Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research

Vol. 36, December 2011, pp. 348-357

Sizing system for functional clothing Uniforms for school children

Norsaadah Zakariaa
Department of Textile Technology, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi Mara, Malaysia
In this study, a sizing system is proposed specifically for school-aged children in Malaysia. The sampling frame is based
on the female population in the age group 7-17. For this study, 1001girls have been selected randomly from 29 different schools
in urban and rural districts of Malaysia. Principal component analysis is used for key dimensions determination. Data mining
has been done to develop the sizing system using cluster analysis and classification tree technique. This study has successfully
produced four main sizing systems for garments of girls aged 7-12 and 13-17 covering upper and lower body. In total, 93 sizes
have been developed for the girls of 7-17 years age. The sizing system coverage for 7-12 years old girls is found to be 99.6% for
upper body and 99.2% for lower body. The coverage for girls of 13-17 years age is 93.6% for upper body and 98.2% for lower
body. This is the first comprehensive anthropometric survey conducted to develop a sizing system in Malaysia in order to
design school uniforms locally. The benefit is an enhanced fit of school uniform and a guideline for a proper sizing system and
sizing designation.
Keywords: Anthropometric survey, Body dimensions, Sizing system, School uniform

1 Introduction
The school uniform is an integral element of every
childs school-going years. Children in different age
groups have widely varying physical, social and
psychological requirements for their clothing1. The
child's physical development and rapidly changing
body shape and size can cause problems with the
acceptability of school uniforms2. Fit of clothing is a
major factor affecting the physical and psychological
comfort of the wearer3.
The reason that clothes often dont fit children well
is that the sizing system used to manufacture their
school uniforms is not based on a scientific
understanding of body shapes and sizes of this group4-6.
Childrens clothing needs to be functional in order to
accommodate growth, provide comfort, promote
safety, and foster a sense of independence7,8. Norum9
said regardless of how attractive an item is, how easy
the garment is to care for or what value the clothing is
to be, it is of no benefit if it does not fit the child.
Gautam10 found that factors affecting comfort of kids
clothing include garment size, seasonally appropriate,
and shoes and stockings of correct size.
During childhood and adolescence, physical activity
is promoted as a key component of energy balance and
as a lifelong positive health behaviour11. As a result,
children are expected to wear comfortable clothing for
various activities in order to be physically, socially and
mentally active and fit12. On the other hand, during
______________
a
E-mail: saadahzakaria@gmail.com

this time children grow quickly in different ways and

at different rates, therefore clothing size is significant
in giving them the right fit which allows room for
growth13,14. Futhermore, there is a possibility that
physical changes in children could cause
complications in choosing clothing especially when it
comes to fit.
Basing the size system on age alone also results in
poor representation of actual body dimensions and
shapes15,16. Several studies have revealed that children
of similar age may have varying height, shape and
body proportion17,18. Otieno19 demonstrated that 50% of
children did not fit into clothes designed according to
the age system. Methods of sizing nomenclature that do
not have proper identification also mislead consumers
in the selection of well fitted garments20. Research has
found that female children face the most problems
when it comes to mass produced clothing as their body
shape changes towards entering the adulthood21.
Thus, the present study was designed to generate
baseline anthropometric data of female school aged
children. The purpose of conducting this anthropometric
survey is to develop a sizing system for upper and lower
body for girls' school uniforms and propose a proper
sizing designation.
2 Materials and Methods
The study is divided into following four parts:
(i) Anthropometric surveyAnthropometric planning,
anthropometric protocol
(ii) Anthropometric data analysisSimple statistical,
multivariate technique, data mining technique

ZAKARIA: SIZING SYSTEM FOR FUNCTIONAL CLOTHING

(iii) Development of sizing systemSize range, size

interval, size roll
(iv) Sizing system validationAccommodation rate,
aggregate loss, total number of sizes.
The study can help apparel manufacturers and
retailers effectively in developing the sizing system
according to their target market's body size
specifications and requirements.
2.1 Anthropometric Survey
2.1.1 Anthropometric Planning

