Fit evaluation within the made‐to‐measure process

Purpose The purpose of this study is to evaluate fit of the basic garments made for Taiwanese female students with various figure characteristics. The basic garments are produced according to patterns derived from the PDS 2000 and APDS‐3D systems. Design/methodology/approach This study recruited ten Taiwanese female subjects who represented various figure characteristics. After scanning each subject, the body measurements with additional functional ease were manually entered into the APDS‐3D system accompanied with the PDS 2000 system to generate the block patterns. These patterns were used to make basic garments worn on the subjects for fit evaluations. T ‐test and one‐way ANOVA were employed to investigate if any statistically significant differences between figure characteristics of subjects exist. Findings After statistical analysis, results showed that the percentage of tolerance allowed by the system in preventing incorrect measurements has to be revised and more measurements have to be included into the APDS‐3D system. Furthermore, female students who exhibit multiple figure variations complicate fitting problems. For example, sloped‐shoulder subjects with narrow shoulders and forward stance generate the problem of extra fabric gathering at the shoulder tips as well as looseness at the upper chest. Therefore, figure variations have to be analyzed in a future study. Research limitations/implications The convenient sample with limited size does not allow generalization of figure variations associated with fit problems in all colleges or universities located in Taiwan. Originality/value Few researchers have analyzed fit problems on garments made for females with figure variations, but none of them use 3D body scanners in combination with computer‐aided design systems to test fit on basic garments for females with various physical characteristics.