattern.
There is no measurable time table for a fashion cycle.
Some takes short time to peak and popularity and some takes longer.
Some decline slowly some very fast
Some styles will sell in a single season some several seasons
Some fashion fades quickly others never disappear.

Classic

Some styles never become complete obsolete, but interest remain more or less accepted for an extended period.
Jeans, A-line kurtha, polo shirt, loafers and sari is a very good example for classic fashion.

Fads

Short lived fashion is called fad.
They lack the design strength to hold consumers attention for a long time.
Piercing, tattoos, spikes, sleeves, neck lines…are some good examples for fads.

Cycles within cycles

Design elements such as colour, texture, silhouette may change even though the style itself remains popular.
Jeans is a good example (skin fit, boot cut, low waist, high waist, different washes, torn jeans)

Fashion theories
Adaptation of fashion

To understand how new fashion ideas are spread and how they are adapted to the taste, life-style and budgets of various costumers.
Basically there are three variations of the fashion adaptation process traditional adaptation, reverse adaptation, and mass dissemination.

Trickle-down theory (traditional adaptation)

It is based on the traditional process of copying and adapting trendsetting fashion from, Paris, London, New York designers.
Couture designer fashion is expensive and it is affordable by only a few people.
Those designs are copied again and again at lower prices until they have been seen often by the conservative buyers.
It starts from to high fashion to the common people.

Trickle-up theory (reverse adaptation)

It starts from street fashion to high fashion.
Since 1960s designers and manufactures pay more attention to the customers innovations .
They watch people on street to find ideas.
The “gypsy” look is a good example of a street look which reached the runway.

Trickle-across theory (mass dissemination)

Modern communications bring fashion from around the world into our homes instantly.
Many separate markets have developed to various age range, life style, tastes.
Various designer and manufacturer labels appeal to various market segments at different price points.
Mass production means that many different styles can be accepted at a same time.

Frequently Asked Questions in Buying House/ Garment factory

1. What are the different types of fabric?

2. What is construction of the fabric (reed & pick)?

3. What is bowing? How it can be controlled?

4. Explain the processing for the cutting the Lycra fabric?

5. What is dead crease in fabric?

6. What is misprint?

7. What is different between twill & gabardine fabric?

8. What is GSM in knits?

9. How the roll of knit fabric r differentiated for sizes?

10. Explain any two parameters for controlling spirality in knit fabric......?

11. Define reinforcement and type of reinforcement materials........?

12. What are the 3 basic parameters required for fusing.........?

13. Garment markers-which gives more accurate consumption is it CAD or
MANUVAL marker. Give reason.
14. Explain in brief on what parameters consumption can be reduce?

15. How to control the shade lots during cutting?

16. What r the different type of numbering systems followed during cutting?

17. Explain any 3 cutting related problems and solutions?

18. List out the basic details required for QA for order follow up in factory?

19. List out the size of the needles used according to fabric - Yarn
dyed/poplin/denim/knits?

20. What type of thread used in knits to avoid thread breakage while
stretching?

21. What r the basic steps need 2 b taken care b4 bulk production?

22. What is flat fell seam & French seam?

23. Explain in brief different between puckering and gathering?

24. What type of sewing thread is used for garment dying program?

25. What is different between Critical & Major defects?

26. What is seam slippage in a garment (woven)?

27. What is spirality in the garment (knit)? How 2 calculate spirality%? What is allowed tolerance?

28. List out common sewing defects during production?

29.What is the size range for women's tops?

29. What is precautionary measure need 2 b taken for the garments with
placement prints and why?

30. What is AQL? Name the different level of AQL standards?

31. What is the front line balancing in garment especially checks/stripes?

32. What is pairing in garment? Mention the components can b paired in shirt?

33. What is the shrinkage % allowed for knits & woven garments?

34. List out any special stitches in garments?

35. Name quality zones in garments: Zone A/B/C/D in garments. tops & Bottoms?

36. How to do control the measurement discrepancies on the garments?

37. What’s the pictogram stamping/label used in the garments with
special packing?

38. Name some band substance in garment metal accessories?

39. List down steps to improve the quality in final packing?

40.List out different type of packing methods? For tops?

42. List out few packing defects on the garments?

43. During final inspection AQL failed but goods are acceptable
standards what would be decision on the shipment?

44. What r different type of quality in printing?

45. Mention the common printing defects?

46. What r the different types of washes in garment?

47. What r the different type of embroidery?

48. What type of interlining used for making embroidery? For wash &
unwashed program means?

49. Mention to technical problems & solution on the garments?

50. Which r the crucial areas in garment production where v need more
attention &why?