A total of 1001 school-aged girls were randomly

selected from 29 primary and secondary schools for the
study. The sampling consisted of three ethnic groups,
namely Malays, Chinese and Indians. The age range of
the sample size was kept between 7 and 12 years for
subjects from primary school and between 13 and 17
years for those from secondary schools.
The entire sample was recruited using stratified
random sampling.
Approximately 51
body
measurements were taken on each subject, including
height and weight, as per the ISO 8559/1989 body
measurements standard. Body weight was taken using
a digital scale to the nearest 100g and height was taken
to the nearest 0.1 cm using a Mentone height
measurement scale with attached head piece. Out of 51
body dimensions, 33 were for the upper and whole
body and 18 were for the lower body.
2.2 Anthropometric Data Analysis

After conducting the anthropometric survey, the

collected data were analysed using simple statistical
methods like mean, median and standard deviation to
describe the body size and growth of subjects overall.
Subsequently, to develop the sizing system, factor
analysis, non-hierarchical cluster and decision tree
techniques were employed using the SPSS ver.13.0
statistical software. The objective of using each
technique is as follows.
2.2.1 Principal Component Analysis (PCA) Method

The objective of this method is to reduce the variables

for the selection of key dimensions, which were then
used to segment the sample population. The body
dimensions of each sample group are extracted using
PCA and Varimax rotation. The PCA technique is
commonly used to analyse anthropometric data to
describe variations in human body in a parsimonious
manner. Parsimonious means the variation of body
dimensions are described using the fewest principal
components (PCs) possible. To identify the number of
components to be retained, three criteria were

349

considered, namely latent root criterion, percentage of

variance criterion and Scree test criterion. Then, key
dimensions were selected based on the relevant
components and factor loadings.
2.2.2 Cluster Analysis Method

The objective of cluster analysis is to segment the

sample population into homogeneous groups by
applying the non-hierarchical K-means cluster method.
It is a simple clustering method and shows optimal
results22. However, all variables must be independent
and normally distributed. Different body types were
identified based on the clustering method in which the
subjects were grouped according to similar body
characters.
2.2.3 Decision Tree Method

The objective of decision tree is to profile the cluster

groups. In this study, regression tree was used to
classify the variables since the data is continuous. The
dependent variable was the cluster group and the
independent variables were the variables from either
the upper or the lower body.
2.3 Sizing System Development

After obtaining the profile of cluster groups, a sizing

system was developed based on the size interval. The
main objective of a sizing system is to classify the
sample population into sub-groups, with similar people
within each group but significantly different people
among different cluster groups.
2.4 Sizing System Validation

The aim of the sizing system is to enumerate a set of

sizes that can accommodate most of the population
measured. Thus, the final step is to validate the sizing
system based on cover factor (%), aggregate loss, and
size roll.
2.4.1 Cover Factor

For cover factor validation, the percentage of sample

accommodated under each body type and each
individual assigned size is calculated. Each established
size is presented in the size table. The percentages in
each size were added together to give the total
percentage covered by the system as a whole for each
sample group. The cover factor should typically range
65-80%, meaning that the sizing system is able to
accommodate 65-80% of the population with the sizes
given23.
2.4.2 Aggregate Loss

The next item of validation for the sizing system is to

measure the aggregate loss. The goal of a good sizing

350

INDIAN J. FIBRE TEXT. RES., DECEMBER 2011

system is to produce sizes that are close to the wearers

actual body size and shape. This degree of closeness
(aggregate loss) measures the goodness of fit of each
size. It measures the Euclidian distance between
assigned size (the size created) and the actual size (the
real size of a given subject). If the assigned size is near
to the actual size, it means the distance between the two
sizes is small and thus the aggregate loss value is low.
Consequently, this means that the goodness of fit of the
assigned size is high.
2.4.3 Size Roll

Size roll is simply the total number of sizes

obtained for each sizing system, from the smallest to
the largest, with fixed intervals between adjacent
sizes. The size intervals can be the same throughout
the sizing system or it can vary. In terms of
practicality and economics for the manufacturers, the
optimum size roll is neither too less nor too many.

Table 1Anthropometric measurements of 7-12 and 13-17 years

old females
Body
dimension

Height
cm

Minimum
Maximum
Mean
SD

102.6
162.9
131.5
12.7

Minimum
Maximum
Mean
SD

131.1
170.6
154.3
6.8

Weight Bust girth Waist girth Hip girth

kg
cm
cm
cm
7-12 years
13.4
49.1
78.8
106.1
29.8
66.1
12.3
10.8
13-17 years
13.4
58.5
78.8
121.5
47.9
79.5
13.1
9.6

44.2
91.3
59.0
9.9

52.2
112.5
72.0
11.3

49.3
117.2
64.2
9.8

65.0
121.5
88.3
9.7

3 Results and Discussion

Values obtained from the anthropometric survey
show that the data are normally distributed. The
distributions of data for girls (7-12 years old) and
teenage girls (13-17 years old) are shown in Table 1,
giving the extreme values, mean, and standard deviation
(SD). The growth of girls according to important body
dimensions is discussed in the following sections.
3.1 Descriptive Analysis

As shown in Table 1, the shortest girl aged between

7 and 12 years is about 102.6 cm and the tallest is
about 162.9 cm. The mean height of these girls is 131.5
cm. The SD for all dimensions is quite large, showing
great variation in the measurements. The thinnest girl
in this group weighs only 13.4 kg while the average is
29.8 kg and the heaviest is about 78.8 kg. The
descriptions of the other three body dimensions,
namely bust, waist and hip girth are given in Table 1.
On the other hand, the study on the body size of
teenage girls (13-17 years) according to height, weight,
bust, waist and hip girth indicates that the shortest height
of teenage is 131.1 cm and the tallest is 170.6 cm
(Table 1). The thinnest weighs only 13.4 kg and the
heaviest girl is about 78.8 kg. Thus, the average height
and weight are 154.3 cm and 47.9 kg respectively. The
spread is lower in the height dimension as compared to
the other dimensions.
3.1.1 Growth Distribution for Girls Aged 7 - 17

It can be seen from Fig.1 that the growth trend in

girls between the age of 7 and 12 is very rapid,
especially in height. Compared to 13-17 year old

Fig. 1Growth trend for critical body dimensions (7-17 years)

girls, the overall graph shows growth in every

dimension. It has been shown that females start their
growth spurt between ages 10 and 12, which is the
onset of puberty24. After the age of 14, their height
changes very little; it is relatively unchanging for
females from 15 to 17 years25.
In girth measurements, growth occurs in three
obvious phases. Overall, there is a continuous
increment in measurements for all body dimensions
with age. The increment rate differs in age groups
7-12, 12-14 and 14-17. There is rapid growth from
age 7 to 12, then growth seems to increase but at a
slower rate from age 12 to 14 and finally becomes
almost stationary from age 14 to 17. As a result, the
total growth of key body measurements for age 13-17
is much lower than for age 7-12.
The spread of height is greater between ages 7 and
12 as compared to ages between 13 and 17. This
finding is consistent with those of AHearn et al.26

ZAKARIA: SIZING SYSTEM FOR FUNCTIONAL CLOTHING

who found that differences in height by age are the

largest between the ages 9 and 13. Other studies also
show that height is affected by age, nutrition, lifestyle
and health27. Therefore, it is assumed that more sizes
will be needed for age 7-12 as compared to age 13-17
due to the larger size range in the younger group.
3.2 Factor Analysis

The factor loadings of each component were

thoroughly selected using the three criteria as
mentioned in the methodology section. Results are
compiled in Table 2.
3.2.1 Step 1 Factor Analysis

For factor analysis, two important data of the

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) and Bartlett test values
are shown in Table 2. Both the values of KMO and
Bartlett test statistics are used to predict if the data is
likely to factor well, and in this study the KMO
measure is found to be equal to 0.987 (7-12 years old)
and 0.965 (13-17 years old) and Bartletts test for
both groups shows p<0.01. This reading is suitable for
factor analysis as KMO is supposed to be > 0.5 and
Bartlett test is < 0.05. As a result, all the dimensions
are suitable for factor analysis.
3.2.2 Step 2 Retaining the Factor Components

The results of the extracted components from PCA

technique showed that 50 components are extracted
for each sample group (aged 7-12 and 13-17) which
explains 100% of the variance in the data. The current
study shows that 76% of the variance in the 50 body
dimensions for female (aged 7-12) is explained in
component 1, while for female samples of the age
between 13 and 17, less percentage value is observed
(54%). In addition, from this finding, 90% variance is
explained by seven principal components for female
samples age 712, and for female samples (age 13-17),
14 components show 90% of variance. In order to
reduce the numbers of components for a more
parsimonious solution which is the goal of using the
PCA technique, the criterion of retaining components
are applied which are: latent root, scree plot and
percentage of accumulated variance. Table 2 shows

351

that the criterion of Eigen value >1 is first used to

retain three components for female aged 7-12 and six
components for females aged 13-17. Next, using Scree
plot criterion, two factors are retained, resulting to
Components 1 and 2. The third criterion for retaining
values depends on the percentage of accumulated
variance on Eigen value. For females aged 7-12,
Component 1 (PC1) shows Eigen value of 76.3 and
Component 2 (PC2) shows Eigen value of 7.2. Thus,
the cumulative % variance from initial Eigen values is
83.5%. For females aged 13-17, Component 1 (PC1)
shows Eigen value of 54.0 and Component 2 (PC2)
shows Eigen value of 15.0. Thus, the cumulative %
variance from initial Eigen values is 69.0%.
After choosing the numbers of components need to
be retained, all factor loadings of each variable in
each component are examined which will clearly
distinguish those variables that correlate highly with
each component. In general, similar body dimensions
are accumulated into its own component which can be
interpreted as one type of measurements such as the
length, girth, or width.
3.2.3 Step 3 Result of PCA

Anthropometric variables with factor loadings >

0.5 are mostly clustered within Components 1 (PC 1)
and 2 (PC 2). For female samples aged 7-12, 46
variables are loaded on two components while for
female samples aged 13-17, 42 variables are loaded
on two components. In PC 1, all variables are girth
dimensions and therefore the first component retained
is the girth factor. PC 2 consists mainly of length
dimensions. It is thus known as the length factor.
For the sample group aged 7-12 years, 30 variables
(15 variables each for upper and lower body) are
found to have high factor loadings ( 0.70). However,
in Table 3 only eleven variables for upper and lower
body are shown, with the highest factor loading.
Dimensions shown in bold are those which show high
factor loading and are used most frequently in pattern
making. Height and bust are identified as the key
dimensions for upper body28, 29, while height and hip
girth are chosen for the lower body30, 31. Height is

Table 2KMO and PCA results for girls aged 7-12 and 13-17
Age years

Kaiser Meyer
Olkin (KMO)

Bartletts tests

Component
extracted (PCA)

Factor

Eigen values

Scree plot criterion Cumulative total

variance, %

7-12

0.99

72055.63

Factor 1
Factor 2

76.3
7.2

2 Components

83.5

13-17

0.97

31437.00

Factor 1
Factor 2

54.0
15.0

2 Components

69.0

INDIAN J. FIBRE TEXT. RES., DECEMBER 2011

352

Table 3Principal component analysis with Varimax rotation

(7-12 year olds)
Parameter

Value

Parameter

0.863
0.851
0.819
0.865
0.828

Upper body
Bust girth
Upper arm girth
Neck girth
Lower body
Waist girth
Hip girth
Thigh girth

PC 2 (length)
Upper body
Under arm length
Cervical height
Height
Lower body
Inside leg length
Hip height
Outer leg length

Value
PC 1 (girth)

PC 1 (girth)
Upper body
Upper arm girth
Bust girth
Neck girth
Lower body
Waist girth
Hip girth

Table 4Principal component analysis with Varimax rotation

(13-17 year olds)

0.939
0.929
0.808
0.946
0.921
0.916
PC 2 (length)

0.834
0.838
0.852
0.903
0.874
0.809

considered the best representative of length32. Bust and

hip girths are considered representative of weight33,34.
For female aged 13-17 years, the result of PCA
shows that 26 variables are correlated to the girth and
length components with a factor loading of 0.70.
Fifteen variables are loaded on girths while another 11
variables are loaded on lengths. From Table 4, only the
highest factor loading variables are shown which
consists of eleven variables for upper and lower body.
Referring to Tables 3 and 4, only five variables that
have the highest factor loading from PC 1 and PC 2 are
listed, with the exception of the height variable, which
is considered crucial for key dimensions in sizing
system. Furthermore, height shows high factor loading
( 0.75) for both groups.
3.3 Cluster Analysis

Two key dimensions namely the height and chest

girth for upper body and height and waist girth for
lower body, selected from the previous PC analysis,
have been used to cluster the subjects. Six separate
cluster analyses are run, generating participant cluster
membership from 2 to 9 grouping categories. Each kmeans of the the cluster results is evaluated to
determine the ideal number of grouping categories. The
ideal cluster result will mean that each cluster group
shows distinction among each other. Three groups are
chosen for its distinctive characters and considered
practical for size clustering of school-aged children,
due to the familiarity of three basic sizes (S, M and L)
in the local industry.

Upper body
Arm length
Under arm length
Height
Lower body
Inside leg length
Outer leg length

0.838
0.818
0.776
0.839
0.831

Fig. 2Clusters according to height and bust girth in cm for (a)

7-12 and (b) 13-17 years old girls
3.3.1 Clustering of 7-12 Years Old Females

Clusters obtained for the upper body for 7-12 year

old females and their analysis are shown in Fig. 2 and
Table 5 respectively. As can be seen, Cluster 1 is made
up of subjects with short height and small bust. Cluster
2 includes tall subjects with large busts and Cluster 3
lies in between the two covering subjects having
medium bust and average height.
For the lower body too, three distinct clusters were
obtained (Fig. 3). A large majority of subjects are
clustered under Cluster 2 which represents the medium
size covering subjects having average height and small
to medium size hip girth. Cluster 3 for large size
includes subjects which are tall with wide hip girths.
Cluster 1 covers subjects with narrow hips and short
height. Details of each cluster are given in Table 6.
3.3.2 Clustering of 13 - 17 Years Old Females

Clusters obtained for this group show a different

character from those obtained for younger girls

ZAKARIA: SIZING SYSTEM FOR FUNCTIONAL CLOTHING

353

Table 5Clusters for upper body of 7-12 and 13-17 years old girls
Parameter

7-12 years

Mean height, cm
Range , cm
Mean bust girth, cm
Range, cm
Body type
Parameter

7-12 years
N

Mean height, cm
Range , cm
Mean hip girth, cm
Range, cm
Body type

13-17 years

Cluster 1
Cluster 3
Cluster 2
Cluster 2
Cluster 3
N
(197)
(194)
(134)
(120)
(101)
122.5
133.4
145.9
150.1
159.0
114.0-131.0
120.5-146.0
132.1-153.7
142.7-156.0
153.3-164.5
59.4
67.6
77.1
76.6
79.6
53.5-71.8
57.3-83.0
63.0-87.5
69.5-86.7
70.6-86.7
Small
Medium
Large
Small
Medium
Table 6Clusters for lower body of 7-12 and 13-17 years old girls

Cluster 1
(176)
122.6
114.0-132.5
64.39
58.0-74.0
Small

Cluster 2
(196)
132.4
119.5-143.3
73.56
61.0-91.0
Medium

Cluster 1
(80)
155.2
145.0-164.0
91.8
85.7-98.5
Large

13-17 years
Cluster 3
(142)
145.8
133.0-154.0
82.24
70.0-93.5
Large

Cluster 1
(126)
150.4
143.4-157.3
84.1
76.0-92.5
Small

Cluster 2
(102)
158.9
152.9-164.5
88.3
81.5-94.2
Medium

Cluster 3
(64)
155.8
142.8-164.0
99.3
92.5-106.5
Large

Trend obtained is similar to that seen for the upper

body classification. While cluster 1 (small) and
cluster 2(medium) are distinct in height categories,
the range of hip measures for them is overlapping.
Cluster 3 (large) covers the women with a large bust
but across the entire range of height. Table 6 shows
the profile of each cluster for 13-17 years according to
key lower body dimensions. The majority of the
subjects fall into Cluster 1 (the small size). The
second largest sample size is Cluster 2 (the medium
size). Cluster 3 pertains to the large size.
Fig. 3Clusters according to height and hip girth in cm of girls of
(a) 7-12 and (b) 13-17 years old

(Fig. 2). In this case, a huge overlap in dimensions of

the three cluster groups is observed. While clusters 1
and 2 are distinct in terms of height measurement,
their range of bust measures is overlapping. Cluster 3,
which may be termed as large size, has subjects
across all height categories with a large bust
measurement. Thus, the spread of measurements is
seen to increase markedly, indicating the emergence of
distinct body shaping in this age group. Majority of the
sample population falls under Cluster 1, which makes up
the small size. Cluster 3 (large body type) contains
samples that are short to tall with large bust
measurements. Cluster 1 samples belong to the small
body type, with short to average height and small to
average bust. In Cluster 2 (medium body type), the
samples are average to tall with small to average size bust.
Figure 3 shows the clusters obtained for teenage
girls on the basis of height and hip measurements.

3.4 Classification Based on Gender and Age Groups

Table 7 depicts the characteristics of small, medium

and large sizes. As can be seen, in the small size, height
is always less than in the other two sizes, which means
that the length of skirts for school uniforms should be
shorter for this group as compared to the other two
sizes. However, for the large size the attributes are
different, i.e. for age 7-12 height alone is significant,
while for age 13-17 only hip measurement needs to be
considered.
3.5 Sizing System Development

The sizing system was developed according to the

design limit, which accommodated 90% of the sample
population. It can be seen that height is the determining
factor for size in girls aged 7-12 years. In comparison,
girth is the determining factor for size in girls aged 1317 years. Applying the classification rule of IF/THEN
(Table 7), the three body types namely small, medium
and large for upper and lower body are developed

INDIAN J. FIBRE TEXT. RES., DECEMBER 2011

354

Table 8Size distribution for upper body for girls 7-12 years

Table 7Classification tree profiles of key dimensions (cm)

Body types

7-12 years

13-17 years
Upper body

Small
Height / bust
Medium
Height/ bust
Large

<129.4 /65.3

153.9 / < 86.3

129.4 - 139.7/ > 65.3

Height >139.7

>86.3/ >153.9
Bust >86.3

Lower body
Small
Height/hip
Medium
Height/hip
Large

<139.7/ < 67.4

<126.5 / >67.4

153.3 / 93.8

126.5- 139.7/ Hip > 67.4

Height >139.7

< 153.3 /< 93.8

Hip >93.8

using different size interval for different key

dimensions.
The interval for key dimensions can be chosen based
on the total range in order to develop the size table. It is
therefore, the goal of any sizing system to find the best
size interval to signify the best coverage of the target
population while having not so many size rolls. Table 8
shows that the entire samples are highly accommodated
with appropriate numbers of size rolls which proves the
size intervals selected are correct. However, it is also
noted in some of the sizing system that there are some
sizes which are not densely accommodated, e.g. for
height the total range is 40 cm, therefore to obtain 5
sizes, each interval is set at 8cm, meanwhile for girth
key dimensions, if the range is 35 cm, then choosing
interval of 5 cm will result to 7 sizes.
Development of the upper body size table for 7-12
year old girls is discussed here. For the development of
size system, the decision to classify the female samples
according to the classified rules, as shown in Table 7,
are applied. Basically, there are three major sizes
namely small, medium and large allocated for females
aged 7-12 years old for upper body. Table 7 shows the
rules to classify each size, and therefore the control
variables for upper body are height and bust girth.
Table 8 depicts the total sample size of females age
7-12, which shows 24 size rolls, divided into three
sizessmall, medium and large. There are two key
dimensions usedheight and bust girth. The range
for height in this sample size is 40 cm (from 114cm to
153.9 cm), which is divided into five subgroups,
namely 114cm, 122cm, 130 cm, 138cm and 146cm.
This range is divided using an interval of 8 cm. The
size interval is chosen based on the best coverage for
these samples. For the bust, the total range is 36 cm

Size Body type

roll

1
2
3
4

Small

5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

Medium

15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24

Large

Key dimension
cm

Accom- Aggregate
modation loss, cm
rate

Height

Bust girth

114-121.9

54-59.9
60-65.9
54-59.9
60-65.9

54
14
60
54

10.3
2.7
11.4
10.3

2.6
2.5
2.6
2.5

66-71.9
66-71.9
72-77.9
78-83.9
54-59.9
60-65.9
66-71.9
72-77.9
78-83.9
84-89.9

8
29
11
4
13
46
31
23
7
3

1.5
5.5
2.1
0.8
2.5
8.8
5.9
4.4
1.3
0.6

2.6
2.5
2.7
2.5
2.7
2.7
2.6
2.8
2.6
3.0

60-65.9
66-71.9
72-77.9
78-83.9
84-89.9
60-65.9
66-71.9
72-77.9
78-83.9
84-89.9
Total

15 2.9
36 6.9
16 3.0
17 3.2
6
1.1
3
0.6
17 3.2
18 3.4
22 4.2
14 2.7
521 99.3

2.5
2.5
2.6
2.5
2.7
2.6
2.6
2.7
2.5
2.8
2.6

122-129.9
114-121.9
122-129.9

130-137.9

138-145.9

146-153.9

(from 54 cm to 89.9 cm); this range is divided into six

subgroups using an interval of 6 cm; 54 cm, 60 cm, 66
cm, 72 cm, 78 cm and 84 cm.
Using the classifying rules in Table 7, the sizing
system for upper body (age 7-12) is divided according
to small, medium and large size which consists of
four small sizes, ten medium sizes and ten large sizes.
For the small size category, four sizes are provided
with height between 114-129.9 cm and 54-65.9 cm
bust girth measurement (Table 8). For the medium
size category, ten sizes are provided with variations of
height from 114 cm to 137.9 cm with bust
measurements of 54-89.9 cm. Ten sizes are provided for
the last group (large size) for tall children measuring
from 138 cm to 153.9 cm with bust measurement
between 60cm and 89.9cm.
The number of samples accommodated for each size
is shown and the total accommodation rate for the
whole sample size is found to be 99%. However, in
Malaysia the school uniforms are available in eleven
different sizes to accomodate children in the schooling
age range (7-17 years old). This means that for each

ZAKARIA: SIZING SYSTEM FOR FUNCTIONAL CLOTHING

355

Table 9Sizes for school uniforms based on height and bust girth
Size designation
Height range, cm
Bust girth range , cm
Height , cm
Bust girth , cm
Neck girth , cm
Shoulder width , cm
Upper arm girth , cm
Arm scye girth , cm
Upper arm length , cm
Arm length , cm
Elbow girth , cm
Wrist girth , cm
Waist girth , cm
Hip girth , cm
Cervical to breast point, cm
Neck shoulder to breast point, cm
Accommodation , %
Aggregate loss , cm

S114-54

S122-54 S122-60 M130-60 M130-66

L138-66

114-121.9
54-59.9
118
57
26
26
19
29
23
41
19
12
51
62
22
16
10.3
2.6

122-129.9
130-137.9
54-59.9 60-65.9 60-65.9 66-71.9
126
126
134
134
57
63
63
69
26
26
27
29
31
31
33
33
19
19
22
25
28
28
32
30
26
26
25
26
41
41
48
48
19
19
20
22
16
16
13
14
51
51
58
63
63
63
70
74
23
23
25
26
16
16
21
20
11.4
10.3
8.8
5.9
2.6
2.5
2.7
2.6

138-145.9
66-71.9
78-83.9
142
142
69
81
30
32
32
37
23
25
33
38
29
28
67
68
21
26
14
16
59
73
73
85
27
29
20
22
6.9
3.2
2.5
2.5

age, there is one size, e.g. for the primary school ages
7-12 (which covers six years), there are six different
sizes to choose from. To propose a system similar to
the currently prevailing one, the two sizes that best
accomodate a majority of subjects from each height
group are chosen since height is the determining factor
for this age group. This shows that the total of number
of sizes recommended is nine (Table 9). The selection
of the best sizes for constructing uniform is based on
sizes that have accommodation coverage of more than
2% , which is considered as good accommodation35.
3.6 Application Size Table for School Uniform for Upper Body

Table 9 lists the representative standard size chart

for school uniform of the upper body for female aged
7-12 years old using height and bust girth as the
determining factors for sizes. For functional clothing
such as school uniforms worn by active growing
children, the sizes need to fit them well and to give
comfort. Therefore, in Table 9 the new sizing system is
recommended for designing school uniforms for upper
body. For primary school children, the top garment
usually consists of a short sleeve collared shirt or a
long sleeve tunic. There are nine new sizes for school
uniforms to accomodate those with heights between
114 cm and 154 cm and with busts from 54 cm to 84
cm. Table 9 shows the new size designation size S
114-54, which refers to girls with a height 114-121.9
cm and bust girth 54-59.9 cm.
Three small, two medium and four large sizes are
recommended for school uniforms as compared to six
sizes in the current local market. From Table 9, it can be
seen that the size designation denotes the key

L138-78

L146-72

L146-78

146-153.9
72-77.9
78-83.9
150
150
75
81
31
32
37
37
26
28
37
38
30
28
74
73
23
25
15
15
65
73
82
88
28
29
21
23
3.4
4.2
2.7
2.5

Table 10 Sizing system validation

Parameter

Control
dimensions
Population
coverage , %
Aggregate loss
No of sizes
Cluster 1
Cluster 2
Cluster 3
Total number
of sizes

7-12 years
13-17 years
Upper
Upper
Lower
Lower
body
body
body
body
Height/bust Height/hip Height/bust Height/hip
girth
girth
girth
girth
99

99

99.3

98.3

2.5

2.6

2.7

2.7

8
9
7
24

5
12
10
27

7
6
7
20

9
6
7
22

dimensions which clearly shows the exact measurements

for consumers. In order to avoid confusion, size
designation should be neither alphabetic nor numeric but
should include proper label identification which states
the key dimensions on which it is based on. As it can be
seen, the sizes are not based on age but on key body
dimensions which informs consumers the right sizes to
choose from and thus will enhance the fit of the
clothing. The normal practice of school uniform sizes
in Malaysia is based on age and sometimes numerical
alphabets which has no information on the real body
dimensions, based on which the size system is created.
3.7 Size Validation

Table 10 summarizes the validation for the entire

sizing system built for the sample populations. It is
significant that sizing systems for both age groups
successfully accommodated 99% of the sample

356

INDIAN J. FIBRE TEXT. RES., DECEMBER 2011

population measured and have minimal total sizes

between 22 and 27. The aggregate loss is between
2.5cm and 2.6 cm, well below the ideal value of 3.6
cm. If two key dimensions are used to cluster the
population then the ideal aggregate loss is given as 2
= 1.41. This value is in inch. Since all measurements
are taken in metric (cm), the aggregate loss is
calculated as 1.41 * 2.54 cm = 3.58 cm. This value is
the ideal aggregate loss regarded as the benchmark for
an accurate size. Hence, the goodness of fit for this
system and efficiency of the size system is found to be
high, as the average coverage factor is above 90%.
4 Conclusion
This paper has presented the analysis of body
characteristics of school aged children. It is worth
noting that the multivariate analysis using PCA
technique proves that the height, bust and hip girth are
most influential in size determination. Through data
mining techniques, the different body shapes existing
among female children have been identified. In
essence, the current study contributes towards the
development of a new sizing system for the clothing
industry in Malaysia focusing specifically on schoolaged girls. With the new sizing system, the fit of school
uniforms for girls in the age group 7-17 will be
enhanced as it is based on anthropometric data which
integrates the right size designation. It is evident that
the comfort of this functional clothing will be much
better as the students will be able to get the right sized
clothes appropriate for their body shape and size based
on the right size designation.
Acknowledgement
The author would like to express her sincere
appreciation to the Research Management Institute and
Faculty of Applied Sciences from Universiti Teknologi
MARA and Jerasia Sdn Bhd for their financial support
to carry out this project.
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